PANAMA GETS HARD ROCK’S FIRST LATIN AMERICAN HOTEL PROPERTY


News from Panama / Sunday, June 5th, 2011

Another new hotel opened here in Panama and like the new Trump development, Panama is again the  the first Latin American location selected.  this just in from the Visitante.

Hard Rock Hotel Megápolis to open soon behind Multicentro

Hard Rock Hotel Megápolis
 
Hard Rock Hotels was announced as the franchise that will operate the enormous Megápolis building.

Hard Rock International is making its entrance into the Latin American hotel market in Panama with the Hard Rock Hotel Megápolis. Located next to the Decápolis Hotel behind Multicentro Mall, the hotel will be “Central America’s biggest hotel, one of the ten biggest in the world and will also classify among the top five tallest hotels in the world”, stated General Manager Roko Setka III. It should be open near the end of the year.

The Hard Rock Hotel deal was struck by Megápolis Investment Group, owned by Riad Elhayek, who also owns Hard Rock Café Panama, the Radisson Decapolis Hotel and has decades of experience trading in the Colón Free Zone.

The property will feature around 1,500 rooms. There will be eight bars and/or restaurants and the 62nd floor will feature a discotheque that will be the tallest nightclub in the Americas. The Hard Rock Hotel, just like the Decapolis, will be connected to the Multicentro Mall via a sky bridge. The ninth floor of Multicentro will become a fair and convention center to compliment the property’s offer and capacity.

Hard Rock Hotels & CasinosMichael Shindler, Executive Vice President of Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos.

The Hard Rock Hotel in Panama will work in conjunction with the Decameron Hotel brand. The enormous new property will also serve as an intermediary lodging for tourists visiting the Decameron Panama and other Decameron Properties in Latin America and the Caribbean, taking advantage of Panama’s privileged location and function as an aero hub.

Panama is blessed, Hard Rock is blessed

Michael Shindler, Executive Vice President of Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos, explained that the goal is to expand in major cities around the world, and that Hard Rock chose Panama as the first city in Latin America for its “quality and depth for investment.” He said, “Opening the property in Panama is a springboard. It puts Hard Rock Hotels on the map in Latin America. Panama seems to be blessed — and now Hard Rock is blessed.”

Shindler’s grandmother was Panamanian, which makes the project particularly special for him. “It’s exciting,” he told The Visitor. “Every transaction has its own life. One where there’s an emotional connection is rare, and I found that here.”