The tony gathering in the private room at Americas River Oaks was all ears as architect Gui Trotti, a former University of Houston architecture professor, made his presentation on Las Verandas Hotel & Villas, a new resort on the tiny island of Roatán, off the Caribbean coast of Honduras.
Temptations to hop the next plane to Honduras ran high as slides of a white sandy beach, azure waters and palm trees blowing in a warm breeze beckoned on this particularly cold night. The spectacular Caribbean design and furnishings pictured were enough to convince anyone with beach fever to sign up. With non-stop flights between Houston and Honduras, flying time is less than three hours.
Trotti's early career in Houston included working with NASA on lunar bases, Mars vehicles and the Space Station.
Through his architecture firm based in Cambridge, Mass., Trotti designed the luxury project that stretches across 400 acres and includes an 18-hole golf course. Trotti and Bill Sharman, chairman and CEO of the Houston-based Lancaster Group, headed up the gathering aimed at encouraging investment in one of the private villas and/or reservations in one of Las Verandas' hotel rooms. The project is being developed by Houston-based Pan Caribbean Capital Partners.
Sale of the two- and three-bedroom villas is being handled by Sudhoff Properties and Jacob Sudhoff was among the small group that was wined and dined in style.
Trotti's early career in Houston included working with NASA on lunar bases, Mars vehicles and the Space Station. He designed the Challenger Learning Center for the Houston Museum of Natural Science. He later spent two years traveling the world on a sailboat, studying various regions and environments. The wisdom gained from that experience, he told the gathering, was instrumental in his design of Las Verandas.
The half-moon private beach leading to clear Caribbean waters is one of the top selling points of Las Verandas.
Texans love the beach. Photo courtesy of Sunflower Beach 