Mariana Resort and Spa on Saipan in search of a new operator

Imperial Pacific International (IPI) won’t be taking over management of Saipan’s Mariana Resort & Spa any time soon after the RFP expired with no agreement reached with the Department of Public Lands (DPL). Imperial Pacific International (IPI) will focus on completing the construction of the Imperial Palace casino resort, which has long been launched.

IPI had to get a special permit from the Lottery Commission of the Mariana Islands. In accordance with the company's license agreement, the casino can manage only five-star hotels, however, since Mariana Resort is only a three-star resort, the IPI license is not valid.

Permission was granted on the condition that IPI will not manage any other objects below five stars. Therefore, it was not possible to reach an agreement with the Department of Public Lands (DPL).

Further DPL divided the property into three parts. The first is the golf course, the second is the hippodrome, and the third is the hotel.

After creating a special unit, IPI again tried to get a license.

The company, under the new rules, sent three different licensing requests to manage the hotel, hippodrome and golf course. It is expected that all requests will be considered by the DPL after the hotel is resumed. It is currently used for personnel who are dealing with the aftermath of Utah Typhoon, which hit the region last month.

A natural disaster also forced IPI to temporarily close the Imperial Pacific Hotel. Saipan’s international airport was damaged, as a result of which all air services, with the exception of humanitarian flights, were suspended. Whether the temporary closure will become a pretext for declaring bankruptcy due to the long-term inability to pay its employees and complete construction is unknown. However, IPI officials refute the possibility of such a development.

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