Ownership of the former Grand Beach Palace
Resort on St. Thomas, which was formerly a Renaissance
property and before that a Stouffer, has again changed
hands.
Wyndham
Vacation Ownership acquired the 25-acre beachfront
property from St. Thomas-based Palm Resorts Holding Co., which had
purchased the resort last November for $17.5 million.
Wyndham plans to
convert the 290-room property into its flagship Caribbean timeshare
resort.
The property has
been vacant for more than two years, ever since its former owner,
Mexico-based Palace Resorts, shut the doors in 2004.
Wyndham plans a
$40 million renovation, including the conversion of existing rooms
into 143 furnished, condominium-style timeshare units.
The timeshare
resort is expected to open in late 2008.
Wyndham already
operates the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa, located on Smith
Bay about a mile from the soon-to-be-timeshare property.
Airport
size to triple
The
multimillion-dollar expansion planned for Owen Roberts
Airport on Grand Cayman will triple the size of the main
terminal to 205,000 square feet.
The airport will
remain open and operational during the expansion project, said
Charles Clifford, minister of tourism.
When finished,
the airport will be able to handle 1.25 million passengers a year,
up from 800,000.
An expansion of
the airport on Little Cayman will take place at the same time. The
project covers a new runway and a small terminal.
Coral
Stone extends low-season rates
Coral
Stone Club, a 36-unit rental property on Seven Mile Beach
in Grand Cayman, will extend its low-season rates to Dec. 19 and
will not block out the rates over the Thanksgiving
holiday.
The
commissionable property relaunched its Web site last November and
reopened last year following a $10 million renovation.
The Coral Stone
Club offers packages for families and honeymooners. For rates, visit www.coralstoneclub.com.
Lucky in
love at Sandals
Sandals is capitalizing on the 7/7/07 date
this year as a "jackpot date for couples in love, the most
sought-after wedding date of the year," according to Joann Delgin,
chief romance officer for Unique Vacations, a worldwide
representatives for Sandals Resorts.
The company will
unveil its Twilight Wedding package on July 7 at 7
p.m. at its 12 resorts in Jamaica, Antigua, St. Lucia and the
Bahamas.
The package
includes a personal wedding consultant; a spa pedicure for the
bride and a 30-minute massage for the groom; live entertainment at
the ceremony; a reception with hors d'oeuvres, champagne and a
wedding cake; a photographer and videographer; and breakfast in bed
the next morning.
Sandals pays 10%
commission on the Twilight Wedding package. Prices start at
$1,500. For more details, visit www.sandals.com.
Gay Nagle Myers is Travel Weekly's Caribbean editor. E-mail
her at [email protected].