Above: San Juan

By the Caribbean Journal staff

A planned Hyatt House hotel project broke ground this week in San Juan, following an agreement between a Hyatt affiliate and Island Hospitality Partners.

The project, which is expected to open in the fall of 2014, will be owned by Island Hospitality, which is a joint venture of PRISA Group and McConnell Valdes Consulting.

Island Hospitality owns several other ongoing hotel projects on the island, including the Hyatt Place Bayamon Hotel & El Tropical Casino and the Hyatt Place Manati & Casino. Both of those are under construction and on a similar timeline for completion.

“We are glad to work with Island Hospitality on Hyatt House San Juan, our third Hyatt-branded hotel project with Island Hospitality in Puerto Rico,” said Pat McCudden, senior vice president for real estate and development with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. “We believe that the Hyatt House brand and the location of the hotel in San Juan’s convention center district will have strong appeal to business and leisure travelers visiting the city.”

The San Juan hotel will include 126 studio, one- and two-bedroom kitchen suites, with Atlantic Ocean and San Juan Bay views.

It will be part of a 113-acre master-planned project, which includes the 580,000-square-foot Puerto Rico Convention Centre.

“We believe in the Hyatt House brand and think the hotel will have strong appeal in San Juan due to its close proximity to the Puerto Rico Convention Centre and convenient access to the airport and cruise ship terminal,” said Federico Stubbe, Jr, president of PRISA Group. “We are excited to introduce the Hyatt House brand to San Juan, and furthermore, to bring Hyatt’s world-class hospitality to Puerto Rico with both the Hyatt Place and Hyatt House brands.”

The project will be the Caribbean’s first Hyatt House hotel.