Acquisitions & Hotel Openings

Amble Signs West Paces to Manage Isla Palenque

CHICAGO, IL - March 9, 2010 - Burgeoning resort development company Amble Resorts has contracted the hospitality experts West Paces Hotel Group to manage Amble's sophisticated, environmentally sensitive debut resort community, The Resort at Isla Palenque.

The collaboration is noteworthy for its marriage of Amble's unique, visionary ideas with West Paces' experience and well-known service standards. Amble, founded by Ben Loomis in 2007, is a new resort development company that is committed to the mission of creating sustainable accommodations for discerning travelers. West Paces, an established giant in the hospitality industry whose leadership hails from The Ritz-Carlton Company, has long prided itself on providing an unparalleled level of personalized service to guests. This combination makes The Resort at Isla Palenque an unmatched resort real estate opportunity for homebuyers now, and for travelers once the hotel opens in 2012.

Amble's selection of West Paces as their management team is sure to have significant impact, not only for homebuyers and resort guests, but for the resort industry at large. Amble's vision - uniting environmentally sustainable concepts with chic, high-end design and comfort - now has support from lauded hospitality veterans like West Paces Chairman and CEO Horst Schulze.

"More than a passing trend, the green movement is creating far-reaching change in the hospitality industry," says Schulze, hotel management legend and former president, COO and founding member of The Ritz-Carlton Company. "I'd been looking for a company with innovative ideas; one that can provide guests with a sustainable, close-to-nature experience without compromising the luxury they deserve. When I learned about Amble Resorts and their plans for Isla Palenque I said, 'This is the one.'"

West Paces Hotel Group will manage every aspect of the resort, such as the hotel, spa, dining, rental program, private in-home services, the yacht club, the organic farm and nature preserve, as well as transport on and off the island and delivery of mainland supplies to the secluded Isla Palenque community.

Still, the resort will still maintain its individuality. "The island itself and our mission for its development are too unique to fit any existing brand," says Loomis. "Both Amble and West Paces believe that it is best to keep The Resort at Isla Palenque an independent hotel. But the same expertise that West Paces brings to their Capella and Solis brands will be brought to Isla Palenque, ensuring a level of quality that no other resort in Panama can boast. We're pretty excited."

The Resort at Isla Palenque will be an integrated, immersion-in-nature eco-resort experience, and with West Paces Hotel Group management offering their high-level, personalized service, guests and residents will have the best of both worlds: nature and nurture.

About Amble Resorts
Amble was founded by Benjamin Loomis in 2007 to develop and own unique upscale hotels and resorts that provide ecologically and culturally sensitive travel experiences. http://www.amble.com

Amble's new Panama real estate project, The Resort at Isla Palenque, will be a secluded and sustainable resort community with a unique boutique hotel, ingeniously designed residences, and sumptuous amenities.http://www.islapalenque.com

About West Paces Hotel Group
The West Paces Hotel Group was founded in 2002 by Horst Schulze, former president and COO of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, in concert with a team comprised of former key Ritz-Carlton executives. West Paces was created to develop and operate hotels in select upscale market segments, and has successfully launched two luxury hotel brands, Capella and Solis. http://www.westpaceshotels.com

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