FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hyatt Regency Curacao will get tiles of Curaçao marble

Limestone tile mined and hand crafted on-site will be implemented in design elements of local hotel and residences

WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO (July 01, 2007) – Gradually the outlines will become visible of what will soon be the super modern and luxurious Hyatt Regency Curaçao, right behind the Barbara Beach on the property of Santa Barbara. For some time already contractor MNO Vervat Caribbean is has been building on the initial phase of the 350 rooms on three levels and the first adjacent group of bungalows on the ground level. In the model bungalows the company Curaçao Marmer NV has put the tiles already that it produces itself from nice and durable material – the purist Curaçao marble.

At first the American office of Milton Pate Architects from Atlanta was wary, but when they saw the product they were on immediately. Francisco Viana, who five years earlier had laid the marble floor of the new office of the Central Bank, gets his raw material from big rocks that come free when the Mining Company uses dynamite at the nearby Tafelberg (‘Table Mountain’). He selects the best rocks based on hardness and range of colors. The big rocks are trimmed down in an especially created workshop in smaller pieces and are then polished until they get tiles of 30 by 30 centimeters. The remaining materials are also used later, for example for laying footpaths within the project.

Due to this procedure, no two tiles are identical. It is pure nature and each tile is unique. After the tiles are laid by Curaçao Marmer, they are sandpapered and then polished with ever finer diamond hearthstone and finally the entire floor will get a sealer for maximum protection to prolong is durability. Apart from the tiles, this local company also delivers the matching baseboards of 8 cm high of the same material.

Managing director Ton van Schaick of MNO Vervat Caribbean anticipates that the company of Mr. Viana for the time being has his hands full with working in the project of the Hyatt hotel. In this first phase alone for all the rooms, aisles and bungalows a total surface of 18,000 square meters have to be covers. At the moment the production of those tiles on a piece of land close to the mining area reaches a total of 80 to 100 square meters per day, but gradually that has to be increased to be able to keep pace with the progress of the construction of the complex. Mr. Viana confirms that there is interest from third parties for this marble tiles as a local product. There are even opportunities to export these tiles and baseboards, but temporarily Curaçao Marmer cannot comply with such demands. The first priority is now to tile the enormous Hyatt project which is decorated with this literal product from the local soil.

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For further information, contact:

David Pearson (david@davidpearsonassociates.com)

David Pearson Associates

305-661-2009