Robb Report looks at the emerging Puerto Rican luxury hotspots.
In 1958 Laurance Rockefeller, an early pioneer of ecotourism, opened his Dorado Beach Resort and Club west of San Juan, which, for the first time, made Puerto Rico a recognized tourist destination for Americans. The ultimate in luxury, its East golf course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr., was the convergence point for the world’s powerful and elite. But in subsequent decades, Greater and Lesser Antilles siphoned off tourism and vacation-home investments from Puerto Rico. Now, the island is making a comeback. The Dorado Beach, for example, is on track to include a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, a new high-end resort based on “a connection to nature.” Slated for a late-2012 opening, the Ritz-Carlton Reserve Residences & Beach Club honors Rockefeller’s legacy by setting aside 75 percent of its land for green space, following LEED-certified building standards, and generating the majority of its electricity from on-site renewable resources. “Dorado Beach will recall the original luxury of Puerto Rico,” says Eric Christensen, CEO of Dorado Beach Resort, which is developing the project, “and it will reintroduce guests and owners to Puerto Rico’s natural beauty and rich culture.” – From Robb Report