Minister On Bermudiana Beach Resort Launch
Phase 1 which comprises “70 of the 111 keys will come online in July next year with the remaining 41 units in 2021,” Minister of Tourism and Transport Zane DeSilva said in reference to the Bermudiana Beach Resort.
The property was originally named Grand Atlantic and scheduled to be housing development, however after the units did not sell the Government decided to redevelop the property into the Bermudiana Beach Resort.
Speaking in the House of Assembly today [July 19] the Minister said, “The property is being redeveloped by a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bermuda Housing Corporation with expert input from the specialist resort co-developer team, who are providing the design, project management, operations, marketing experience and resources.
“71 of the condominiums are being refurbished with new kitchens and bathrooms, additional windows and new floor coverings. The remaining 7 condominiums are being converted into a reception area, bar, restaurant, meeting room, commercial kitchen, spa and operations support areas.
“Elevators are to be installed in 8 of the 9 condominium blocks, with the construction of two swimming pools and the installation of two trams to provide access to the beach below and add stability to the cliff face.
“The condominiums, available to both local and international purchasers, Mr. Speaker, will be marketed as deeded vacation homes on an outright sale basis.
“Phase 1 – comprising 70 of the 111 keys will come online in July next year with the remaining 41 units in 2021. The agreement with the Hilton franchise will provide access to their world-wide marketing and reservations systems.”
The Minister’s full statement follows below:
Good Morning, Mr. Speaker.
I rise this morning to report on the launch of Bermuda’s newest hotel development. You may recall that my colleague, the Minister of Public Works announced in March 2018 the conversion of the Grand Atlantic site into a new mid-market boutique hotel to be renamed The Bermudiana Beach Resort – Tapestry Collection by Hilton.
Mr. Speaker, the condominium hotel development will provide the best value for money and is most closely aligned with this Government’s goals of increasing tourist accommodations. The partnership between the Bermuda Housing Corporation, resort specialist Robert MacLellan of MacLellan & Associates, architectural and interior design firm OBMI Bermuda and Bermuda Realty Company Limited involves the conversion of the existing 78 – two and three bedroom condominiums into a full-service condo hotel with resort leisure amenities.
The property is being redeveloped by a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bermuda Housing Corporation with expert input from the specialist resort co-developer team, who are providing the design, project management, operations, marketing experience and resources.
Mr. Speaker, 71 of the condominiums are being refurbished with new kitchens and bathrooms, additional windows and new floor coverings. The remaining 7 condominiums are being converted into a reception area, bar, restaurant, meeting room, commercial kitchen, spa and operations support areas. Elevators are to be installed in 8 of the 9 condominium blocks, with the construction of two swimming pools and the installation of two trams to provide access to the beach below and add stability to the cliff face.
The condominiums, available to both local and international purchasers, Mr. Speaker, will be marketed as deeded vacation homes on an outright sale basis. They will, however, be restricted to a maximum 90 nights per year occupancy, with the balance of nights available for use as hotel inventory under a mandatory rental programme contract, which shares income between individual owners and the resort operating company. Almost 50% of the condominiums will be modified to include “lock-off” en-suite bedrooms and thus increase the number of suites and rooms available for hotel accommodations to 111.
Mr. Speaker, Phase 1 – comprising 70 of the 111 keys will come online in July next year with the remaining 41 units in 2021. The agreement with the Hilton franchise will provide access to their world-wide marketing and reservations systems.
Mr. Speaker, we are confident that the development of this exciting new tourism property in partnership with Hilton Hotels International will greatly enhance our tourism offerings.
Thank you.
Not a word about the cost, or the ROI analysis. Not a word. Did it even go through their minds?
You lot waste some money
For sure , F and F will make a lot of Money out of this
Yep. It’s the second time around on the same place.
This is the most disgusting looking building Bermuda has ever seen…. thank you to Doc Brown and Lopes,shame on you .
Why didn’t the government just use them as affordable rentals for Bermudian families? They are already built. We could have housed 78 needy families. How does selling them to tourists tally with Col Burch’s rant about POC being kept from living on South shore? It doesn’t add up?
Blame those responsible for this fiasco,and else for Burch’s remarks…. he needs to retire he is so hateful.
How much more is it going to cost us.. Anything to do with debt your drain surgeons go quite.
It doesn’t say who is paying for all these renovations. They cost $49m, how much has been recovered and how much is to be spent? Why new kitchens and bathrooms when they have never been used? Probably cheap on sale ones were installed and charged to the taxpayer as top of the range Neff. Now it is hoped to find people to spend $415,000 on a 1 bed studio with 3 months use. Good luck with that.
I was thinking the exact same thing. Who is going to buy something that they only get to use for 3 months of the year and the other 9 months has to be rented and split 50/50? Are you kidding me? Are there even assessment numbers for a car? So I should fund the resort which will make 9 months of income off of me if they can even rent them and with the possibility of them falling into the sea? Good luck finding investors!!
” the installation of two trams to………. add stability to the cliff face.”
Is this the same cliff face that they told us was perfectly stable?
Any ideas of what the net cost of this total waste has been to date? Any idea of the cost to modify it to make it ready for Hilton? Any idea of the details of the deal? You just know it will not end well for those who are on the hook for it.
Who knew they were even spending our money on this s#!t?
More good money after bad ,how many failed projects are we into now.It is a tragedy to stand by and witness money being terribly mismanaged by this government.You waste millions whilst screwing over prison officers trying to save pennies on the dollar.The political pool of competence has shrunk to the size of a dime in Bermuda and much more so in the PLP.
I drove past today and saw a bunch of different flags rustling in the wind,Col. Burch ok with that.
No rainbow flag yet so who knows.
And a shipload of shipping containers are blocking development.
Should have been stored at Pembroke dump…they have the room and it is closer….the roads are breaking apart on South shore…you can view a large break off crack (quite long going east and some parts going west.