The hotel’s developer and RAI both realized that the financial success of the property would depend on maximizing the natural beauty of the site, and the creation of a resort-like atmosphere that would generate higher than usual daily rental rates and lead to higher occupancy rates.
Both recognized the opportunities afforded by the site for a larger than normal percentage of gulf-view rooms, realizing that this would entail the design of a building which was narrow and long, with tendencies for lengthy, un-attractive corridors and rooms located at far distances from vertical circulation points, difficult for both patrons and for efficient maintenance by housekeeping staff.
RAI designed a new 79-room hotel building which stretched along the property’s length into the Gulf, along a natural inlet located on its west side. The building was offset at its midpoint with a second vertical circulation hub that simultaneously provided the ability to provide direct Gulf views for 60% of the rooms, a break in corridor length as well as a centralized housekeeping and storage location.
Property amenities included a detached Tiki Bar structure including a limited service kitchen, a new pool with adjacent play and sport courts, as well as the construction of a new marina along the existing inlet.