Palm Beach – Located on one of Aruba’s most pristine beaches, the former Wyndham Resort, Spa & Casino, currently known as the Aruba Resort, Spa & Casino will be flying a Westin Flag within a year.
The property was purchased earlier this year by Belfonti Capital Partners and as of Friday is under management of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Starwood’s Area Managing Director for South Florida & the Caribbean, Graeme Davis, together with The Aruba Resort, Spa & Casino General Manager Rob Smith, announced Thursday that in the next year the hotel would undergo a huge transition, with more than $20 Million being spent on renovations. These renovations will begin in the guest rooms, which will soon feature Westin’s signature Heavenly Beds® and Heavenly Baths, as well as brand new furniture and fixtures. Changes will also be made to the public spaces, such as the lobby, conference areas and ballrooms, as well as the outside pool area. Additional guest services will include the 3,500-square-foot Intermezzo Day Spa, Aruba’s largest full-service luxury spa and a state-of-the-art WestinWORKOUT® Powered by Reebok fitness facility.
Plans are also in the works for the construction of a timeshare resort, which will be run by Starwood Vacation Ownership, a division of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. This $100 million project will consist of 250 timeshare units, with 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units, built adjacent to the resort. Timeshare sales will begin in early 2007, and Starwood is already marketing the Aruba Resort, Spa & Casino on its website, where over 6 million Starwood Preferred Guest Members can book their trip.
For Davis, the Aruba Resort, Spa & Casino is the perfect site to become a prestigious Westin Resort. “It is a magnificent property, it has tremendous potential, excellent infrastructure, an incredible team and the additional opportunity for real estate development with a time share parcel next to us.”
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world, with approximately 850 properties in more than 95 countries and 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. That impressive amount of employees is now even larger with the addition of The Aruba Resort, Spa & Casino’s current 450 employees. Davis noted that it was very important to keep all of the resort’s employees, who will help Starwood set new standards in the hospitality industry on the island. 
“We are very excited to add the Aruban community to our family,” Davis noted. “The employees,” Rob Smith explained, “were incredibly excited with the opportunities, not only for us, but for Aruba as a destination, to have the Westin Flag.” Davis has already spoken to the employees about the benefits of being a Starwood employee, a Starwood and Westin Resort. To acquaint them with the Westin and Starwood product, the employees will undergo extensive training. Leading them will be Smith, who is currently acting as General Manager of the Aruba Resort & Casino and who will retain his position when the property transitions to Westin.
This change will take place anywhere between 6 months to a year from now, and will surely serve to further establish our island as one of the leading tourism destinations in the Caribbean.
