<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Tortuga Bay\nThe Lure of the Tropics at Oscar de la Renta&amp;#39;s Villas in the Dominican Republic\n\u201CWe wanted to have something very much Dominican, but with international appeal,\u201D fashion designer Oscar de la Renta says of Tortuga Bay, the 15-villa hotel that he helped develop on the grounds of PuntaCana Resort &amp;amp; Club in his native Dominican Republic.\n\u201CWe tried to work as much as possible with native materials,\u201D says the designer.\\n\\nThe villas face a two-mile stretch of private beach on the Caribbean. \u201CThere\u2019s a sense of quiet and peace to the surroundings,\u201D says de la Renta. He designed the patio and lounge chairs.\nBamboo Restaurant, which is for the exclusive use of Tortuga Bay\u2019s guests, has the air of a romantic sitting area. De la Renta hung colorful ornithological prints on the walls and laid sea-grass rugs on the floor.\nFrench doors open onto the dining terrace.\nIn a villa\u2019s living room, de la Renta painted the walls white and added touches of green for freshness. He filled the space with furnishings made by local artisans to maintain a Dominican essence. A dropped ceiling around the perimeter adds to the feeling of intimacy and warmth.\nThe villas range in size from one to four guest suites, all of which have sitting areas, balconies and kitchen facilities. Each villa has its own manager.\\n\\nA canopy bed dominates a guest room.\nA private terrace.\nA second-floor bedroom \u201Chas an enormous private balcony and a magnificent ocean view,\u201D de la Renta says. \u201CWe designed the space around the woven-wicker bed.\u201D"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/tortuga-slideshow?slide=1>