Cipriani confirms Punta casino will open on December 15
Grupo Cipriani has set a concrete date for one of the most ambitious entertainment industry projects in Latin America. The Cipriani Ocean Resort, Club Residences & Casino Punta del Este will open its doors on December 15th of this year, a confirmation made during the start of classes at the academy that will train the complex's croupiers. The date definition comes after a $450 million investment and construction work that began in January 2023 on the grounds of the historic Hotel San Rafael.
The Cipriani Academy began its activities this Monday, June 8th, with 126 young people selected from nearly 500 applicants from the Maldonado department. The group consists of 85 men and 41 women between 18 and 26 years old, chosen through mathematical, psychometric, and manual skill tests. The training scheme extends for six months, with four initial months at the academy's facilities in Locanda, the group's hotel in La Barra, and two final months of practice within the casino itself before the opening.
According to the company, participants will receive between 480 and 520 hours of training, in line with international standards of the world's leading casino operations. Pedro Nora, the project's sales and marketing director, stated that the training aims to position the destination on the global map of tourism, gastronomy, entertainment, and hospitality excellence. The figure the company puts on the table is compelling: the resort will generate more than 1,300 jobs, and the goal is for most of them to be filled by trained personnel from the region.
A casino with 300 stations and Rafael Viñoly architecture
The complex will be, according to its developers, the largest integrated casino in Latin America. Designed by Rafael Viñoly, the project reclaims the former San Rafael property and combines classic Italian nautical style with art deco touches. The first phase, opening in December, includes a casino with over 300 gaming stations, a 2,550 square meter event space, and an exclusive beach club. Later, the complete hotel will be opened, with rooms distributed between the historic building and part of the new towers, along with the entire residential program.
The project adds 17,000 square meters of amenities, including a spa, a gym with pilates and yoga studios, swimming pools with private cabanas, squash, pickleball, and paddle tennis courts, a cinema, a library, art studios, podcast recording facilities, and even a bowling alley. The residential part offers units from two to five bedrooms, with corner residences, half-floor residences, full-floor residences, and a limited series of duplexes, in a proposal aimed at the ultra-premium segment of the Uruguayan and regional market.
For Latin America, the Cipriani Punta del Este marks a change of scale in integrated casinos. The region combines increasingly mature online markets with a traditional physical presence, but large casino resorts are still the exception. The December 15th opening, in the middle of Uruguay's high season, will put Maldonado on the global map of integrated resorts and give Uruguay a strong asset to defend its position as a premium destination against competitors like Punta Cana, Cartagena, and Cancún.
Tags: Uruguay, Punta del Este, Maldonado, Cipriani Group, integrated casino resort, Rafael Vinoly