by Brian Major
Last updated: 3:30 PM ET, Thu February 2, 2017
The $3.5 billion Baha Mar mega-resort will open in a "phased" manner on April 21 and feature a new anchor hotel under a management agreement reached between Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE), the long-delayed mega-resort's new owners, and Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.
A Grand Hyatt hotel will replace the originally planned Baha Mar Hotel & Casino as the resort's anchor property, said Graeme Davis, Baha Mar's recently named president. In all, Hyatt will operate two of the hotel's main towers, one attached to the resort's 100,000 square-foot casino and another adjacent to the 200,000 square foot convention center. Combined, the two buildings will accommodate 1,800 guests.
He said the mega-resort's 300-room SLS Baha Mar hotel will feature a rooftop bar and open in the third quarter of 2017. A 240-room Rosewood property featuring oceanfront villas will launch later in December, and the plan is to have all three hotels open and operational by the winter season of 2017-2018, Davis said.
"We're opening in a phased manner on April 21," said Davis, although he could not say exactly how many rooms would be available for guests on that date. He said the resort's convention center and Jack Nicklaus signature course, Royal Blue will also open on that date.
"We're going to make sure we don't open all 1,800 rooms at once," he said, adding the operators will "thoughtfully" have between 200 and 500 rooms available in April. "We want to make sure that when we open, the experience is exceptional." The mega-resort's 100,000 square foot casino will also launch on April 21, with operations managed by CTFE, said Davis, who added "quite a few restaurants and shops" will also open at that time.
"We're no strangers to this aspect of development. For us, we felt very strongly Baha Mar was a tremendous strategic growth opportunity for our company. It's really about the future. There's been an incredible vision and foundation already laid in Baha Mar. It's now an opportune time to re-shape the future for Baha Mar, and regain the trust and integrity from the travel community."
He added, "When you look at the project itself we are actually doubling the inventory in New Providence in the upper upscale luxury market and we are now growing the product over 45 percent. It's important that the destination evolves with us. 12:33.94
He said predicted Baha Mar's "show lake" will become a signature feature of the property. "We will have fountains that will rival and even be beyond," Las Vegas' Bellagio resort. "We will be actually projecting imagery and movie shows on the water around the show lake" which he said will offer daytime and nighttime shows.
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