Marlon Brando's Private Island to Be Site of New Luxury Eco-Hotel

Marlon Brando's Private Island to Be Site of New Luxury Eco-Hotel

NEW YORK, March 16/PRNewswire/ --

- Tetiaroa, French Polynesia, to Be Home to 'The Brando'

The French Polynesian atoll of Tetiaroa, owned by the late Marlon Brando,
is to be the site of a lavish new eco-hotel, called The Brando. Slated to
open in 2008, and consisting of 30 deluxe fares (villas), it will be the only
hotel on Tetiaroa. The project is being overseen by Tahiti Beachcomber SA,
whose CEO Richard Bailey, the owner of several luxury resorts in French
Polynesia, had been in contact with the actor for a number of years and has
continued meeting with the Brando Estate to fulfill Brando and Bailey's joint
vision for an environmentally enlightened project.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050316/NYW019 )

This exclusive resort will enjoy a truly unique setting. The former
playground of Tahitian Kings, Tetiaroa is now virtually uninhabited
(population of one - Brando's son Teihotu) and just 26 miles north of Tahiti
in French Polynesia's idyllic Society Islands. Its crystal clear lagoon is
encircled by 13 motu, or islands, which offer a tranquil and unspoiled
paradise of outstanding natural beauty and ecological importance. Marlon
Brando bought Tetiaroa in 1965 after falling in love with it while filming
'Mutiny on the Bounty' in French Polynesia.

The plan for the resort is very much in keeping with the philosophy of
Brando, who shared Bailey's wish to protect the environment. "There will be
only one hotel on Tetiaroa, on Motu Onetahi, which is in keeping with
Marlon's wishes, and the rest of the atoll will be set aside as a private
natural preserve," says Bailey. "The Brando eco-hotel will be exactly what
Marlon would have wanted: Energy-autonomous and built with natural materials,
it will rest lightly on its environment and be nearly invisible from the
water. It will showcase the latest in renewable energy technologies,
including some we are already employing in our new hotel in Bora Bora, which
Marlon had promised to inaugurate. We worked together on this project for
three years before he died. I am privileged to have known him, and honored to
play a part in his legacy by bringing one of his dreams to fruition."

Bailey's resorts employ a fulltime marine biologist and veterinarian, Dr.
Cecile Gaspar, who has carried out extensive studies on Tetiaroa to ensure
that such a project will not disturb the flora and fauna of this
extraordinary ecosystem, which includes sea-turtle hatching grounds and the
designated seabird sanctuary on Motu Tahuna Iti that provides a home to
thousands of rare indigenous seabirds. The archeological department of Tahiti
Museum was also called in to conduct research into the past use of the atoll
by Tahitian royalty.

Richard Bailey owns the trio of InterContinental Resorts French
Polynesia: InterContinental Resort Tahiti; InterContinental Le Moana Resort
Bora Bora; and InterContinental Resort and Spa Moorea (
http://www.tahiti.interconti.com). Bailey and his company, Tahiti Beachcomber
SA, which purchased two of the resorts in 1998 and then the third, in Bora
Bora, in 1999, will open a fourth hotel, InterContinental Resort and
Thalasso-Spa Bora Bora, in 2006. As Bailey and his team oversee work on the
new five-star resort and its thalasso-spa, he also continues to work with the
Ministry of Environment in Tahiti to develop programs relating to the
environment, research and protection of endangered wildlife species in French
Polynesia.

Web site: http://www.tahiti.interconti.com

Source: Tahiti Beachcomber SA

Melanie Brandman, melanie@brandmanpr.com, or Kristen Vigrass, kristen@brandmanpr.com, both of The Brandman Agency, +1-212-683-2442, for Tahiti Beachcomber SA/
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050316/NYW019
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org; AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN4; PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

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