In Curaçao, a New Hotel With a Bigger Mission Than Hospitality

You walk into the lobby and hear laughter — not from guests checking in, but from students learning how to welcome them.

This isn’t just another hotel on one of the the Caribbean’s most colorful islands. This is the new Parasasa Hotel Curaçao — and while it has 37 double rooms and 8 suites, it’s built on something even more meaningful than hospitality: opportunity.

Set just steps from the turquoise coast, Parasasa quietly celebrated its soft opening on May 5th. But what’s happening inside is anything but ordinary. This is Curaçao’s first-ever training hotel, a hands-on hospitality center where local students from Nilda Pinto SBO, Maris Stella SBO, and the University of Curaçao can learn the ropes — from front desk check-ins to back-of-house operations — all under the guidance of seasoned industry pros.

It’s real-world training in a real hotel, with real guests.

An initiative of the Curaçao Hospitality and Tourism Training Centre (CHTTC), Parasasa is a collaborative effort powered by the Curaçao Tourist Board, ROC Mondriaan in The Hague, and CHATA. The aim? To give young people in Curaçao — and across the region — the tools, skills, and confidence to thrive in one of the Caribbean’s most important industries.

During the soft opening, government and tourism leaders spoke of promise and progress. But the real story is told by the students — bright-eyed, neatly dressed, ready to work. They’re not just learning how to make a bed or serve a cocktail. They’re learning how to build a future.

Now open to international and local travelers, the hotel is already taking bookings — and those who stay here won’t just leave with memories of ocean views and island sun. They’ll be part of something bigger: helping shape the future of hospitality in Curaçao, one student at a time.

It’s one of a few similar hotels across the region, including, most notably, The Retreat, a sustainable, training hotel on the island of Eleuthera in The Bahamas.