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28
MAY 2012
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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
Sometimes, aswiththe
Hya Regency
New Orleans
, a reopening can take on
added significance. This iconic hotel next
door to the Superdome was le in ruins
byHurricaneKatrina; even today, images
of its shattered façade serve as visual
shorthand for post-Katrina devastation.
But things are looking up. Following a
six-year $275 million renovation, the
hotel reopened last October and now
stands as a potent symbol of the city’s
comeback. From the art deco flourishes
of its Empire Ballroom to the Spanish-
influenced Louisiana seafood at Borgne,
its brand-new John Besh restaurant,
there’s a sense here that, rather than
merely making the best of a bad situ-
ation, the hotel seized an opportunity.
TheWest Indies’
Four Seasons Resort
Nevis
is another top-tier establishment
that’s suffered the destructive power
of nature. A er being walloped by Hur-
ricane Omar in 2008, the resort shut
down for two years. The subsequent
$110 million renovation was completed
last December, with improvements
ranging from redesigned suites to new
catch-and-cook dining experiences. The
resort has also built a levee as a line of
defense (albeit one that has been lovingly
landscaped) against the encroaching sea.
When two cyclones hit Australia’s
Queensland coast in quick succession
last year,
Hayman
, a historic private-
island resort on the Great Barrier Reef,
bore the brunt. It reopened last August
following a five-month renovation, with
additions that include luxury oceanside
villas andupgraded leisure facilities. The
most remarkableaspect of theproject is a
lavishbotanical gardencontaining 33,000
plants; the hope is that, along with holi-
daymakers, the new garden will appeal
to the cockatoos and kookaburras that
vanished in the cyclones’ wake.
For the
Rosewood Hotel Georgia
, the
problemwasn’t somuch the elements as
thepassageof time. Built in the 1920s, this
Vancouver landmark once hosted such
celebs as Katharine Hepburn and Elvis
Presley. By the end of 2006, however, it
couldno longer simply bathe in the glow
of its past. Accordingly, the Rosewood
group shut it down and embarked on
a four-year redesign with the aim of
not only restoring the hotel, but also
reinventing it. Last July the results were
unveiled—a museum-quality art collec-
tion, terraced penthouse suites, a swish
poolside bar and more—making the
Rosewood once againworthy of the likes
of the King, should he choose to return.
The restoration of the
Historic Park
Inn Hotel
in Mason City, Iowa, was an
even trickier proposition. Built in 1910, it
is the last hotel designed by Frank Lloyd
Wright—and you don’t mess with that
man’swork lightly. The original hotel had
closed in 1972, with thebuilding gradually
falling into disrepair (becoming, as one
staffer puts it, “a hotel for pigeons”). Fol-
lowing a two-year $18million revamp, the
Park Inn opened for business in August
last year, serving as both a boutique
property and a livingmuseumhonoring
America’s most celebrated architect.
BORN AGAIN
Clockwise from top left, the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed Historic Park Inn Hotel
in Mason City, Iowa; the Hyatt Regency New Orleans; the Hayman resort in Australia