At GRAND LIDO BRACO in Jamaica, all 226 rooms and suites have new soft goods, and suites now have wet bars and mini-fridges. All six of Grand Lido's Jamaica properties have undergone extensive post-hurricane upgrades. Speaking of hurricanes, all SuperClubs resorts provide the “No Hurricane Guarantee.” Should a hurricane strike, the resort will issue a voucher for the number of disrupted nights for use during the same month of the following year. Ditto for its “Jamaica Sunshine Guarantee” should one encounter a sunless day.

Club Med plans to debut its first upscale boutique resort in the Americas this summer with COLUMBUS ISLE. Thanks to a $5 million upgrade, the resort, located on the secluded island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, will join the two other Club Meds in its upscale boutique group: Le Riad in Marrakech, Morocco, and Cherating Beach in Malaysia. Columbus Isle stretches across 80 oceanfront acres. Oceanfront and deluxe oceanfront rooms offer luxury linens and are equipped with flat-screen TVs and CD player/radios.

One of the first resorts on the Caribbean's Turks and Caicos when it was built in 1984, CLUB MED TURKOISE will complete a $6 million refurbishment this summer. On 70 oceanfront acres, the adults-only, all-inclusive resort will have open-air, wood-beamed public areas; upgraded guest rooms; and a new beach lounge. A Crunch gym debuted in April. Snorkeling, scuba diving, tennis, kayaking, windsurfing, sailing, and even flying trapeze are part of the all-inclusive price.

MOON PALACE GOLF & SPA RESORT near Cancun now has 48 two-bedroom presidential golf suites and 24 junior golf suites, located around the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course. The Golf Club at Moon Palace, which has been renamed MOON SPA & GOLF CLUB, has added nine holes, creating three nine-hole courses.

Palace Resorts purchased the former Hotel Sierra Cancun last year and is transforming it into the all-inclusive LE BLANC SPA RESORT, to open this winter. The resort will offer guest suites with Jacuzzis, a spa, meeting facilities, and three specialty restaurants. Guests can dine by candlelight on the resort's private lake, which is connected to Cancun's Nichupté Lagoon. The hotel takes its name from its decor: All walls, ceilings, and furniture are white.

MORE PALACE NEWS: In April 2004, Palace Resorts purchased several hotels in Mexico, which it will renovate and reopen under the Palace brand. In the Yucatán, the 174-room COZUMEL PALACE (formerly Hotel Plaza Las Glorias Cozumel) will reopen June 15, and the 220-room PLAYACAR PALACE (previously Hotel Continental Plaza Playacar), opening September 1, is steps from Palace's Robert Von Hagge's Golf Course. On Mexico's West Coast, the 348-room VALLARTA PALACE will reopen July 1.