Rick Caruso taps hotel exec for $200M Montecito resort

Rick Caruso has tapped hotel industry executive Ali Kasikci to lead the $200 million Rosewood Miramar Beach Montecito development — his firm’s first leap into the resort business. 

Kasikci managed the Peninsula Beverly Hills for more than 15 years and was a senior executive for Belmond Hotels, the Wall Street Journal reported. He is the president and CEO of Bentley Management, a Los Angeles-based advisory firm that counsels the hospitality industry.

The 161-key Santa Barbara County development spans 16 acres. It is under construction on the site of the former Miramar By The Sea Hotel, and is expected to open in 2018.

Caruso bought the site in 2007 and demolished its existing buildings. He spent years in the planning process before the luxury project won its approvals.

“I think we’ll be the most expensive hotel on the California coast” in terms of room rates, Caruso told the Journal. [WSJ] — Hannah Miet