The Wyndham Company has opened the 600 room Rio Mar Beach Golf Resort and Spa and Rio Grande Puerto Rico. This is their first venture on the island.

The 500 acre resort property will undergo a 36 million dollar redevelopment over the next years with more than 15 million earmarked for 2007 alone. The company plans to overhaul the casino with state of the art facilities and improve guest rooms and golf facilities.

The large investment in the island is expected to create a great employment opportunity for Puerto Ricans for the next many years.

Peter Strebel, President of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts explained, ""We look forward to working closely with the government of Puerto Rico and its tourism officials to continue developing the Wyndham Rio Mar into a world-class destination that will attract thousands of travelers to Rio Grande every year, promoting the island's celebrated spirit of hospitality,".

The resort and hotel company recently purchased a share in the resort owned buy Rio Del Mar Associates and will operate the hotel under the Wyndham name. The resort was originally opened in 1996. Rio Del Mar Associates will continue to partially own and manage the property. Wyndham resort will develop an adjacent 26 acres into a Wyndham timeshare resort.

Puerto Rico Govt. officials say that the large investment is further proof the Puerto Rico is a solid and profitable business environment that offers long term business stability. The govt. has expressed satisfaction with the news, and has welcomed Wyndham with great enthusiasm.

The re opening was celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony and festivities with prominent local officials and top company executives.