PREFERRED HOTELS AND RESORTS, which covers 127 independently owned and managed luxury properties, has signed up The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, South Carolina; Secrets Excellence Riviera Cancun, Mexico; and The St. Julien Hotel and Spa, in Boulder, Colorado. The Sanctuary opened in August on a barrier island with 255 guest rooms and suites, 18,000 square feet of meeting and function space, including the 6,200 square-foot Grand Ballroom and a 1,728-square-foot executive boardroom. Sporting facilities include five championship golf courses designed by the likes of Pete Dye, Tom Fazio and Jack Nicklaus; and two tennis clubs. The Secrets Excellence Riviera Cancun opens this month as an adults only, all-inclusive resort with 442 luxury junior, honeymoon and swim-out suites, six restaurants, nine bars, six meandering pools and a spa. The St. Julien Hotel and Spa is due to open in January as the first property of its kind in downtown Boulder in nearly 100 years. The architecture uses local materials such as granite, sandstone and slate and there are 200 guestrooms, 12 of which are suites.
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