An exclusive five-star hotel and residence development will open in the city of Hamilton in 2013, it was announced this afternoon.

The project — spearheaded by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide — will be named the St. Regis Bermuda. It will feature 140 rooms and suites and 80 serviced residences, and will be located on the corner of Par-La-Ville Road and Church Street, overlooking the park.

It will be the first major luxury hotel to open in the city in more than 50 years, and is the result of a partnership between Virginia-based Unified Resorts Limited and New York-based Sagewood Investments LLC.

Unveiling the plans for the ten-storey hotel, which will be on the current Par-la-Ville car park site, Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown said: “I look forward to a new spectacular hotel in the confines of Hamilton. It is our country’s most important commercial centre for leisure and business travellers and soon it will have a stunning new hotel.”

Developer Ted Adams said that while he could not reveal details of the financial backers for the project, “our financing is rock solid”.

For the full story and pictures of the plans for the hotel, see tomorrow’s edition of The Royal Gazette.