Cipriani Group, the company developing the San Rafael hotel-casino in Punta del Este, Uruguay, has announced that the property will not open for the 2026-2027 summer season as originally planned.
The postponement stems from accumulated delays in the execution of the works, preventing the project from being completed within the original timeline.
In recent weeks, Cipriani Group held talks with national and departmental authorities and representatives of the Sindicato Único Nacional de la Construcción y Afines (SUNCA) construction union in an effort to recover lost time, but found no way to do so.
The postponement will require existing hotel and casino reservations to be rescheduled, along with contracted shows and international events. The company is already working on the necessary changes.
Cipriani Group has invested approximately $250m in the hotel-casino development to date, in addition to $45m spent acquiring and renovating the former Hotel Mantra building for its Locanda Cipriani hospitality training academy. The continued delay generates additional costs and postpones job creation tied to the project.
According to the group, it remains committed to working with national and departmental authorities and labor union representatives to establish a new timeline for completing the project during the 2027-2028 season. It will also seek interim work opportunities for roughly 300 young people currently training at the Locanda Cipriani academy.
The San Rafael site previously operated as a historic hotel-casino in Punta del Este before Cipriani Group began redeveloping it under a project initially announced with a planned 2025 opening.
The delay comes ahead of Punta del Este's key summer season, when the resort attracts visitors from across the region, particularly Argentina and Brazil. Between December 2025 and February 2026, Argentina accounted for 900,385 visitors to Uruguay, while Brazil contributed 155,931, with Punta del Este ranking as the country's most visited destination.
The original San Rafael hotel housed Punta del Este's first casino and employed around 500 people at its peak
