Posted by: Editor on Jun 18, 2008 – 01:48 PM
lodging  Royal Island Partners LP, an affiliate of The Staubach Co. and its development arm, Cypress Equities, has bought a 50 percent stake in an upscale hotel in the Bahamas for about $7.5 million.

The hotel, called Rock House, is a nine-room hotel on Harbour Island catering to celebrities and guests seeking privacy and pampering.

The hotel’s co-developers, J. Wallace Tutt III and Don Purdy, who own the other 50 percent stake, will continue to manage the hotel.

“Rock House mirrors the exclusivity and the ‘anything you ask for’ service at Royal Island, a 430-acre private island residential and resort community with 15 miles of coastline that we’re developing 30 minutes away by water taxi,” said Chris Maguire, chief executive of Cypress Equities.

When the resort is complete, guests at Royal Island’s 83-room Montage Royal Island Bahamas resort and Rock House guests will share each other’s services and amenities, including restaurants, a spa, beach club, tennis court and an 18-hole golf course.

Rock House was originally built in the early 1940s as a bed-and-breakfast on Harbour Island, famed for its three-mile long pink sand beach. The property was acquired in July 2002 by Miami builder J. Walter Tutt III, known for creating estate homes for the late fashion designer Gianni Versace and the singer-actress Cher. Tutt combined the hotel with the adjacent Catholic School House and reopened the Rock House as a boutique hotel and restaurant.

The centerpiece of the plantation colonial-styled hotel is a 40-foot by 20-foot heated swimming pool surrounded by private cabanas. Complimentary wireless high-speed Internet access is available throughout the hotel and in most of the nine rooms and suites.

Room rates range from $380 to $950 a night, not including tax or gratuity.

Web sites: www.royalislandbahamas.com, www.rockhousebahamas.com