According to unofficial reports we will be opening the ABC island connection around June 15th, then at the end of the month allow flights in from the USA.
If that is the case, I know exactly where you should go to shake off the last of CoVid19 captivity daze. Curacao, that’s it, a trip to the Curacao Marriot Beach Resort is called for, and while there, say hello to recently-appointed General Manager Mark Nooren, who assumed the reign of resort management June 1st.
Mark is our man in Curacao.
He reports enjoying a special love-affair with that island where he has been assisting the owners of the real estate company wearing various hats, the most recent, since 2016, that of the asset-manager when the resort transitioned from a government-held property to its current owners, then shut down, renovated, turned over to Aimbridge Hospitality, still under the Marriott brand flag in the fall of last year, announcing the soft-opening phase.
Having divided his time between Curacao and Aruba for many years, Mark focused on his business interests here and stayed closer to his family, most of last year. He was to go back to Curacao in February 2020, but was naturally delayed because of the Covid19 shut down. Once the exit-strategy for the pandemic was formulated the call came, urging him to return to Curacao, to assume his General Manager position.
Mark flew to Curacao two weeks ago, and has been in quarantine for 14 days; he’s been working remotely, preparing for the day he steps back onto the property, next Thursday.
The Curacao Marriott Beach Resort, he explains, never closed during the pandemic, it played host to government–sponsored medical and tech support people, and operated on a limited scale.
This week, with restrictions lifted the resort hopes to attract some traffic from the islands, and make day-passes available to locals, until the border officially opens, no date yet, we have to move cautiously no recklessly, he says, the economy is indeed critical but lives come first.
This is what the official press release by Ambridge Hospitality said: Dutch-born Mark Nooren, a seasoned hospitality executive, and a resident of Aruba since the early-80s, has just joined the Curacao Marriott Beach Resort, as its General Manager.
Mark proudly traces the beginning of his hospitality career to the Aruba Bushiri Hotel School where he obtained his first hospitality degree. After concluding his Bachelor’s in Hotel Management, at Florida International University, he lent his expertise to Holiday Inn, Divi Resorts, and the Aruba Renaissance, where he rebranded and repositioned this 560 room multi-faceted resort into one of the leading Renaissance properties in its Marriott portfolio.
He founded “Alto Vista Hospitality” in 2005. A company focused mainly on the acquisition, development, and management of hospitality and real estate projects, within the Caribbean. Here Mark enjoyed a full-life experience, from Bonaire to Curacao back to Aruba, assisting developers in large-scale resort projects, as well as smaller scoped restaurant work.
All along he enterprenerd and cultivated a thriving retail business in Aruba, which its management team plans to re-open, as soon as deemed feasible.
As his CV reveals, Mark already spent 4 years at the Curacao Marriott as its Asset Manager, where he oversaw the acquisition of the resort, and initiated its 40 million-dollar renovation. Thus, it was only befitting when he was asked to join the Aimbridge Hospitality team, as the leader of this landmark 336-room beach hotel which just reopened in November 2019.
The renovation breathed new life into the property, nicely positioned on six acres of prime oceanfront real estate. The transformation and expansion, brought a feeling of luxury and excitement to the island of Curacao as a whole, and particularly to Piscadera Bay, located only 5 minutes from historic Willemstad, the island’s hub of dining, shopping, and entertainment and just 15 minutes from Hato International Airport.
Mark is a proud father of four sons. He is married to the well-known local artist Claudia Ruiz Vasquez. The couple currently resides in Alto Vista, Aruba.
Aimbridge Hospitality is the leading, global, third-party hotel management company operating branded full service, select service, luxury hotels, destination resorts, convention centers and lifestyle hotels. Aimbridge merged with Interstate Hotels & Resorts in 2019, and now represents a premium portfolio of more than 1,400 branded and independent properties in 49 states and 20 countries. Aimbridge is based in Plano, Texas and has additional corporate offices in Atlanta, Calgary, Chicago, Fargo, Puerto Rico, San Clemente, Scottsdale, Toronto and Washington D.C. Aimbridge’s International Division, Interstate Hotels & Resorts, has supporting offices spread across Europe in Amsterdam, Birmingham, Glasgow and Moscow.
