The Ritz-Carlton at Isla Verde has a reopening date set

Nearly seven years after the impact of Hurricane Maria Ritz-Carlton HotelIn Isla Verde, there is the only large-scale one in the metropolitan area that remains closed due to damage associated with the cyclone.

However, renovation work on the inn, which opened its doors in 1997, is in progress and its opening is scheduled for the last quarter of this year, he confirmed. new day, A spokesperson for Marriott International, which will add more rooms to Puerto Rico’s hotel inventory at a time when demand continues to increase.

Although a spokesperson for the hotel giant reaffirmed that the property will reopen its doors under the Ritz-Carlton brand, this newspaper’s sources said the property may move to the portfolio of JW Marriott, a division of the group. is also. Luxury segment.

According to the Marriott International website, there are currently more than 100 JW Marriott hotels in more than 35 countries and territories.

If the property changes flags, the only Ritz-Carlton that remains in Puerto Rico will be the Dorado Beach Ritz-Carlton Reserve, which will move into the hands of Bremer Hotels & Resorts Real Estate Investment Trust in 2022. Until then, it belonged to the Puerto Rican developer Prisa Group.

According to public property registry documents reviewed by this medium, the Ritz Carlton at Isla Verde belongs to RCPR Acquisition Holdings LLC, an entity that mortgaged the property for $45 million on July 28, 2023.

RCPR Acquisition Holdings It is a subsidiary of investment firm Black Diamond Capital Management, which has a presence in various industries across the globe.

Claiming it has not recovered from the onslaught of Hurricane Maria, the hotel closed its doors and laid off 584 employees in 2018, so reopening could mean a source of employment for those in need. Those who are already part of the tourism industry or who are interested in becoming so.

In 2022, Alex Fizz, area vice president of the Caribbean and director of all-inclusive programs at Marriott hotels, told this newspaper that “the owners’ decision was to take time to evaluate and what they’ve done is not restore that thing. which was affected by it.” Hurricane, but when that hotel opens you will see that it will look like a new hotel.

“When storms hit, they focus on restoring and continuing operations. In this case, because the impact was so great, they decided to take some time to evaluate and make more significant changes to the Ritz-Carlton,” he said.

The property is located in one of the busiest tourist areas in the country and is home to hotels that have changed owners and seen multi-million dollar investments in recent years.

This was the case for the El San Juan Hotel and the Royal Sonesta, a former InterContinental hotel, while the Courtyard by Marriott announced a “total transformation” in mid-2023, after an investment of between $15 and $20 million.

On the island level, according to this newspaper’s estimate, about 22 hotels are under development, with the Hard Rock Old San Juan being the most ambitious, as it will cost around $800 million.

The island will be one of the Latin American countries with the most hotel construction projects in 2023, according to the firm Lodging Econometrics, which during the first quarter of that year, opened 17 developments on the island to add 2,658 rooms to the market. ,

This figure brings the country to almost 20,000 hotel rooms for the first time in history.Considering that, as of now, the number of rooms available exceeds 15,000, according to estimates by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (CTPR).