Curacao's new Hyatt regency.

The groundbreaking of the 350-room Hyatt Regency Curacao was attended by tourism and hotel officials, reports Caribbean Net News (Dec. 7, 2005). The ceremony, at which Chris Smeets, shareholder and driving force behind the project and Nicholas Pritzker, vice-chairman of Global Hyatt Corp., placed the first shovel in the ground, marked the start of the construction of the mixed use Santa Barbara Plantation project. The project will encompass not only the hotel, but also as a 30-slip marina, beach club, 52 vacation club units, 128 condominium homes, 106 residential lots and 94 terrace homes, as well as an 18-hole championship golf course, the first signature golf course on the island. It will be the largest hotel on the island and the first large hotel to open since the Sonesta (which is now a Marriott) was completed in 1992. The Curacao government supported the initiative with a soft loan of US$16 million. Total investment for the first phase of the project is approximately US$104 million. Completion of the Hyatt Regency Curacao is planned for late 2007. Details: www.curacao.com.