Hyatt done with assessment; next up is facilities upgrade

Hyatt Regency Saipan general manager Guillaume Delemarle, left, shakes hands with Emma Perez of 500 Sails. Both 500 Sails and and Boonie Babies will be the beneficiaries of the hotel’s fundraising efforts this month. (CHRYSTAL MARINO)

Kobe Portopia Hotel Corp., which owns the Hyatt Regency Saipan, will reportedly inject $6.2 million into the hotel in 2023 to kick off renovation works and facility upgrades at the Garapan landmark, according to the hotel’s general manager, Guillaume Delemarle.

Speaking at the hotel’s annual Christmas tree lighting celebration last Thursday, Delemarle said that, in the process of assessing the hotel’s buildings, they had come to realize they wanted to upgrade the now 50-year-old building so it may continue to remain operational and stable for the next 40 years.

He assured that the Hyatt Regency Saipan was found safe during the assessment and it is their desire to maintain that safety but they want to enhance that aspect of their operation, with more thought on more efficient emergency technologies such as sprinklers and fire alarms, as well as enhance the room comfortability of customers, and overall hotel efficiency through the addition of a new power plant (power supply) and reverse osmosis system (water supply).

“So what we’re doing is just making the hotel more comfortable. So that will be the first phase, and after that will come a second phase of rooms design, which we already started, but it will take a few more years just to make sure. We want this hotel to be the best on the island. The whole community has been so supportive of us, and now we want to give back,” he added.

He said the initial assessment of the hotel is now complete and now they are in touch with architects with construction companies and the Hyatt in Hong Kong to help with the design.

“So it’s all happening,” he added.

He estimates Phase 1 of the renovations to take about three years, “and after that we’ll start Phase 2, which will be the design. But it will take three years to get the goods on the island…there’s a lot of things—to put the investment plan together. What I’m very happy about is that our owner is very supportive, and he already committed to $6.2 million for next year only. So that is awesome…that is very good news. …It is happening, and we are very happy with that.”

The announcement of the renovation was mentioned during the tree-lighting ceremony, which was attended by hotel guests, several families, friends, and employees as well as the non-profit organizations 500 Sails, and Boonie Babies, which will be the beneficiaries of Hyatt’s fundraising from Dec. 1 to Jan. 21, 2023.

An earlier report stated that, as part of the lease contract agreement, which was signed only last Oct. 8, 2021, a total of $45 million is being set aside for the construction and renovation of Hyatt Regency Saipan.

Hyatt is celebrating this year 42 year of service in the CNMI.