NASSAU, Bahamas — The Baha Mar mega-resort development is on target to open in Nassau’s Cable Beach area in December 2014, according to Robert “Sandy” Sands, Baha Mar's senior vice president, administration and external affairs.
The $3.5 billion development will debut its 1,000–room casino hotel in December 2014, with three other properties opening by March 2015.
“We are one-third done now. We have 23 months to go before we welcome our first guest, and we will be ready,” Sands said.
The brand for the casino hotel will be announced within the next six months; the other new hotels are the 200-room Rosewood at Baha Mar, the highest-end resort in the complex; the 300-room Mondrian at Baha Mar, described by Sands as “hip and edgy in the W Hotels style”; and the 700-room Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar, billed as a convention hotel.
Also in the Baha Mar development are the already-operating 550-room Wyndham and 700-room Sheraton.
When the last pillow is fluffed and mini-bar stocked, Baha Mar will total 3,450 rooms (2,200 new rooms and 1,250 from Wyndham and Sheraton).
Atlantis Paradise Island will remain the largest resort in the Caribbean with an inventory of 3,614 rooms.
“We are targeting Baha Mar as an adult destination within a destination. It’s the new address of glamor, the Bahamas Riviera, and it will redefine the whole lodging experience,” Sands said.
Although Baha Mar is targeted at the adult market, it will be family-friendly and some of the properties will have kids’ programs, but there will not be a dedicated central kids’ center, according to Sands.
What Baha Mar will have: up to 40 restaurants and bars; 14 pools; an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, opening by December 2013; Waterside Place shopping, dining and gallery complex with choreographed water fountains; the 20-acre Beachside Sanctuary with beaches, lagoon pools and native flora and fauna; a 200,000-square-foot convention center opening in December 2013; a 100,000-square-foot casino; and a 30,000-square-foot spa.
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