By the Caribbean Journal staff
The Caribbean’s newest all-inclusive brand is coming to the island of St Maarten, Caribbean Journal has confirmed.
Planet Hollywood, which is planning to open its first all-inclusive branded resort in the Caribbean Basin in Costa Rica this fall, is coming to St Maarten.
The resort will be located at the site of the former Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort and Casino, which was destroyed by Hurricane Irma and eventually demolished.
What the Great Bay resort looked like before Irma.
That property was shortly thereafter purchased from Sonesta by Canadian travel giant Sunwing, which will soon begin construction on the property, according to a statement from St Maarten’s Ministry of Tourism.
The new all-inclusive will include a total of 450 rooms, according to the Ministry, set on what is arguably the signature bay on the Dutch side of the island.
It will represent the first Caribbean island property for the Planet Hollywood Hotels brand, which is branching out from a small portfolio of properties in Las Vegas and Goa.
One of the company’s PH spas.
The new Planet Hollywood all-inclusives will feature all of the brand’s signatures, from Hollywood memorabilia to aPH Spa and Beauty Bar.
It will be the second of two major new all-inclusives planned on the island, following next year’s planned launch of the Secrets St Martin resort on the French side of the island.
A rendering of the new-look Ocean Point.
While the Sonesta Great Bay is no longer, Sonesta is planning a major comeback on the island with its other two high-profile resorts: the Sonesta Ocean Point and the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort.
The Ocean Point is slated to return Nov. 15, while the Maho Beach Resort is targeting a reopening date of Feb. 15, 2019.