MIAMI — The iconic El Embajador in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic has been given a new lease on life by the Barceló Hotel Group, which has dedicated US$40 million towards a two-year, top-to-bottom renovation.

The hotel group, which acquired the famed hotel in 2015, will update the property with state-of-the-art enhancements and renovations. Now under the Royal Hideaway Luxury Hotels & Resorts banner, El Embajador, a Royal Hideaway Hotel has been designated as the group’s “top urban icon”.

Updates have been made to the El Embajador’s luxurious suites, which range from 440 square feet to more than 5,000 square feet in the Presidential Suite. A new wellness spa features a private pool, gym and four treatment rooms, while the ballrooms, event rooms and the Signature Venue Embassy Garden have welcomed an additional 10,000 square feet of space.

In addition, the hotel has set aside 40% of its 28,000 square feet for business travellers in a space featuring a sophisticated 800-foot glass enclosure. Meanwhile, the upscale El Jardín and Los Porches restaurants continue to serve gourmet cuisine under the guidance of acclaimed chef José Soto.

Opened in 1956, El Embajador attracted a wide range of famed personalities in its heyday, from Rock Hudson to Errol Flynn. It was also used as the set of several iconic films, such as Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Godfather Part II’ and ‘The Lost City’, among others. In 1965, it even hosted an assembly of the Organization of American States (OES), which was attended by dozens of heads of state.