Best Western plans posh hotel in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Best Western International Inc. will open a high-end hotel in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area this summer, a company executive said Thursday.

The seven-story hotel will have 105 guest rooms, a restaurant and lounge, a full spa and a swimming pool, and is aimed at business travelers, bankers and diplomats.

It will be managed by Haitians and will employ more than 50 local people after its expected opening in July or August, Best Western official Mark Williams said in a telephone interview from the company’s headquarters in Phoenix.

The new hotel is the latest step in Haiti’s efforts to develop its hotel sector after the devastating earthquake two years ago.

Marriott International Inc. announced plans in November for a $45 million, 173-room hotel, to be built in partnership with the Digicel mobile phone company. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2014.