The Dreams Curaçao Resort, Spa & Casino is a large resort hotel located in

Willemstad Willemstad ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the cap ...

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

. It opened in 1967 as the Curaçao Hilton,

History

The hotel's cornerstone was laid by

Prince Bernhard Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (later Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands; 29 June 1911 – 1 December 2004) was Prince of the Netherlands from 6 September 1948 to 30 April 1980 as the husband of Queen Juliana. They had four daughters to ...

in September 1965, and it was opened as the Curaçao Hilton on December 8, 1967, by Governor Nicolaas Debrot and

Conrad Hilton Conrad Nicholson Hilton (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American hotel magnate and politician who founded the Hilton Hotels chain. From 1912 to 1916, Hilton was a Republican representative in the first New Mexico Legislature ...

. The 200-room hotel was designed by the Puerto Rico architectural firm of

Toro Ferrer Toro y Ferrer was an architectural firm and one of the principal exponents of Puerto Rico's tropical modernism. Founded in 1945 by Osvaldo Toro FAIA (1914–1995), Miguel Ferrer FAIA (1914–2005) and Luis Torregrosa Casellas, the firm designed s ...

, in association with Ben Smit, a local

architect. Toro Ferrer had previously designed the first Hilton Hotel to be constructed outside the continental

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the

Caribe Hilton Hotel The Caribe Hilton is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and is owned by Park Hotels & Resorts and managed by Hilton Worldwide. History In early 1946, as part of the Puerto Rican industrialization effort known as Operation Bootstrap, the Puerto ...

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

(opened in 1949), while Ben Smit had been involved in the design of the Hotel Curaçao Intercontinental (currently

Plaza Hotel Curaçao Plaza Hotel Curaçao is a former hotel in Willemstad, Curaçao. It was constructed in the Waterfort, and opened on 12 October 1957 as Hotel Curaçao Intercontinental. It is the tallest building on the island. The hotel has changed ownership many ...

). The Curaçao Hilton was the third seaside hotel to open in Curaçao, after the Avila Hotel was inaugurated in 1949 and the Hotel Curaçao Intercontinental in 1955. The original building was a blend of typical Curaçao elements and contemporary architecture. The windows were inspired by the frontage line of houses on the Handelskade in

, Curaçao, while the main building material was concrete. The remains of the Fort Piscadera, an eighteenth-century fortification built to safeguard the Bay from attacks by English, Spanish and French invading forces, were restored and harmonized in the landscaping of the resort. The hotel changed ownership in 1983 and was renamed the Curaçao Concorde. In the following years it was consecutively renamed Curaçao Caribbean Resort and Curaçao Casino Resort until being branded Sheraton Curaçao Resort in 1999. Lionstone Hotels & Resorts took over the hotel and renamed it the Hilton Curaçao in 2003. It was renovated at a cost of $15 million in 2019 and renamed Dreams Curaçao Resort, Spa & Casino in late 2019.

Description

The main hotel complex is located on the shores of Piscadera Bay, but the resort stretches along the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

around the southern coast of the island. Recreational facilities include two private beaches (one at the Bay and the other adjacent to the Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort), three swimming pools, a dive school, two tennis courts, a miniature golf course, a Health Club, a spa and Curaçao Casino. Dinner facilities include Aqua (a buffet restaurant), Cielo (an Italian à la carte restaurant) and the Beach Bar & Grill. An extensive refurbishment has been carried out that replaced the original grid exterior consisting of arched windows for more open balconies. The interior and exterior were repainted in pastel colors. Construction of an additional south wing was planned for 2008, but cancelled due to a decline in visitor numbers due to the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. This wing would have contained 126 to 136 rooms, a new swimming pool and a partially enclosed / partially open air restaurant. It was to be located on the site of the current Health Club, Kidz Paradise and miniature golf course. Funds for the construction of the south wing were eventually redirected to renovation of the aging main building, including a replacement of the two original 1967 glass elevators.

References

*Curaçao Architectural Style. Fonk H, Van der Neut R. 1999. Curaçao: Curaçao Style Foundation. *One Century of Architecture on Curaçao. Gill, RG. 1999.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreams Curacao Resort Buildings and structures in Willemstad Hotels established in 1967 Underwater diving resorts Hotel buildings completed in 1967 1967 establishments in Curaçao Sheraton hotels Hotels in Curaçao 20th-century architecture in the Netherlands