The seaside resort city of Punta del Este in Uruguay could soon feature another casino after luxury hospitality firm, Cipriani SA, reportedly unveiled a plan that is to see it transform the historic San Rafael Hotel into the much larger Cipriani Ocean Resort, Club Residences and Casino.

Ample additions:

According to a Monday report, the Luxembourg-based operator revealed that it has teamed up with celebrated Uruguayan architect, Rafael Vinoly, in hopes of spending approximately $450 million to add luxury suites and residences as well as a casino, restaurants and retail space to the existing Tudor-style structure first opened in 1948.

Cipriani SA reportedly detailed that the first phase of this Uruguay redevelopment is due to start in August and will encompass the construction of 164 adjacent hotel suites followed by the addition of some 800,000 sq ft of residences. It explained that all of these are to feature embellishments from Florentine architect, Michele Bonan, alongside bespoke Italian furniture with a provisional opening date sometime in 2021.

Casino challenge:

PageSix.com reported that Cirpiani SA, which was established in the 1930s and is additionally responsible for multiple luxury properties in the United States, Hong Kong, Spain, Mexico, Monaco and Saudi Arabia, subsequently plans to enter the race to secure a casino license for its new-look Cipriani Ocean Resort, Club Residences and Casino in hopes of bringing a fourth such gambling facility to Punta del Este.

Truthful transformation:

Cirpiani SA reportedly used an official press release to declare that the coming transformation is intended to encompass a ‘faithful reconstruction of the iconic hotel’ that will entail preserving the ‘original design’ of the San Rafael Hotel while complementing its existing grandeur ‘with beautiful residences, restaurants, spa, pools, boutiques and a casino.’