Above: the view from Haiti’s new Best Western project (Photo: MT Haiti)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Best Western Premier hotel currently under construction in Haiti’s Petion-Ville will open before the end of the year, according to Haiti’s Tourism Ministry.

The four-star hotel project, which will be the first Best Western Premier in the Caribbean, will include six stories and 106 rooms, along with a 150-seat restaurant. It is being built to withstand earthquakes of up to nine on the Richter scale.

Best Western Premier is the company’s upscale brand.

Haiti Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin visited the hotel this weekend to oversee construction, joined by Petion-Ville Mayor Claire Lydie Parent.

Petion-Ville is the centre of a relative boom of hotel construction in Haiti, with the new Royal Oasis hotel set to open in December, joining nearby hotels including the Karibe, the Kinam and the El Rancho.

According to Ulrich Emmanuel Noel, director of investments at Haiti’s Ministry of Tourism, Haiti will have 1,000 hotel rooms by the end of 2012.

Stanley Handal, the owner of the Best Western project, said it would open its doors in the same time frame.