CARIBBEAN hotel group Elegant Hotels is planning to treble the size of its portfolio to 15 properties after identifying key islands for expansion.
The company – which currently has four hotels on Barbados and one on Antigua – claims St Lucia, Grenada, Tobago and St Vincent would all be suitable for its upmarket brand.
Recently-appointed chief executive officer Robert Scavone said: “We have spent the last two years making sure our branding is consistent and that we are recognised as a group that offers a particular kind of four-and-a-half-star product.
“We have now decided to export this prototype to certain select locations where we feel our kind of product would be successful.
“Britain is currently our biggest market, with two-thirds of our guests coming from the UK, so we have obviously targeted islands which are popular with the British, but have not ruled out anywhere.”
Scavone added that the group had not yet decided whether it would take over existing properties or build new ones. “We need to identify not only the island, but where on the island we want to be located before we decide whether to build or acquire,” he said.
Elegant Hotels has made a multi-million dollar investment in the four Barbadian hotels it took over from St James Beach Hotels two years ago.
The 166-room Tamarind Cove hotel on the island’s west coast has just reopened following a $4m refit.
Money has also been spent upgrading the Colony Club, Coconut Creek and Crystal Cove.
Elegant’s other two properties are the deluxe Turtle Beach on Barbados’ south coast and the Trade Winds hotel in Antigua. In total, the group now commands a bed stock of 600 rooms, making its Barbados’ largest hotel group.