Famed hospitality group Cipriani is investing $450 million into an elegant “Golden Age” hotel and casino in the fashionable resort of Punta del Este in Uruguay.
Cipriani is restoring the landmark Tudor-style San Rafael Hotel in Punta del Este into the Cipriani Ocean Resort, Club Residences and Casino complex with famed Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly.
A statement from the group says the project “includes the faithful reconstruction of the iconic hotel, once the glamorous destination for celebrities and politicians coming to Uruguay, as well as the preferred choice for South Americans and international visitors. The original design will be entirely preserved and complemented with beautiful residences, restaurants, spa, pools, boutiques and a casino.”
The hotel and the club residences will be decorated by Florentine architect Michele Bönan, and all the furniture will be produced by Italian artisans.
The first phase will include 164 hotel suites, then an additional 800,000 square feet of residences will be added on a second phase.
Started by Giuseppe Cipriani with Harry’s Bar in Venice in 1931 — famed as the “birthplace of the Bellini” — the group now has landmarked event spaces, luxury residential properties hotels and clubs around the world including in New York, Miami, LA, Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Ibiza, Mexico City, Monte Carlo in Monaco, Abu Dhabi and Dubai in United Arab Emirates, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.