MARIGOT–New President of the French hotelier’s association and owner of Marigot’s Le Beach Hotel (formerly Beach Plaza) Patrice Seguin said Monday his best estimation for the earliest start date for reconstruction of the badly damaged hotel will be in October 2018, one year after Hurricane Irma.
This is due to a number of phases the property has to go through before reconstruction can actually begin, namely the reflection phase following the hurricane, initiating a new project, completion of architectural studies, authorisation from the Collectivité (building permit) and a mandatory delay of three months for any third-party claims (in French “recours des tiers”) that might arise.
“It is not possible to make any deals on bank financing or get authorization until that delay is passed,” he explained.
Currently the closed hotel is an empty shell, occupied only by a few Gendarmes. The core structure of the hotel is still sound despite the devastation caused by the hurricane, particularly visible in the lobby areas. The new project calls for a panoramic restaurant and convention centre on the top floor, relocation of the swimming pool and all new guest rooms on upper floors.
“It is a big project,” he added. “But what’s important now is promotion of the island for the next three years. There’s no point to have a wonderful new hotel if there are no guests.”
Seguin did not think that waiting for insurance money was a factor in the perception that little is moving in terms of rebuilding hotels on the French side.
“In some cases, yes that is an issue, and in other cases, no. Each property is different as are the challenges each faces.”
Asked about the intentions of the Riu Palace, Anse Marcel, he said he did not know for sure but remarked that renovation of the hotel had stopped. He indicated news of its intentions may soon be made public by the Collectivité. Question marks hang over the future of Riu Palace and Belmond La Samanna.
A press conference on Monday announced the reforming of the French-side hotel association AHSM board with Seguin as President. Jean-Francois Billot is Vice-President and Treasurer and Baki Arbia (owner of Mercure Hotel) is Secretary. Patricia Ughetto-Monfrin is the association assistant.
Long-standing Secretary-General Philippe Thévenet is still with the association but is currently taking a step back to attend to family matters.
The association announced its goal is to have 500 hotel rooms provisionally available for the 2018/2019 season, from 1,262 that were available before Hurricane Irma struck the island. The cost of damage to the hotel industry was estimated at 150 million euros and loss of business post-Irma over the next three years at 180 million euros. The number of hotel employees directly impacted by the closure of hotels after the hurricane was 1,000.
Other goals of the association include recruiting active members, creating working commissions on a number of different subjects; finance, environment, promotion (with tourism office) etcetera, reconstructing to a high standard and offering quality services, as well as new services.
The association wants to have a closer working relationship with the Collectivité, Tourism Office Director, and collaborate closely with the Dutch side as well as with other partners in tourism, restaurants, taxi drivers and so on.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/75741-delay-for-third-party-claims-slows-le-beach-hotel-reconstruction-plan
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