Sonesta Great Bay Resort, which stood on the shore of Great Bay Beach overlooking Philipsburg for years, has now been completely demolished to make way for a new resort, anticipated to be a Planet Hollywood resort. The property was purchased by Sunwing Travel from the Maho Group in September 2017, shortly following hurricane Irma.
It has been rumored that Sunwing plans to build an all-inclusive Planet Hollywood branded 450-room luxury resort on the property that includes five restaurants, a 20,000 square foot casino and a Planet Hollywood Beach Club. The resort is currently scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2019, per Sint Maarten Minister Cornelius de Weever.
While Sunwing Travel has not formally announced that this property will indeed be a Planet Hollywood branded resort, they are a master hotel franchisor to the Planet Hollywood brand, and have stated in a February 2018 press release that they intend to establish a dominant position for Planet Hollywood in the luxury accommodation space. They have announced plans to open Planet Hollywood Beach Resort Costa Rica in the fall of 2018 and Planet Hollywood Resort Cancun in late Spring of 2019.
