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Este informe no está disponible en español. CARIBBEAN BUSINESS Sol Melia Wants Another 31 Acres At Coco Beach For 282 Timeshare VillasSpanish Hotel Chain Is Eyeing Cendant Corp. To Build Its Timeshare InventoryBy EVELYN GUADALUPE-FAJARDO April 17, 2003 Paradisus Puerto Rico (Sol Melia), Puerto Rico’s first all-inclusive resort, is in the process of purchasing an additional 31 acres at Coco Beach to build 282 timeshare villas in the second phase of the project. According to a source, Sol Melia of Spain has a verbal agreement with local industrialist Arturo Diaz, who owns a 1,000-acre peninsula at Coco Beach in Rio Grande, to buy the 31 acres. In fact, it was one of the reasons why Sol Melia agreed in 1997 to buy 100 of Diaz’s 1,000 acres to build the all-inclusive resort. However, no such agreement has been signed. CARIBBEAN BUSINESS learned Sol Melia has been talking to Cendant Corp.’s hospitality services division, one of the world’s leading franchisers of timeshare exchange and development companies, to develop its timeshare villas. If everything runs smoothly, Sol Melia would have vacation ownership company Fairfield Resorts (acquired by Cendant in 2001) as the primary developer of its timeshare inventory. Cendant may be Sol Melia’s first choice to develop the timeshares at Coco Beach, but there are others interested in the job. In 2001, CARIBBEAN BUSINESS revealed Westgate Resorts, a leading timeshare resort company in Orlando, was seeking to expand its portfolio outside the U.S. mainland and had selected Puerto Rico as the ideal place from which to launch its product in Latin America. Westgate had been negotiating with Diaz to buy the same 31 acres next to Paradisus Puerto Rico. No deal was finalized, however, allegedly because Diaz was asking too much money for the land. This Caribbean Business article appears courtesy of Casiano Communications.
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