Above: construction at the Westin Puntacana (CJ Photo)

By Alexander Britell

PUNTA CANA — The Westin Puntacana Resort & Club is on track for a Dec. 20 opening, the project announced Thursday.

The 200-room resort, which broke ground in January, will be located within the Puntacana Resort & Club complex. It will include 10 suites and will be an EP property — that is, not an all-inclusive resort.

Ignacio Gomez, hospitality sales director at the Puntacana Resort & Club, said more and more people,, particularly those seeking space for meetings and conventions, were not simply looking for all-inclusive resorts.

Above: a rendering of the Westin

The Westin’s debut will follow what Gomez said was the success of the nearby 30-room Tortuga Bay hotel within the Puntacana Resort & Club, also an EP property.

“[The property] is also coming because the Westin brand is really humanized and spiritual, a healthy brand, pretty much of the vision of the Puntacana Resort & Club,” he said.