No, try the Martha's Vineyard and Ritz-Carlton set. Think Trump, not tramp; Rockefeller, not Rocky Balboa.
In fact, the $200 million Amangiri resort - slated to open in early 2008 just east of southern Utah's tiny town of Big Water - is expected to become a premier escape for wealthy world travelers.
Why? Well, the hype is based partly on who will be running the place: Amanresorts.
The Singapore-based hotel-management group oversees posh playgrounds around the globe - from France to French Polynesia - including its only other U.S. resort, in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Another reason for the high expectations? Location, location, location.
The Kane County resort - set in the sandstone spires and jagged walls of southern Utah - is a quick drive from Glen Canyon Dam, Grand Canyon National Park and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Guests will be able to water-ski Lake Powell, hike the Vermilion Cliffs and fly-fish the Colorado River.
"When you take into account who will manage [Amangiri], combined with the idyllic setting in canyon country, it might be the number one resort in the United States and one of the top 10 in the world," said Homi Vazisdar, managing director of project developer Canyonland Development LLC, from his office in San Francisco.
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., a frequent guest at Amanresorts during his diplomatic days in Asia, applauded the resort plans in an August 2005 announcement. He said the resort will bolster Utah's international appeal among jet-setters.
The southern Utah resort will feature a 34-room hotel (renting for up to $1,200 a night), 28 private villas (6,000 square feet, going for $6.2 million) and a mammoth spa.
The project began more than five years ago when investors, who had acquired about 2,000 acres, approached Vazisdar with their vision for a resort.
"I told them the best resort operator in the world was Aman," Vazisdar said.
The head of Amanresorts was impressed when he inspected the site, Vazisdar recalled, but he wanted to plop the hotel on an adjacent section of about 200 acres owned by the Bureau of Land Management.
That parcel eventually was obtained in a swap, giving the federal government land next to Glen Canyon Recreation Area. Congress approved the exchange two years ago and the Kane County Commission gave its final project clearance in 2005.
The development is the first of two planned phases. Vazisdar said visitors will approach the gated resort from a winding, unpaved road off U.S. 89.
"You kind of get this lost sense of where you are and suddenly there is this canyon dream world," Vazisdar said.
Kanab resident Jim Matson, who is acting as a facilitator for the project being built by Salt Lake City-based Okland Construction, said crews are laying the sewer and water lines. Buried propane tanks will supply the facilities with gas, and a microwave tower will go up on a nearby butte for telecommunications.
Matson said the project is expected to increase Kane County's assessed valuation by 20 percent and employ at least 110 workers to cater to guests.
"They will probably do everything for you but brush your teeth," Matson said.
Craig Smith, a Salt Lake City attorney for Canyonland Development, notes Amanresorts has a reputation of taking care of its workers - offering good wages and other incentives.
"Aman likes to hire and keep people on career-type jobs in guest-service relations," Smith said. "These won't be seasonal, low-paying jobs."
In nearby Big Water, the fire department probably will benefit by contracting with the resort to provide fire and emergency medical services.
Fire Chief John Altidy said such a pact could pump $100,000 into the department and help pay for a new fire engine to replace the town's outdated 1972 pumper truck.
"We're a strictly volunteer department," Altidy said, "but are mulling over various plans to guarantee there is one crew working around the clock."
Joseph, the town clerk, said all of Big Water is buzzing about Amangiri.
"There are some who moved here to get away from growth," she said. "But others, like those who are raising children, want to see something that can offer jobs."
mhavnes@sltrib.com
