PLP, Minister Respond To Guest House News
“The news of the closing of the Salt Kettle Guest House is bad news for the owners, bad news for Bermuda and bad news for Bermudians,” said Shadow Tourism Minister Zane DeSilva, adding that it means job losses and a reduction in beds for our visitors.
As Bernews reported on Friday, the Salt Kettle Guest House in Paget [pictured] plans to convert from a guest house to a five-unit residential rental offering in the coming year.
Opened in 1970 by Bobby and Hazel Lowe, its eight cottages and rooms accommodated 22 guests, and the new planned residential complex will have a a total of five dwellings; two two-bedroom units, one one-bedroom and two studios.
Shadow Minister’s Comments
Mr. DeSilva said, “The news of the closing of the Salt Kettle Guest House is bad news for the owners, bad news for Bermuda and bad news for Bermudians. It means a further loss of Bermudian jobs and a further reduction in our much needed stock of beds for our visitors.
“On behalf of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party, I would like to extend our warmest wishes to the Lowe family and commend them for their years of commitment and great service to our visitors and to our island home.
“In light of this closing and the impact it will have on our bed count, it would be a good time for the Minister of Tourism to update Bermudians on the status of negotiations with developers at the former Club Med site.
“There also has been no sign of action on gaming since the OBA broke their promise to hold a referendum on the issue almost a year ago. These update would serve to inform, provide hope, reassure the public that action on jobs is taking place and let the world know that Bermuda is on the move again in tourism.
“In the further interest of openness, accountability and transparency, the Minister of Works and Engineering should have provided Bermudians with an update on the Grand Atlantic site. The original negotiation period was extended and yet we have seen no signs of progress or heard from the Minister as to the state of the negotiations.
“With so many Bermudians out of work and the OBA a long way from fulfilling their promise to create jobs Bermudians need to be kept in the loop and kept abreast of the work that the OBA is or is not doing.
“We encourage the OBA to be more open, be more accountable and be more forthcoming as to provide hope and avoid giving the impression that the OBA has something to hide,” added Mr. DeSilva.
Minister’s Response
In response to Mr. DeSilva’s comments, Minister of Tourism Development & Transport Shawn Crockwell said, “I join the well wishes to the Lowe family and wish them well in their new venture.
“As far as an update on the St. George’s Tourism Development site, I advised the public in a Ministerial Statement in the House of Assembly that the Government had entered into an exclusive negotiation period with the chosen developer, Desarrollos, and it would be inappropriate to make any public comment during this period.
“I also advised the public in a Ministerial Statement in the House of Assembly that the Gaming Legislation will be tabled and debated during the November session,” concluded the Minister.
Trying listening when others speak Zane. It’s not hard.
Zane, where were your comments when the dozen or so guest houses and hotels closed or downsized during the PLP years? In fact I believe your party elected to build condos on two of them? Here are few
Elbow Beach
White Sands
Pink Beach
Loughlands
Banana Beach
Castle Harbour Hotel
9 Beaches
Ariel Sands
Lantana
a
You missed a few. Harmony Club, Coral Beach, Horizons, Waterloo not to mention all of the tourism businesses that disappeared.
Get off your high horse Zane, this is about a well deserved retirement for the very wonderful Mrs. Lowe.
Zane (and the plp) will try anything to get his name mentioned.
It was your lot that drove many tourists and residents away during your 14 years of terror.
This jumping on every little thing that happens in BDA by the plp is getting nauseating!!!! Did Zane and his plp not get the memo informing them that they LOST the election???? First off, because of the damage that the plp did to the tourism sector by ignoring the air visitors and encouraging the cruise ship passengers, I don’t think we have a bed problem for tourists yet, the OBA are working hard to get new and much bigger hotels built anyway!! This guest house is a private business and if the owners choose to retire then so be it, they have worked hard over the years and I am sure they deserve it!!! The only thing I can agree on is the staff situation, but if they are good, I don’t think they should have much of a problem finding work in their industry!!! We are now approaching the end of the busy season, which may be problem for them but that might have been the case anyway at the Salt Kettle guest house anyway???
I agree with what you say mostly kang but the damage and resultant bleeding to the TI was well underway before the PLP were elected. Lets be fair shall we. And it does NO ONE any service to keep driving in the rear view mirror saying the PLP did this or that. The UBP while maintaining a balanced budget (kudos) did their share in leading the country to where we are as well. See if you can use that big brain of yours to dissect some of their misdoings with the same fervor you attack the opposition.
Remember who said this? “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”
We simply substitute OBA and PLP where applicable….
“See if you can use that big brain of yours to dissect some of their misdoings with the same fervor you attack the opposition.”
Clearly you are the one with the big brain, lets see you go digging in there, and elaborate on some of these ‘wrongdoings’ the UBP did pre-1998?
Be careful about how you refer to wrong doings of the UBP, no party is innocent of friends and family, but at the end of the UBP’s administration, Bermuda had no debt, next to no unemployment and was well under way to a booming business hub that ran from the mid 90′s through to 07/08. In comparison to the PLP’s 14 years of friends and family…
How does Mr,Desilva know whether or not it is bad news to the owners?
Stop babbling on and assuming Mr.Desilva.The Lowes may be happy Salt Kettle is closing to tourists.It would not be surprising if Mrs.Lowe wants a break,as She has dedicated most of her life to her work!
Stop trying to get in the news anyway possible,everyone is aware of the PLP’s campaign and lust for power!
