Dart Realty Selects Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants to Manage Its First Resort Development
Grand Cayman’s First Boutique-Style Hotel Will Also be the First Kimpton Property in the Caribbean
Dart Realty (Cayman) Ltd. on Wednesday (10) announced that it has signed Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants to manage Dart’s first resort property, a 263-room hotel with 56 residences on Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman.
Scheduled to open in 2016, the property will feature five restaurants and lounges, expansive indoor and outdoor meeting spaces, a cascading oceanfront pool and a destination spa. A signature of the property will be the sweeping water views from all the guest rooms and public spaces as well as six beachfront bungalows.
Dart Realty assembled a team of industry leaders to articulate Cayman’s modern Caribbean aesthetic for the island’s first design-driven resort. As project architect, SB Architects brings a world-wide reputation for design excellence and expertise in large-scale Caribbean resorts which is complemented by the design practice of John Doak Architecture, an authority on Cayman’s architectural heritage. The resort’s lush grounds and abundance of open green spaces will be designed by landscape architect EDSA and brought to life by the native and endemic plants and trees cultivated in Dart’s 26-acre nursery. Interiors by Powerstrip Studio and restaurants and lounges by Mark Zeff Design will capture the highly-stylized ambiance and playful spirit that characterize Kimpton hotels, with distinctly Caribbean style.
A pioneer of the boutique hotel concept in the U.S., Kimpton brings to the Caribbean a reputation for unique hotels, each with its own personality and character. Dart Realty considered many major brands for its first resort property and found Kimpton aligned with both the market’s needs and Dart’s approach to world class product, workplace culture, sustainability and customer service.
“Kimpton excels in offering stylish yet comfortable hotels and providing genuine, unscripted guest experiences,” said Jackie Doak, Chief Operating Officer of Dart Realty. “We were particularly drawn to Kimpton’s passion for creating a vibrant atmosphere in hotels and restaurants equally enjoyed by guests and locals,” she added. “Ken Dart’s vision is for a welcoming resort that showcases the same Caymanian hospitality that inspired him and his family to return to the island after their first visit more than 25 years ago.”
When it welcomes guests as the first Seven Mile Beach resort to open in a decade, the hotel will be designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. The project is estimated to generate more than 400 jobs over the build-out period at a cost exceeding US $170 million.
ABOUT DART REALTY
Dart Realty (Cayman) Ltd., a subsidiary of Dart Enterprises, is the developer of the town of Camana Bay and the residential neighborhood of Salt Creek and provides property management services for over 500,000 square feet of office, retail and residential space. Camana Bay is Grand Cayman’s newest and most vibrant community and the premier example of New Urbanism in the Caribbean. Dart Realty’s developments are unified through distinct and mature landscaping consisting of native and endemic plants and trees from more than 600 species cultivated in the 26-acre Dart nursery. Through thoughtful and sustainable development, Dart is dedicated to the prosperity of the Cayman Islands and the quality of life for its residents. For more information, visit www.dartrealtycayman.com.
ABOUT KIMPTON HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is the leading collection of boutique hotels and restaurants in the United States and the acknowledged industry pioneer that first introduced the boutique hotel concept to America. In 1981, Bill Kimpton founded the company that today is renowned for making travelers feel genuinely cared for while away from home through fun and thoughtful perks and amenities, distinctive design at each hotel and a sincerely personal style of guest service. Out to help people live full, balanced lives, Kimpton aims to inspire with touches like yoga mats in every room, complimentary coffee and tea to start the day, hosted evening Wine Hour, in-room fitness programming and complimentary bike rentals. Kimpton’s award-winning restaurants and bars are led by talented chefs and bartenders that offer guests a chance to dine like a local. Kimpton leads the hospitality industry in eco-friendly practices that span all hotels and restaurants. Kimpton is consistently ranked as one of the top companies in the Market Metrix Hospitality Index, Upper Upscale Segment, for Customer Satisfaction. The company is highly-regarded for its innovative employee culture and benefits and has been named a Fortune magazine “Best Place to Work” four times since 2009. Kimpton operates nearly 60 hotels and 70 restaurants, bars and lounges in 25 cities. For more information, visit www.KimptonHotels.com and www.KimptonRestaurants.com.
Related story:
Kimpton will manage Cayman [Dart] Hotel
By WPC Staff
San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels will manage a 263-room hotel in development on Grand Cayman, the company’s first project outside the United States.
The hotel on Seven Mile Beach is under development by Dart Realty and is scheduled to open in 2016. Described as the “first design driven, boutique-style hotel and the first new development on famed Seven Mile Beach in a decade,” the property will also include 56 residences and six beach bungalows.
A specialist in boutique hotels, Kimpton currently operates hotels in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Sedona, Ariz.; Miami, Florida; Vero Beach, Fla.: San Diego, Calif.; Santa Barbara, Calif.; and Aspen, Colo. It recently announced plans for new hotels in Palm Springs, Calif. and Savannah, Ga.
“Expanding into the Caribbean was an easy decision for us because of our already strong presence in the major feeder markets such as South Florida, New York, Washington, DC, Chicago and Dallas,” Kimpton chief executive Mike Depatie said in a statement.
Dart Realty, a subsidiary of Dart Enterprises, is the developer of the town of Camana Bay, described as “the premier example of New Urbanism in the Caribbean.”
Dart plans to start construction on the Seven Mile Beach project, which is near Camana Bay, in September. The company will finance the $170 million project with its own capital, chief operating officer Jackie Doak told the Wall Street Journal.
Prospective buyers are primarily from the northeastern United States, who were not as badly burned by the recession, she told the paper. Prices in the Camana Bay area average about $900 to $1,100 a square foot for luxury residences, she said.
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