Ritz-Carlton Reserve chooses Puerto Rico for second destination

Luxury hotel chain Ritz-Carlton is to open its second "reserve" property in Puerto Rico, the company announced July 18.

The 114-room resort will be situated on Dorado Beach, a name many Caribbean-lovers will be familiar with as the site of Laurance S Rockefeller's original eco-resort, launched in 1958 as the first of its type in the region.

As of December 2012, the resort will also be home to the second Ritz-Carlton Reserve, surrounded by Rockefeller's original "great park" and spread across 50 acres with a mile (1.6 km) of beachfront.

The Ritz-Carlton Reserve brand, designed to offer luxury comfort and services in sustainable destinations, already operates a Phulay Bay on the Thai island of Krabi, but this will be the brand's first North American property.

It will feature 100 guestrooms and 14 one-bedroom suites, all on the beachfront, along with a separate five-bedroom VIP residence situated in the original Hacienda of the plantation, Su Casa.

Guests will be able to relax in the five-acre spa or take part in an eco-adventure courtesy of Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment program.

Separately from the Ritz-Carlton Reserve, the resort already boasts four golf courses, an 11-mile (18 km) nature trail, a water park and a Beach Fitness and Wellness Center.

Puerto Rico has been popular with visitors from the US for some time, but new resorts from the like of Wyndham and W Hotels has given it something of a boost on the international stage.

The first quarter of this year saw a four percent rise in the numbers of visitors, according to STR Hospitality, with officials predicting a three to four percent rise in total for 2011, the island's first increase in five years.

http://www.doradobeach.com/