Meet Puerto Rico INN AT PALMETTO BLUFF. Montage Hotels & Resorts took over management of. Meet Puerto Rico launched a brand new web platform

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Anissa Jacobs
5 years ago
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4 Meet Puerto Rico Meet Puerto Rico launched a brand new web platform in January aligned with its drive to innovate the Caribbean meeting and incentive industry. "We're looking to rise up in planner's top-of-mind in the incentive market and increase our position in the industry," says Milton Segarra, president/ceo of Meet Puerto Rico. He told us both the leisure and convention DMOs are working together on a 3-part plan to engage better with planners. That includes a new business model offering great tools for planners, like the new website. There's a new focus on simplicity and clear communications with the MICE industry. And Puerto Rico is more aggressively communicating its long term experience in the region. "We know how to treat our groups based on our experience, and our meeting and incentive product is unmatched in the region," says Segarra. New luxury hotel product includes Royal lsabela on the northwest coast with 20 high-end villas. Just outside the booming Condado District in Old San Juan, a new 5-star Vanderbilt Hotel is scheduled for cofnpletion in September, with comprehensive renovations to San Juan's International airport following in October. In terms of lift, Avianca is flying in from Bogota after a 12-year absence, and new AeroMexico routes are under discussion. Southwest opened flights last April from Florida, and JetBiue begins service from Chicago in November. Segarra says, "Even though we already have the most airlift into the region, JetBiue and Southwest are super important for us to help expand access even further." Miami, retaining the Mid-Century Modern lines of the original. A new 7,200-sf ballroom is being built on the top of the clubhouse, bringing total meeting space to over 100,000 sf. "One of the things that I give a huge amount of credit to my father is, and one of the reason's he's been so successful in the development space at the super high end, is he always has his finger on the pulse of what the luxury customer wants," said lvanka. "We get involved in everything. Even my father hand selecting every photograph that goes in the new Gary Player Villa. It's really a thing of a passion from the outset, and I think it really makes a difference." INN AT PALMETTO BLUFF Montage Hotels & Resorts took over management of the newly named The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, a Montage Resort in February. The iconic Lowcountry resort is located in Palmetto Bluff, SC just 20 minutes from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. Work is beginning on 150 new luxury rooms to join the existing 50 cottages and cottage suites, with expected completion in summer of New meeting facilities and a destination spa are also under development. "When Alan Fuerstman founded Montage Hotels & Resorts in 2003, his whole vision was really to create a comfortable luxury hotel group that stripped the pretension out of old world luxury," says spokesperson Alyssa Bushey. "We operate hotels that are in extraordinary destinations, but destinations where we can really be the centerpiece of the community. So it's very rare and special to find something that fits our brand like The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, and it's been such a seamless fit with the original vision." The beauty of The Inn at Palmetto is how it provides such a destination-specific experience amid the giant oaks dripping Wft.h Spanish moss along the May River, lagoons and marshes. The Inn is surrounded by 20,000 acres of this pristine wilderness, which means planners can set up events are various venues in what feels like going offsite, without actually going offsite. For networking and rejuvenation, the golf and spa amenities are on par with the best in The South. "We have a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course, which is a private course, so it's impeccable since it's not open to the "When Allen Fuerstman founded Montage Hotels & Resorts in 2003, his who~e vision was really to create a comfortable luxury hotel group that stripped the pretension out of old world luxury." 28 I prevue magazine

public," says Paulette Peek, director of sales/marketing. "And then we have the spa, which is all about health, but in the South, we're all about comfort too.

5 public," says Paulette Peek, director of sales/marketing. "And then we have the spa, which is all about health, but in the South, we're all about comfort too. So in our spa, our pastry chef makes these wonderful cookies that you'll find in the relaxation room. And then each treatment room has its own claw-foot, deep soaking tub on an outdoor balcony that overlooks the water. So who could not love that, right?" L~king ahead to 2016, a new main building is going to house 86 guest rooms on a separate parcel of land on the other side of the lagoon from the existing village. The 3-story building's design will be themed around that of a luxurious Southern estate home, adjacent to five room blocks with 10 rooms each, designed with incentive programs in mind. "That, to me, for meeting planners is great for grouping people together under one roof in a semi-private environment," says Peek. "Then they're going to build 14 very high-end presidential-style suites overlooking the May River, and those are going to be placed more toward the main Inn. For gala events, The Inn at Palmetto is building a new 7,000-sf ballroom with several breakouts, to complement the existing 2,000-sf ballroom. "We also do a Lowcountry oyster roast or Lowcountry boil there," adds Peek. "They have this huge fire pit and they bring those oysters right out of the May River, and there's this giant skillet that goes over the fire pit. Then they pile the oysters on and throw these wet burlap bags over them that steams them up. It is awesome." AM RESORTS The Dominican Republic got a little hotter in 2013 with the unveiling of AMResorts' Breathless, an adults-only luxury resort in Punta Cana. The oceanfront resort offers 750 suites and Unlimited-Luxury amenities that include taxes and gratuities, international and fusion cuisines at 11 gourmet on-site restaurants, unlimited premium beverages at eight bars and lounges and free WiFi and international calling. This, combined with almost 11,000 sf of meeting space just steps away from sprawling sand, makes Breathless Punta Cana a great incentive getaway. "Breathless is a sensual, 'Vegas meets South Beach' resort with a party vibe and high-end price point," says Alex Zozaya, CEO of Apple Leisure Group, which manages AMResorts. The December opening of the all-suite, adults-only Secrets Puerto Los Cabos Golf & Spa Resort carries on Breathless' Unlimited-Luxury F&B perks, adding championship golf, off-site excursions and cooking, yoga and Pilates classes to the mix. The property offers planners 16,000 sf of meeting space, including a convention center that seats 850 guests theatre-style. AMResorts currently has four hotels in development that 30 I prevue magazine

Welcome to the Majestic Lowcountry.

Meeting Facilities 476 Mount Pelia Road Bluffton, South Carolina 29910 Telephone (843) 706-6500 Fax (843) 706-6516 Reservations (866) 706-6565 montagehotels.com Palmetto Bluff Welcome to the Majestic Lowcountry.