Marriott International has signed agreements with Spanish hotel company Catalonia Hotels & Resorts to convert the former Catalonia Montego Bay into a 522-room Marriott Hotels All-Inclusive Resort, with the property expected to open in 2028, according to announcements on 23 July 2026 covered by the Jamaica Gleaner and multiple international hospitality publications.
The agreements, signed on 22 July in Barcelona, also include a separate new-build Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort in Zanzibar, Tanzania, opening in 2027 — but it is the Montego Bay conversion that has drawn immediate attention from Jamaica’s tourism and real estate sectors.
What the Montego Bay Resort Will Look Like
The converted property will be located on a beachfront site near Sangster International Airport — one of the most commercially significant tourism addresses in the western Caribbean. The resort will feature 522 rooms, 13 dining venues, three swimming pools, approximately 12,917 square feet of meeting space, a spa, fitness centre, tennis and pickleball courts, a lazy river, and more than 2,130 feet of beachfront.
Catalonia will continue to own and operate the hotel while leveraging Marriott’s global reservation system, distribution network, and approximately 283 million Marriott Bonvoy members. This owner-operator model — where a local or regional owner retains control while affiliating with a global brand — is increasingly common in Caribbean hotel investment and reflects the commercial logic of brand-led demand generation.
Marriott’s Caribbean and Latin America Pipeline
As of July 2026, Marriott operates 38 all-inclusive properties across nine markets in the Caribbean and Latin America region. A further 16 properties representing approximately 5,600 rooms are in the development pipeline. The Montego Bay project adds to a regional expansion that has accelerated significantly since the post-pandemic recovery in Caribbean tourism.
What This Means for Jamaica’s Property Market
The Marriott conversion is significant for Jamaica’s property market beyond its direct tourism impact. When a global brand of Marriott’s scale commits to a major resort investment in Montego Bay, the decision sends a clear signal to the wider investment community about the long-term viability and attractiveness of the location.
The hotel sector is one of the most important drivers of residential and commercial property values along Jamaica’s north coast. Resort-adjacent residential developments, villa communities, short-term rental properties, and commercial land all benefit from the presence of globally branded hotels that drive airlift, visitor arrivals, and sustained economic activity in the corridor.
Montego Bay already hosts several of the world’s leading hotel brands. The addition of a Marriott Hotels All-Inclusive Resort — with its full beach frontage, multiple dining venues, and 500-plus rooms — will further consolidate the city’s position as the premier resort destination in the English-speaking Caribbean and enhance the investment case for property development in and around the tourism corridor.
The conversion, rather than new construction, also illustrates a broader trend in Caribbean hotel investment: repositioning existing assets under global brand flags to maximise distribution reach and revenue performance, without the full cost and timeline of greenfield development.
Sources: Jamaica Gleaner, 24 July 2026; Caribbean Journal, 23 July 2026; Travel Market Report, 24 July 2026
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