One of the most ambitious entertainment and hospitality developments in the Bahamas and certainly the largest casino resort in the Caribbean, the Baha Mar, finally opened. In fact, it has been opening in phases since April 2017 but its third hotel, the high-end Rosewood hotel, has just opened its doors to the public and welcomes its first guests on June 1.
With the completion of its third hotel, the resort now has the staggering 2,300 hotel rooms, suites and villas. Along with the Rosewood Baha Mar, it boasts two more brands, the Grand Hayatt and SLS. The 1,000-acre complex is located on the island of New Providence, only 5 miles away from the Bahamas’ capital of Nassau. It comes with more than 40 bars, restaurants and lounges, a 100,000-square-foot casino, a spa facility, a convention centre, and an 18-hole golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus. While it sounds like a really successful casino and hotel complex in a truly heavenly part of the Caribbean, things have not been always so blissful for the resort.
The project was announced in 2010 and groundbreaking took place the following year. After the original investor filed for bankruptcy, however, the construction stalled in 2015 when the resort was almost complete. Although the initial investment was $2.6 billion, it was estimated that in order to be completed, the project would require a total investment of $4.2 billion. After the change in ownership, the Hong Kong-based conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited became the operator of the project. Finally, in 2017, the first facilities opened with more hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues expected to be finished in phases. Last week, the final hotel planned for the Baha Mar resort held its grand opening.
Luxury Casino to Host Poker Tournaments
The huge, luxury resort hosts one of the largest and most exclusive casinos in the region. The gaming floor offers high-stakes games, nearly 1,200 slot machines and 119 live tables. In addition to the high-end casino, the property has the Baha Mar Sportsbook by William Hill, where punters can place bets while watching live streams of different matches and sports events. With all its offerings, including the casino, the Baha Mar resort seems to be a real competition to the other large hospitality, entertainment and gaming hub in the region, the Atlantis Bahamas.
While Atlantis is located on the small Paradise Island, Baha Mar sits on Cable Beach on the main island. While the two resorts are less than 10 miles away from each other, local authorities and tourism experts believe that they would be both profitable instead of competing over the same market. Interestingly, Baha Mar was chosen in February for the new venue of partypoker’s Caribbean Poker Party. It is interesting because another extremely popular live poker tournament is held annually at the Atlantis, the PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship.
Moving from the Dominican Republic to the Baha Mar Casino, the Caribbean Poker Party will take place from November 9 through November 18. The festival doubled its guarantee to $10 million, which now exceeds the announced guaranteed prize pool of PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship ($9 million).
