Cover Story
“A new era in tourism” – Herman Bern
Two new luxury Westin Hotels in Costa del Este and Playa Bonita
Foundation “Buscando tu estrella” to hold an October fashion show
By Jacob Ehrler
Glen Champion, president Bern Hotels and Resorts; Herman Bern, president Grupo Bern; Osvaldo Librizzi, president of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Latin America.
A rendering of the Costa del
Este Westin Hotel, ready in 2012.
Last week Empresas Bern and Starwood Hotels & Resorts officially announced their agreement to build a new 200 room Westin Hotel in the Costa del Este (CDE) neighborhood of Panama City. This will be the third hotel that Bern is co-developing with the Starwood, following the 2010 opening of Le Méridien on Balboa Avenue in Panama City and the 611 room Westin Playa Bonita that is currently under construction on the shores just beyond Panama Pacifico, the London & Regional “new city” development across the Canal from Panama City.
There will be access between Panama Pacifico and the new Westin Hotel through the southern gate at Panama Pacifico, which provides access to the highway leading between the Inter American Highway at the Bridge of the Americas, past the hotel and to Veracruz Beach.
At the a press conference announcing of the newest CDE Westin, Herman Bern, President of Empresas Bern and Osvaldo Librizzi, President of Starwood for Latin America stressed the importance of this new project for the development of tourism in Panama. “This month we celebrate one year since the opening of Le Méridien Panama, the perfect setting to announce the opening of two new hotels Westin from Starwood chain. The arrival of these great brands to our country, represents a new era in tourism” said Herman Bern.
$40 million dollars will be invested in the CDE Westin, where construction work has already begun and completion is expected in 2012. Westin at Playa Bonita is even bigger, with over 600 rooms, six restaurants, a spa and a cost of nearly $100 million dollars. It should be completed at the end of 2011.
A rendering of the Playa Bonita Westin Hotel, ready in 2011.
Standards so high they started a “bed war”
Both hotels will offer the Westin’s “wellness on the road” advantages, including their brand Celestial Beds and Celestial in-room spas. It was the Westin chain that is credited with setting new high standard in 1999 for hotel bedding when it introduced the first-ever signature bed. Thus started the “bed wars” that eventually completely redefined the way the hotels compete for their guests.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the world’s leaders in the hotel industry. It has 966 properties in over 100 countries and owns such renown brand makes as Westin®, W®, Le Méridien®, St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection® , among others.
Empresas Bern and its Hotel and Resorts division currently operates eight hotels in Panama, among them Miramar Intercontinental, Gamboa Hotel & Resort and Le Méridien. Two new Westin Hotels will bring this number to ten hotels total.