Crowne Plaza launched, JW Marriott and Real InterContinental plan openings and Sheraton returns.

BY JOACHIM BAMRUD

SANTO DOMINGO – Chris Leonard, a UK business executive, is pleased with the service, location and ocean views of the Crowne Plaza Santo Domingo.

“It’s a very nice hotel,” he says. “Everyone’s been very helpful. The rooms are lovely. There’s a nice view [and] the location is definitely beneficial.”

Located on the George Washington Avenue by the ocean, it is easy to access from the airport and elsewhere in the city.

It’s the first visit to the Crowne Plaza for Leonard, the commercial manager of UK-based shipping and handling company Nectar Group, although he has visited Santo Domingo twice before.

“It’s definitely a good hotel,” he says, also compared with other hotels he has stayed at in Latin America.

That’s the kind of feedback the owners of the hotel, the Lebanese-Venezuelan Nahas family, like to hear. As does the InterContinental Group, which owns the Crowne Plaza brand.

That type of feedback will be key as Crowne Plaza faces more competition than ever. Next year, JW Marriott plans to open an hotel here. Meanwhile, a next-door hotel will be rebranded into a Sheraton in January.

And in 2015, plans call for the opening of a Real InterContinental in the Dominican capital.

These hotels will compete with existing or recent offers by Hilton, Holiday Inn, Marriott, Occidental and Sofitel.

So, is the market big enough for that many upscale hotels?

“Absolutely,” says Alvaro Diago, Chief Operating Officer for Latin America & Caribbean at InterContinental Hotels Group.  “Santo Domingo ....

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Keywords: Caribbean, Crowne Plaza, Dominican Republic, Hilton, Marriott, Occidental, Real InterContinental, Sheraton, Santo Domingo