Sandals Resorts International (SRI) says it is adding three new hotels to its Jamaica portfolio that will create over 2,000 jobs and increase the country’s room count by more than 900.

The development, Sandals said, will bring its hotel count in Jamaica to 14 with more than 3,400 rooms and represents a doubling-down on its commitment to Jamaica.

The properties — the former Jewels Dunn’s River in Ocho Rios, Jewels Runaway Bay Beach Resort & Waterpark, and prime beachfront land adjacent to Jewels Dunn’s River — were acquired last year.

Jewels Runaway Bay will be transformed and operated under the Beaches brand, while Jewels Dunn’s River will be Sandalised — meaning a full upgrade to the award-winning brand’s standards — and operated under its previous name, Sandals Dunn’s River. The adjacent beachfront property will be developed and operated as Sandals Royal Dunn’s River which, the resort group’s Executive Chairman Adam Stewart said, will set the bar in terms of hospitality in the chain’s 40-year history.

In reference to Sandals Dunn’s River, Stewart said the property “holds special meaning to our family because its history is the story of Jamaica’s evolution as a travel powerhouse”.

Noting that his father, Gordon “Butch” Stewart, who passed in January this year, grew up on the beach in Ocho Rios, Adam Stewart said “this hotel, the first of its kind when it was built in the 1950s, captured the era’s glamour and sparked his [Butch Stewart’s] imagination. When it became available, we jumped at the chance to bring the hotel back into the Sandals fold.”

Stewart said the new Sandals Dunn’s River will receive a top-to-bottom renovation, with the adjacent ocean-front land transformed into an additional brand new resort — Sandals Royal Dunn’s River, a modern luxurious escape featuring approximately 250 lavish rooms and suites.

“The sister hotels will operate very much like the concept SRI developed between Sandals Barbados and Sandals Royal Barbados, offering generous exchange privileges between the two all-inclusive resorts, giving guests tremendous and convenient dining and amenity options,” Sandals said in its release.

The Runaway Bay resort, a renowned Jamaican property hotel located midway between Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, will also undergo extensive redevelopment to become Beaches Runaway Bay Resort, the third family-friendly Beaches Resort in Jamaica.

“At its completion, the hotel will feature an estimated 400 expansive one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom suites, designed with extended families in mind. Guests of Beaches Runaway Bay also have access to Runaway Bay Golf Club and its par-72, 18-hole championship golf course,” SRI explained.

“Jamaica will always play a critical part in our plans to grow and innovate Caribbean hospitality. There is tremendous opportunity here and a ripe moment, as leisure travellers are choosing to return to the places and brands that they know and trust,” said Stewart.