Above: a rendering of the Haiti Marriott
By the Caribbean Journal staff
The new Digicel-developed Marriott hotel in Haiti will soon be topping off construction, the company announced this week.
Topping off is the ceremonial last placement of a beam at the top of a building. The project is slated to open in February 2015.
The $45 million project, which is located in Port-au-Prince, is one of a wave of new hotels that have either already opened or are on track to open.
Marriott is working with Haiti’s Ministry of Tourism to select a group of young Haitians to work internships at the JW Marriott in the Dominican Republic.
That group will begin working at the property when it opens later this year. The plan is for them ultimately to return to Haiti to be a member of hotel team at the Haiti Marriott when it debuts.
The 175-room Marriott project, which broke ground at the end of 2012, is being designed and built by regional telecom giant Digicel.
Turgeau Developments SA is the operating company, in which Digicel is the investment partner.
The property will have five suites, a casual restaurant, a swimming pool and a “great room lobby,” according to Marriott.
Digicel Chairman Denis O’Brien is the chairman of the Haiti Action Network for the Clinton Global Initiative, which helpe facilitate the partnership between Digicel and Marriott.
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I thought Marriot and Best Western did market studies before they became involved with projects.
I guess I was wrong.