Hotel Equities has signed a hotel management agreement with Grupo Ginevra-GNV to operate SLS Punta del Este, a new luxury hotel and residential development under the Accor umbrella, opening in early 2029. The agreement marks Hotel Equities’ first project in Uruguay, extending the company’s Caribbean & Latin America (CALA) presence into South America.
Accor, through its Ennismore division and the SLS brand, will continue to guide the property’s brand identity, design standards and guest experience. Hotel Equities CALA will manage day-to-day hotel operations and financial performance, a scope that extends beyond the guestroom to include the property’s Wellness & Longevity Centre as well as a food and beverage programme with multiple dining concepts, rooftop and pool bars, and event and cocktail spaces. Specific brands and concepts for the dining and wellness offerings will be announced in the coming months.
Hotel Equities will also operate SLS Punta del Este’s rental programme for residence owners who wish to generate income from their unit when it is not in personal use. The company brings expertise in the condo-hotel model, established in luxury hospitality destinations throughout the U.S., the Caribbean and Europe. The partnership introduces this structured, professionally managed programme to Punta del Este, a first for the local market.
“We see Punta del Este as one of South America’s fastest-growing hospitality markets and Uruguay is a natural next step for our CALA platform,” said Juan Corvinos, president of Hotel Equities Caribbean & Latin America. “We’re thrilled to partner with the visionaries at GNV Group who were seeking an operator to deliver global standards with local execution and that’s what our in-market HE CALA model is built for. Our experience operating luxury lifestyle and residential-style hotels across the region gives us a clear understanding of what today’s discerning traveler expects. Working together, we’re bringing Accor’s global platform and our proven operational discipline, which has driven results across the Caribbean, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, to SLS Punta del Este.”
“SLS Punta del Este is designed to set a new standard for branded residential development in Uruguay, after having developed Madero Harbor District in Buenos Aires we want to bring the same standard to our current and future projects in the Southern Cone,” said Alejandro Ginevra, president of GNV Group. “Hotel Equities brings the in-market operating experience across the Caribbean and Latin America to turn that vision into a functioning property, from pre-opening through day-to-day operations.”
In the 15 months since Corvinos’ appointment, HE CALA has established an in-market operating platform spanning 11 countries, 16 hotels and resorts totalling more than 2,000 rooms, including open and operating properties and those in the pipeline, and 23 food and beverage outlets. HE CALA recently assumed management of Hacienda Tres Rios, which will convert to Kimpton Tres Rios in Mexico’s Riviera Maya and is set to debut in September 2026. HE CALA will soon assume management of properties in Belize, Mexico City, Cuernavaca, Curacao and other destinations across the region.