MB Capital President David Hood, right, and General Manager Gloria Cavanagh at the former Hyatt hotel in Garapan in Sept. 2024.
MB Capital LLC has taken over the operation of the former Saipan Hyatt Regency hotel in Garapan.
In September 2024, Saipan Portopia Corporation, which was doing business as Hyatt Regency Saipan, assigned its remaining 38-year land lease with the Department of Public Lands to MB Capital LLC.
Citing “global shifts and continued challenges impacting Saipan and its tourism sector,” the Japanese-owned Saipan Portopia shut down the Hyatt on June 30, 2024.
On Oct. 22, 2024, MB Capital LLC, led by its President David Hood, held an unveiling event following the signing of a memorandum of agreement with Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts, an affiliate of Marriott International Inc.
MB Capital wanted to reopen as a Sheraton-brand hotel, but because the final franchise agreement had yet to be finalized, the former Hyatt reopened as Marianas Beach Resort in November.
MB Capital General Manager Gloria Cavanagh said before they can call themselves a Sheraton, they must meet “a whole list of requirements,” including renovations to the lobby and the addition of all-day restaurants.
She said major renovations for the former Hyatt will begin in 2025.
“It will be in three phases. The first phase will be the renovation of the main building, which has 180 rooms. Everything will be changed to Sheraton-brand style, then after that, the north and south wings… which have 140 rooms,” Cavanagh added.
“For now, until the franchise agreement has been finalized, [we’ll] reopen…as Marianas Beach Resort,” she said.
Despite the slow recovery of the local tourism industry, Hood, who intends to invest $30 million in the renovation of the former Hyatt, is optimistic that the trend will change.
“No doubt in my mind that the market will improve eventually — it’s cyclical,” he added.
In September 2024, the governor announced that Saipan Portopia’s assignment of its Hyatt land lease contract to MB Capital LLC had been finalized.
The Department of Public Lands noted that Hood and MB Capital LLC have business experience in the U.S. mainland and Saipan, including 35 years in residential and commercial development projects
