Gambling Magnet for the Rich or Money Pit?

Big-Money Gamblers

"We want a more Mediterranean-style casino," Rafael Mendive, secretary of Montevideo's Commission for Projects and Investment, said. "We want high-income gamblers."

The Carrasco neighborhood is dotted with elegant homes and considered one of the most attractive.

The Carrasco Casino Hotel is only five minutes from the country's international airport, where nonstop flights from Miami now land several times a week and a new terminal is expected to open by year's end, in part to accommodate increased business and diplomatic traffic.

In addition to the Mercosur -- located by the U.S. Embassy along the Rambla, the riverside promenade -- Montevideo also hosts the headquarters of the Latin-American Integration Association.

McGourty, the Hyatt vice president, said Uruguay is a safe bet. The company is invested heavily in the region, having restored several historic buildings in South America. Hyatt owns hotels in Santiago, Chile, Mendoza and Buenos Aires, Argentina and in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Montevideo Hyatt would be branded the Carrasco-Park Hyatt Montevideo, Hotel, Casino & Spa.

"We see Montevideo as a growth area from both a business and tourism point of view," McGourty said. "There is nobody operating on our level right now. It'll really be a huge attraction, putting Montevideo further on the map."

Benjamin Gedan is a Fulbright research scholar studying the Uruguayan media. He has reported for The Boston Globe and The Providence Journal newspapers, writing about state politics, economic development and technology. He has also reported internationally, writing from Ghana, Mexico, Uruguay, Paraguay, Panama and Belize for publications that include The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and The Miami Herald. He studied International Relations and Latin American politics at Tufts University. Check out his blog here.