La Cabana Beach and Racquet Club is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year with the completion of a three-year, $36-million room renovation project reestablishing the resort as one of the premier timeshare facilities in the Caribbean.

In September, local dignitaries and tourism professionals joined in the celebrations in the newly completed hotel lobby accentuated with glass and marble, a custom-made centerpiece artistic sculpture of water and fire and an elevator replacing the wooden stairs to the mezzanine.

“Once called the resort ‘where dreams come true,’ La Cabana has resurfaced with a bold new look and feel from the front lobby to the interior of every room,” said Willie Mosconi, president of the Board of Directors.

The resort’s exciting new look and feel begins at arrival with the front façade and its newly built port au cache. A new check-in area has been customized with separate check-in pods providing a more personalized and welcoming atmosphere. The original brilliant stained glass mural was safeguarded throughout the reconstruction of the lobby and serves as the backdrop for the remodeled lobby.

As art has now become a focus of the resort, management has agreed to feature four exhibitions of local artists in the new lobby over the next 12 months. These art pieces will complement the centerpiece of the lobby, as they will feature the four elements of earth, water, air and fire.

“This has been a delicate project in that we had to displace and accommodate our timeshare owners over a period of time which required juggling of reservations on a regular basis,” said Joe Najjar, the resort’s general manager.

“Bluegreen Vacation Club, an owner of intervals at La Cabana, was very supportive and provided much needed assistance with achieving this goal. Bluegreen graciously suspended use of its units to allow the resort to accommodate other La Cabana owners in their units.

La Cabana caters to couples, honeymooners, families, retirees and groups. Many transient guests ended up becoming owners wishing to enjoy their home-away-from-home each year. Many of the timeshare owners were so enamored with their weeks that many purchased multiple weeks.

La Cabana Beach & Racquet Club, helen.w@lacabanabrc.com, www.lacabanabrc.com