Azulera Resort Village Costa Rica

 

Press Releases

Global Financial Group announces plans to develop $300 million luxury resort village in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - June 12, 2006 - Global Financial Group, Morristown, NJ, has announced plans to develop Azulera Resort Village in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The company revealed their plans on May 18 in San Jose, Costa Rica, before an audience of 170 leading Costa Rican government officials and dignitaries, including newly elected President Oscar Arias.

The $300-million resort village will overlook Brasilito Bay on the Pacific Coast, 40 miles from the international airport in Liberia. Spanning 557 acres (225 hectares), the community will feature the Hyatt Regency Azulera Resort & Spa, a Greg Norman-designed championship golf course, shops, condominiums, townhouses, villas, and private luxury homes. In addition, there will be a commercial village strip, which will offer residents access to the finest goods and services in a convenient and secure setting.

"We have assembled a dream team of designers, architects and hospitality companies, whose portfolios include some of the world's most celebrated resort destinations and golf courses," said Anil Kothari, president and chief executive officer of New Jersey-based Global Financial Group. With a collaboration of this caliber, Azulera will be the premier resort community on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast.

Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2007. The project's first phase-the hotel and golf course-is scheduled for completion by the end of 2008.

Pristine tropical forest

The Hyatt Regency Azulera will be the newest resort destination in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica's most coveted vacation destination. The bio-sensitive luxury resort will sit in a 47-acre tropical forest that stretches from mountain peaks to the rugged Pacific Coast. Nestled within a pristine forest, Hyatt Regency Azulera will provide an elegant, yet unobtrusive retreat, where guests can enjoy the area?s dramatic scenery.

"Few locations boast more spectacular landscapes," said Victor Lopez, senior vice president of development, Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Hyatt is thrilled to be offering guests a unique Costa Rica experience in Hyatt Regency style that includes exquisite facilities and impeccable service in this vacation paradise.

Elegant, with jungle tours nearby

Blurring the line between indoors and outdoors, the Hyatt Regency Azulera will feature high-end, low-rise buildings designed to showcase the beauty of the natural terrain. Driving up to the resort, guests will find a round, open-air reception, affording views of the encircling forest.

The Hyatt Regency Azulera will house 214 guestrooms and suites dispersed in clusters of freestanding, low-rise buildings. Each cluster will have its own courtyard and pool. Strolling through the gardens, guests will encounter a kaleidoscope of colors from bursts of native foliage.

Guestrooms and suites will reinforce the eloquent blending of indoors and out. Each spacious room will offer a comfortable sitting area, large desk and elegant furnishings crafted from indigenous hardwoods. In-room amenities will include Hyatt's Grand Bed, featuring luxurious Sealy Posturepedic mattress, down blankets, 250-thread-count triple sheeting and plush pillows. In each guestroom, sliding doors will open onto an expansive private terrace that blends into green landscapes and vibrant gardens. Guest rooms will include a plunge tub or hammock angled to visually capitalize on the area?s natural beauty.

Azulera's residential community will include between 800 and 1,000 condominiums, townhouses and single-family villas. The condominiums will be available in one, two and three-bedroom units. Each spacious accommodation will feature a gourmet kitchen and private terrace with sitting area and plunge tub. Condominiums also will house a living room and adjacent terrace with open-air dining area for sunlight by day and stargazing by night.

"From the outset, our goal was to design a resort community that complements the magnificent landscapes," said Patrick Burke, AIA, principal and studio head, Michael Graves & Associates. Guests will sit back in plush comfort and discover the panoramas and ecological wonders of a resort paradise.

Hyatt Regency Azulera's other features will include open-air restaurants, main pool with ocean views, fitness center overlooking the resort's private beach, high-end coffee shop and bakery, and spa. The holistic spa will offer rest and rejuvenation in steam room, sauna and Pompeian-style treatment rooms surrounding soothing tropical gardens.

Across the way from the reception area, meeting and banquet rooms will sit in a cluster around luxuriant gardens. Meeting rooms will feature large windows to ensure that business people confined to meetings all day can still enjoy views of the surrounding woodlands.

Greg Norman-designed golf course

Designed by golfing legend Greg Norman, the championship 18-hole, 7,132-yard Azulera course will challenge golfers with a diverse mix of terrain, including arroyo and mountain forest. Many of the holes, including the signature 18th, will offer players stunning views of Brasilito Bay and Isla Loros, the nearby island wildlife preserve.

