By Alexander Britell

It was perhaps the most spectacular hotel opening in the Caribbean that no one knew about.

Last year, Swiss luxury hotel brand Kempinski opened the Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski in Havana, a five-star stunner that was one of the most spectacular debuts in the region in recent memory.

Thanks to tightened travel restrictions to Cuba, though, few U.S. travelers will get a chance to experience it.

Kempinski’s second Caribbean hotel project, however, is a different story.

The company is planning to open its highly-anticipated Cabrits Hotel and Spa in northern Dominica in 2019, it said in a statement.

The Portsmouth-area project will be set at the edge of the historic Cabrits National Park on the northwestern edge of the island, adding a major new luxury destination to Dominica and the wider region.

The 160-room hotel will include a spa, a gym, an all-weather tennis court, hot and cold water pools, sweeping gardens, among other amenities.

Kempinski has already named Michael Schoonewagen as the property’s general manager, as development partner Range Developments looks to position Dominica as the “new go-to luxury travel destination in the region.”

A rendering of a room.

Range Developments is best known within the region as the developer of the highly-acclaimed Park Hyatt St Kitts, which opened late last year.

The new Kempinski will join a handful of luxury properties in Dominica, headlined by the soon-to-reopen Secret Bay and the ultra-boutique Pagua Bay, adding to Dominica’s tourism recovery, one that has already begun in earnest with the transformation of the Fort Young Hotel in Roseau.

— CJ