New Ritz-Carlton Resort Opens in Turks & Caicos

Ritz-Carlton Hotels will enter the Turks and Caicos luxury market with a 125-suite boutique property on the uninhabited island of West Caicos, a 20-minute boat ride from the island of Providenciales, where the international flights arrive.

The property, set to open in 2007, will be called Molasses Reef, a Ritz-Carlton Resort, and also will feature 60 Ritz-Carlton-branded residential villas.

For the first time in nearly 100 years, the approximately 11-square-mile, 6,000-acre island of West Caicos will open its shores to a new settlement. West Caicos features some of the most sublime, virgin beaches and brilliant azure water in the Caribbean.

Only 7% of the island´s 6,000 acres will be developed, according to Simon Cooper, president and chief operating officer of Ritz-Carlton, which will operate the resort.

The entire site, which will be called the West Caicos Reserve, will include two restaurants, a full-service spa, villas with access to all hotel services, single-family homes, a marina and a waterfront village with shops and restaurants and suites overlooking the ocean.