Wedged between the mountains and Pacific Coast, the course will rise from two meters to an elevation of 100 meters. The undulating track will thread its way through arroyo and mangroves, then ascend through swaths of mountain forests. Described by Norman as breathtaking, the Azulera design strives to preserve the natural habitat, including, tropical forest, mangroves and other natural buffers.

After finishing their round, golfers will be able to dine or socialize in the clubhouse, a visual centerpiece perched on a mountain ridge and offering dramatic Pacific views. A pro shop, driving range and practice putting green also are planned.

"With its diverse mix of terrain, Azulera will offer golfers unparalleled visuals and challenges over its seaside-to-mountain course" explained Norman, World Golf Hall of Famer and president and chief executive officer of Greg Norman Golf Course Design. "We're delighted to be working on this extraordinary piece of Costa Rica.

Paradise found

At the Hyatt Regency Azulera, guests will stay as busy as they like. In additional to golf, recreation will include cantering along sprawling beaches and kayaking down mountain streams. Just off Guanacaste's Pacific Coast is an angler's Eden, teaming with marlins, tuna and sailfish. On nearby canopy tours, guests will view the jungle from the vantage point of indigenous monkeys and three-toed sloths. Guided nature hikes will take visitors on trails that zigzag past the waterfalls, delicate flowers and majestic woodlands of this extravagant refuge.

The Hyatt Regency Azulera Resort & Spa will be a bio-sensitive, luxury resort located in Guanacaste Province on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast, 40 miles from the Daniel Oduber International Airport in the nearby town of Liberia and, closer, the Tamarindo airport, situated within 15 minutes of the resort. The resort will house 214 guestrooms and suites and 64 condo hotel units. It will sit in a 47-acre tropical forest sandwiched between mountains and the rugged Pacific Coast. Along with stunning views, guests will enjoy a Greg Norman-designed, 18-hole golf course; luxury spa; gourmet restaurants; pools; meeting rooms, and ballroom ? all surrounded by pristine forests and vibrant tropical gardens.

About Global Hyatt Corporation

There are 215 Hyatt branded hotels and resorts (over 90,000 rooms) in 44 countries around the world, operating under the Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt brands. Currently, there are an additional 32 Hyatt hotels and resorts under development, including 11 new hotels in China. Hyatt Corporation (domestic U.S., Canada and Caribbean hotels) and Hyatt International Corporation (international properties) are subsidiaries of Chicago-based Global Hyatt Corporation. Global Hyatt Corporation is also the owner of Hyatt Vacation Ownership, Inc. operators of the Hyatt Vacation Club (timeshare and fractional residential product), Hyatt Equities, L.L.C. (hotel ownership), Select Hotel Group L.L.C. (which owns, operates and franchises AmeriSuites hotels, Hyatt Place and Summerfield Suites hotels) and U.S. Franchise Systems, Inc. (which franchises Hawthorn Suites, and Microtel Inns and Suites).

About Greg Norman Golf Course Design

During his 30-year professional golf career, Greg Norman amassed a total of 91 international victories, including two British Open Championships and 20 U.S. PGA Tour titles. The same commitment and determination that made him the No, 1 player in the world for 331 weeks and resulted in a World Golf Hall of Fame induction now propels his multinational company -- Greg Norman Golf Course Design (GNGCD) to similar achievements.

Established in 1987, GNGCD is recognized as one of the world's premier signature golf course design firms. The company is headquartered in Jupiter, Fla., with sister facilities and personnel in Sydney, Australia. To date, GNGCD has opened 51 courses for play around the globe and has projects under development in Mexico, Korea, China, Australia, Latin America, the United Arab Emirates, Poland and Spain. Norman has long held an environmentally friendly position throughout the design and construction of his golf courses, adhering to a least-disturbance approach that focuses on every opportunity to incorporate unique existing site features into the layout of the course.

About Michael Graves and Associates (MGA)

Founded by internationally renowned architect Michael Graves, Michael Graves & Associates has been at the forefront of architectural and interior design for more than 30 years, receiving more than 160 design awards, including the 2001 AIA Gold Medal and the 1999 National Medal of Arts. Since 1964, MGA has undertaken a wide variety of projects, including multi-use urban developments, corporate headquarters, hotels, libraries, theaters, museums, universities, healthcare facilities, sports and recreation facilities, and private residences.

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