The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Sandals Royal Bahamian has pushed its opening date back 12 days as a result of damages sustained during Hurricane Matthew, its general manager yesterday saying that while delaying the opening to mid-December would have been “ideal, we have to get people working”.

Gary Williams told Tribune Business: “Due to the damages we sustained from the hurricane, we set back the opening date to October 25. We had a lot of landscape damages. I have ordered $80,000 worth of plants.

“The island is just about demolished except for the main building. We had lots of leaks, three-quarters of our rooms were flooded, water came in under the sliding doors, we lost food balconies on the Windsor.”     

Mr Williams said a team comprised of Bahamian contractors as well as some from Jamaica were on the Cable Beach property working to get it back in shape. 

“We have a huge team here now, some help from Jamaica and some local contractors, and we hope to open on October 25,” he said. “It’s not ideal. We have a lot of work to do, and the ideal thing would have been to stay until the middle of December, but we need to get people working and get the business open. What is left we will do while the hotel is open.”

Mr Williams said Sandals has not yet placed a cost on the damage Hurricane Matthew has inflicted on the Royal Bahamian.

“We’re just putting the figures together now” he added. “We have a quantity surveyor coming in to see what the damages are going to cost us.”

    Last month, following an abrupt closure which saw 600 employees made redundant, Sandals  outlined a $4 million renovation to be undertaken during a two-month closure of its Cable Beach property.

Sandals executives said the work was being “fast tracked” for what is shaping up to be its best winter season ever. Those upgrades and repairs, which were to be implemented within 14 weeks, were described as a “massive feat”, considering the original timeframe for completion was appraised at four months. 

Sandals Royal Bahamian said it would unveil a newly-renovated Windsor pool and restored Balmoral pool deck, as well as major upgrades to five of its restaurants to include re-roofing.

The Windsor Ballroom will also undergo significant improvements to include updated audio visual equipment and soft furnishings. Other repair work being undertaken extend to the resort’s Red Lane Spa and an overhaul of electrical systems in select areas. Several rooms and suites affected by recent emergency maintenance issues are also being restored.