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Kensington opening moved to Dec.
Kensington Saipan Hotel’s new target date for opening is now December 2015, according to its general manager, Matthew Park, who said that renovation work on the former Palms Resort Saipan continues.
“Hopefully, we will finish by December and have an opening ceremony for the hotel,” Park said.
South Korean investment giant E Land Group had hoped to have its grand opening this October or November, as the renovations was estimated to last at least six months. The renovation will cost between $20 million and $30 million.
E Land broke ground on its multi-million renovation of the property in April this year, rebranding it as Kensington, E Lands’ popular hotel brand in South Korea.
A total of 313 rooms are being renovated. Once the renovations are done, the hotel will provide about 250 to 300 job opportunities.
“Now we are doing construction phase for the lobby areas and all the rooms. We are now doing the design for the interior. We cleared already, just construction such as breaking in the walls to make bigger space,” Park said.
Marianas Visitors Authority managing director Perry Tenorio said they welcome the news that Kensington may possibly start operations before the year ends.
“The additional rooms will allow us to expand and have more visitors during the peak periods and we look forward to their opening,” Tenorio said.
Once online, E-Land expects the former Saipan Nikko Hotel in San Roque to add much-needed hotel rooms to the CNMI’s rebounding tourism industry and create hundreds of job opportunities for Saipan residents.
The lack of hotel rooms is an issue that not only turns off potential tourists but hurts the markets as well, according to AVIAREPS Marketing Garden founder and chair Michael Merner during MVA’s general membership meeting in July last year.
Merner noted that the lack of hotel rooms in the CNMI particularly affects Korea, China, Japan, and Russia, while Taiwan, one of the newest markets for the CNMI, lacks flights to and from Saipan.
The cavalry, however, appears to be on its way as new investors Best Sunshine International, Ltd., Honest Profit, and Alter City Group are constructing more rooms that will be available in the future.
