Leading Hotels of the World Adds Tortuga Bay to Their Portfolio

Oct. 11, 2006 – A small tropical enclave of pleasure has been chosen as one of The Leading Hotels of the World by the exclusive and demanding organization. Tortuga Bay, 15 casually elegant beachfront villas encompassing 50 rooms decorated by famed couturier Oscar de la Renta, is the first Dominican hotel to be accepted into the famed luxury hotel collection.

“We are pleased to welcome Tortuga Bay as one of our newest members,” said Paul M. McManus, president and CEO of The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. “This quietly elegant enclave within Puntacana Resort & Club is a fitting addition to our portfolio.”

Tortuga Bay is the latest in a series of new developments in the popular PUNTACANA Resort & Club, the 15,000-acre resort located on the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic. A new oceanfront Tom Fazio-designed golf course is under construction, complementing the acclaimed La Cana seaside course designed by P.B. Dye.

Five miles of white sand beach are fringed by groves of coconut palms, while offshore translucent green waters offer excellent snorkeling and fishing.

Six Senses Spa Opens
Also just opening is the new Six Senses Spa, recognized as the number one spa chain in the world. The spa is exclusive in the Dominican Republic to Tortuga Bay and the PUNTACANA Resort & Club.

The new Tortuga Bay offers guests an unrivalled vacation experience. Starting with a personal welcome at Punta Cana International Airport, guests are taken directly to their private villas, where they are registered and introduced to their own villa manager (one manager per every two villas). With interiors designed by resident and famed couturier Oscar de la Renta, each room is bright and airy, with oversized coralline stone bathrooms, separate showers, bathtubs and Jacuzzis.

Extraordinary cuisine is served at Tortuga Bay’s exclusive Bamboo Restaurant. In addition, eight other restaurants and five bars are available to guests as a change of pace. Breakfast is served, if desired, in guests’ own villa by their personal villa manager.

The resort also offers a wide range of sports and family activities including a tennis center with lighted clay-caliche courts, horseback riding, a children’s petting zoo, and a 1,000 acre nature preserve with hiking trails through pristine tropical forests and clear natural water springs. A variety of snorkeling and scuba diving options are available at our coral reefs or at the recently scuttled WWII ship “Enriquillo,” sunk by the resort in a major environmental project to restore and protect the area’s precious resources.

“What is especially thrilling about our being chosen to be one of The Leading Hotels of the World,” said Paola Rainieri, one of the Rainieri family, developers of the resort and Director of Public Relations, “is the fact that of the 355 hotels which applied for acceptance last year, only 24 – a mere seven percent – were accepted, due to the company’s exacting level of quality.”

Punta Cana – the Caribbean’s New Hot Spot
Publications whose demographics match those of Leading Hotels’ customers have discovered the area’s growing popularity:

“The debut of the Tortuga Bay hotel on the east coast of the Dominican Republic is making waves in all the right places.” (VOGUE, June 2006).

“…Tortuga Bay creates an isolated oasis…the only contact to the outside world is a golf cart, a satellite TV hookup and a cell phone connection to a concierge.” (TRAVEL & LEISURE, June 2006).

To make reservations, please call 1-888-442-2262, e-mail reservationstb@puntacana.com or visit www.puntacana.com.

SOURCE Leading Hotels of the World