Jamaica is seeing a renewed influx of all-inclusive accommodations.

Jamaica experienced a record-breaking year in 2006 with more than three million arrivals, including one million from the U.S. alone, but it’s not resting on its laurels. Last year roughly 1,000 new rooms were added to the island’s inventory, with another 1,200 planned for this year. Over the next five years, Jamaica expects to see another 15,000 rooms added. With arrival numbers soaring through the roof, it’s no wonder hotels are being built at lightning speed.

This year’s JAPEX, Jamaica’s annual tourism exchange meeting, featured a number of Spanish-owned all-inclusive chains that are currently building more rooms on the island. Collectively these properties represent the largest transformation in the history of the Jamaican tourism industry, with aggressive marketing campaigns aimed at attracting visitors from Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany and Eastern Europe, as well as North America.

Most of these properties are concentrated along the island’s north coast, For example, the Riu group has two resorts in Negril - Club Riu and Riu Tropical Bay- and another in Ocho Rios.

In the town of Lucea, the Fiesta Hotel Group has broken ground on the first phase of its Grand Palladium resort, which will open at the end of the year.  In the Montego Freeport area, Fuerte Hotels is building two all-inclusive properties as part of the Secrets brand targeted to the adults-only market. Managed by AMResorts, the 350-suite properties will open in 2009. They represent the first foray into Jamaica for Fuerte, which already manages resorts in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.  

Elsewhere, Iberostar in May opened the first of three resorts when the 350-room all-inclusive Iberostar Rose Hall Beach made its debut next to the Ritz Carlton Golf and Spa Resort in Montego Bay, about 20 minutes from the airport. The all-inclusive beachfront resort will be the company’s first property in Jamaica. Phase One, which cost $200 million, includes three restaurants, a cigar bar, infinity pool, an 800-seat theater, and tennis courts. When complete, the $850 million project will add a total of 950 rooms to Rose Hall in Montego Bay. 

Further east along the coastline, the five-star all-inclusive Gran Bahia Principe near Runaway Bay opened earlier this year with nearly 600 rooms, seven restaurants, five bars, a disco and an amphitheatre. The Pinero Group complex known as Hotel Bahia Principe is scheduled for completion in 2009 with a total of 2,000 hotel rooms, making it the largest property on the island. “Apart from our size, our stand-out feature is the way we target families by not separating adults and kids as they do in other all-inclusive resorts,” says Vanessa Cardoso da Silva, sales manager for the resort. 

The Spanish chains aside, indigenous growth is also occurring in most of Jamaica’s individual properties and major resort chains. For example, Half Moon in Rose Hall introduced a new spa earlier this summer. Costing $4 million, the project has transformed the resort’s signature villa, Fern Tree House, into a 68,000-square-foot sanctuary for the mind and body. Guests at Half Moon can get more than $1,000 in credits when booking the Summer Break Villas package valid through Dec. 15. 

Also in Rose Hall, the Palmyra Resort & Spa is the island’s first luxury beachfront residential community, sitting on 16 acres of pristine waterfront. The Sabal Palm and Silver Palm buildings, the development’s first phase, will open later this year. Nearby is The Shoppes at Rose Hall, a new, $600 million shopping complex with a diverse mix of stores from luxury to duty-free as well as several gourmet restaurants.  

Jamaica’s two all-inclusive powerhouses—SuperClubs and Sandals—also aren’t resting on their laurels when it comes to expansion. SuperClubs this year unveiled plans for its second Rooms resort. Located in the former Negril Inn on the famed seven-mile beach, the renovated property will open on Dec. 15 with 70 rooms, including family suites, a pool, hot tub, restaurant, gym and conference facilities.

“Since launching our first Rooms in Ocho Rios, we have been actively looking for additional opportunities to expand this affiliate brand,” says John Issa, SuperClubs’ executive chairman. “The central tenet is to broaden the hospitality options by proving a convenient base for independent travelers looking for affordable getaways.” The new Rooms will operate on a Continental Plan (breakfast included) and will market to singles, couples and families. 

In other Super Club news, after a $20 million facelift, Breezes Runaway Bay reopened earlier this year with a new low-rise 30-room block facing the western beach, which was the clothing-optional beach prior to renovations. The major overhaul also included expanded veranda suites with plunge pools, wireless Internet in all rooms, new restaurants, two freshwater swimming pools, wedding gazebos and a revamped spa. To celebrate the reopening, the resort is offering 30 percent off rack rates starting at $183 per person.

Jumping on the “mancations” bandwagon, Breezes Runaway Bay recently introduced a “Halftime with the Guys” package, starting at $999 per person for a four-night stay, The package includes ATV off-road lessons through the jungles of Ocho Rios, golfing at the resort’s 18-hole course, sampling Jamaican cigars, a tour of the Appleton rum factory and passes to neighboring Hedonism 3 for late-night entertainment. All-inclusive rates are based on double-occupancy and a three-room group booking. 

Next door to Breezes in Runaway Bay, FDR Resorts is offering free nights for families staying at either Franklyn D. Resort & Spa or the Pebbles Resort. Guests who arrive through Dec. 20 and book a minimum of five nights get one night free. For those planning a wedding at the resort and traveling with 10 or more adults, the “Honeymoon on the House” package includes a free stay for the newlyweds in an oceanfront two-bedroom honeymoon suite. 

For its part, Sandals is upgrading and refurbishing most of its resorts in Jamaica, even those that are fairly new. On the island’s unspoiled south coast, the European Village at Sandals Whitehouse unveiled its first Fine Arts Gallery for those interested in enhancing more than their tan. Live art auctions and art enrichment lectures are offered to guests. Ten new St. James River Suites debuted in April at Sandals Royal Caribbean. At Sandals Negril, 25 River Suites opened June 15 in two categories, including the Penthouse Ocean’s Edge, a one-bedroom suite with a 42-inch plasma TV screen. Suites in both properties include four-poster mahogany beds, spacious bathrooms with hot tubs, and a pantry where a dedicated butler can stock the room with snacks and drinks.

Sandals Montego Bay, the original Sandals property, now features a new portfolio of suites that evoke Jamaica during the glamorous 1950s. Designed by Edward Durrell Stone, who also created Radio City Music Hall and the Museum of Modern Art, the Bay Roc hotel was once the tropical playground of the fabulously wealthy. “When [Sandals Chairman] Butch Stewart first purchased the Bay Roc in 1981, many of the cottages were unavailable to us since they were still privately owned,” says Horace Peterkin, general manager. “We’ve finally been able to acquire this enclave of cottages and have refurbished them to deliver the level of luxury that guests of Sandals have come to enjoy.”

Sandals Montego Bay’s Bay Roc Villas are available in eight categories, with the top two offering butler service and VIP airport transfers. Two Prime Ministers suites set the gold-standard for luxury with a sprawling sundeck, grand bedrooms and marble walk-in showers. The six Presidential suites sit on a stretch of shoreline with stone patios nestled on private lawns. “After you spend time in these villas, you can almost feel what travel was like in the heyday of the 1950s,” Peterkin says.