Zane, when 70 hotels and guest houses closed under the PLP, was that bad for Bermudians as well?
@creamy, don’t forget while the 70 hotels and guest houses closed under the plp reign of terror, never once did I hear them mention anything about the closures and also they were even more silent concerning the job losses!!!! And what is even more remarkable is the vast majority of the job losers in the industry at the time were plp supporters!!! I guess they were just a tad busy taking care of themselves while the closures/ job losses were taking place at the time to even notice!!! It just amazes me that those same supporters mostly still support them to this day, even though nobody has inflicted more pain on them than the plp!!! You really can’t fix stupid??…
Bermudians renting rooms and apartments will cover the beds issue. In fact as one who does so I am not upset this happened at all. Relax and enjoy your retirement Mrs. Lowe. We’ve got this.
The staff will obviously have to find other jobs but what does Zane expect….to force people NOT to retire to save jobs? This is another example of the PLP grabbing at straws.
@aceboy, totally agree!!! By the way, wasn’t zaney the very same person that was just last week trumpeting exactly what you are doing???? I long for the day that their nonsense stops?????? The plp just continue to spew nonsense never giving a thought to what they themselves said just days before!!! We had 14 yrs of their silliness and it really needs to stop!!!!
Yes he was, prattling on about how small guest houses should get a tax break as if the whole idea was his. It wasn’t his idea at all. In my case the wife deserves all the credit. She supervised the renovations, did all the advertising, dealt with all bookings by juggling 3 or 4 different websites and meticulously maintained a calendar. She cleaned the rooms for the first couple of months until she could afford someone to do it for her. She worked hard and now we enjoy the benefits. We are going to have a second unit ready in a month’s time. It really works people. Not only do you get additional income (the one unit has already earned enough to cover all costs and there is still the same profit left if we had rented to a resident)but as Bermudians we actually get to reconnect with tourists and tourism in general. I never realised how much I missed that. We’ve met all kinds of people from all over the world since we started doing this and are enjoying it more than any of us expected. With events like the America’s Cup coming (in one form or another) the future looks pretty darn bright from our tourism perspective.
The not so wealthy tourist can afford to visit with the various apartments available at a reasonable cost. I would rather see a boom in tourist visits to those options than a large expensive hotel complex.
Best wishes to Mrs. Lowe.
Be nice if Zane retired his mouth
Just rereading the headline, Bernews says ” plp minister responds to Guest House News, I think Bernews meant ” plp shallow minister responds to Guest House news????
What business is it of Mr. Bean’s? None! They adapted their business model to one that requires less service, probably because they want to retire after 40 odd years.
May I suggest you spend 15 minutes at the end of your day and write down what you did and accomplished and then ask yourself did your day make a difference? If not try doing something more productive the next day until you get it right.
Only fools rush in!
No worries – there are multiple new hotels in the works to be built. Even while Tucker’s Point, New Stead and Belmont are all in foreclosure.
If you want to improve the hotels and tourism get the government out of it. Let them beat the hell of the Insurance and International Business.
The government and the civil service is where all of our great ideas are coming from.
The news of the closing of the Salt Kettle Guest House is bad news for the owners. Quote from Zane DeSilva.
Did he read why the Lowe’s are closing before trying to score cheap political points? It is their choice. They need a break, and after 40 years who can blame them. They are looking forward to a new chapter in their lives. It is not bad news. The bad news is having to put up with Zane have his daily foot in mouth publicity slot.
I am sure it is being converted to tourist rentals. Read the story.
It’s unfortunate that Mrs. Hazel Lowes health has caught up with her and there isn’t too much more she is can do, therefore the correct choice/s has been made…
It was Mrs.Lowe and families choice to pack it in . It was quite obvious that operating under the UBP/OBA and BTA was getting a bit ridiculous . However she had some brilliant years while the PLP was the government … Proof of that is articulated in the disclosures of many repeat guest on the earlier thread .
Unfortunately a few people are going to have to look elsewhere for employment , but the UBP/OBA shills are o.k with that arrangement . Good luck to all involved !
@ Coffee,
Brilliant years under the PLP? Reality Check time!! That was mostly those on the friends and family plan because most everyone else has seen a massive decline in their standard of living.
Fact is they opened in 1970 when Bermuda was still a top destination, and I would bet they had many repeat guests from then to the present time so your boast about the Brilliant PLP years is stupid at best. Our halo slipped around 1980/81 and if anything fell right off during the the next 30 years, especially during the PLP years. Just look at the closures during their time in office.
In fairness I wouldn’t say it was the fault of the PLP as the rot had set in long before those imbeciles came to power. However the PLP couldn’t encourage people to swim if they were drowning let alone encourage investment in tourism/hotel development in Bermuda.
The owner has been doing it for 45 years and wants to retire. That’s probably about 5x your age, judging by the lack of maturity and perceptiveness in your comment.
What a complete moron you are.
And people think Zane FeSilva should be the leader of the PLP.
Just imagine that
Zane didn’t establish Island Construction, he inherited it and has been “blessed”. In other words, “he is not the “brightest crayon in the book”. Sad yes…but true
Typo: I guess nor am I:-(
He is not the brightest crayon in the box”
http://news.msn.com/us/another-atlantic-city-bust-trump-plaza-closes
Hey Zane,
Open mouth and insert foot:))
Why not post a comment defending yourself! I mean your posting silly comments.