MARIGOT–The re-opening of more beach restaurants is imminent with Anse Marcel Beach readying for an opening this Thursday and the new Kon Tiki restaurant on Orient Beach also opening this weekend, joining Bikini which was the first to open in June. A new-look Kakao Beach, located where Waikiki used to be, opened on Monday.
The chef and manager of the rebuilt Anse Marcel Beach, Florian Mercadier, reminded that his restaurant located all the way to the left end of Anse Marcel has been there since 2013, but has been closed for a year since Hurricane Irma. The cost of reconstruction has been around 500,000 euros.
“We had to rebuild a little further away from the old location because everything was destroyed there,” he explained. “But now we’re close to being ready for the Christmas festivities. The swimming pool will be ready in about two months from now.”
The large restaurant is open only for lunch. The menu is French Mediterranean and lunches can be served on the beach. There is seating for 120 persons and Mercadier anticipates doing 150 covers per day based on the popularity of the restaurant with residents, tourists and hotel guests.
“Prior to Hurricane Irma we were doing 300 lunches per day,” he added.
A pristine beach with more than 100 sun-loungers and umbrellas available, shady gazebos, attractive landscaping and a boutique all add to make this restaurant a must-do visit at this end of the island. The adjacent Ansel Marcel Beach Resort behind the beach (formerly Le Domaine) is still undergoing reconstruction and will not be open until the end of 2019.
At the other end of the beach the new Secrets hotel (the former Riu Palace) has not started any reconstruction yet. A fair amount of demolition and cleaning up has already taken place, but buildings generally lie in ruins and closed off. Management is working out of a few undamaged rooms. Operations Manager for the new hotel Paco Benitez said he would not have news of progress until mid-January 2019 at the earliest.
Patrons of Kakao and Kon Tiki on Orient Beach can expect the same high standards of service and cuisine. At Kakao there is a new floor manager and a new Peruvian chef who has created a fusion menu with Caribbean influences. Doumé, one of the recognisable long-standing managing partners of Kakao, is still there.
Over on Baie Nettle, reconstruction of Ma Ti Beach and Layla’s is ongoing and both are expected to re-open in March 2019, in time for the third SXM Music Festival. Both locations were venues for the concerts. Hotel Mercure acquired the two properties soon after Hurricane Irma. It is not certain whether the two restaurants will retain the same names. Ma Ti Beach is being rebuilt at a cost of 850,000 euros and Layla’s 900,000 euros.
Meanwhile, Hotel Mercure continues with construction of its new restaurant and marina on the lagoon side of the property, a two-million-euro project partly financed with 800,000 euros of Regional European FEDER funds. The previous restaurant, bar and meeting rooms are in the midst of demolition. To compensate, a new restaurant and bar for guests was built and opened between the hotel car park and the roadside.
“Everything we are doing here in construction is with protection from hurricanes in mind,” explained hotel owner/general manager Baki Arbia. “We know the next Irma will come one day but we don’t know when.
“The new restaurant will be entirely in concrete. In each building of the hotel we have created four safe rooms, completely in concrete, to be used as shelters equipped with provisions, electricity, and water. I’m proud to say that of the 125 people we had staying in the hotel during Irma we did not have one injury, and everyone got food and water safely. When we are finished, we are going to be much more secure.”
He said that when the new restaurant opens on the lagoon side, the restaurant on the road side will become a Thai restaurant. The restaurant for hotel guests in the new project will be much bigger than before, to seat 550 persons. On the restaurant roof there will be a terrace/lounge with a bar. On the wide expanse of beach there are plans to build a chapel for weddings surrounded by coconut palms.
“I hope the new restaurant and marina can be delivered by June 2019,” he said. “After that on the former tennis courts we will build a three-storey building for family suites which will be part of the hotel. That will take a year. Behind that we have plans for a training school. But it’s not decided for what yet. This building could also be used for meetings and conferences to seat 500.
“What we noticed with SXM Music Festival is that there is a lack of experienced people for organising events, and especially around sound, lighting and decoration. That’s one idea the school could be used for. Also, from the restaurant service point of view we need more locals to be trained. To bring in staff from France is expensive when you have to pay their airfares, etc.”
For Arbia, survival in the hotel business depends on creating diverse events and attractions. Sun and the beach are no longer sufficient. SXM Music Festival has the ability to generate 6,000 young well-to-do concert-goers in one week, he said.
Other improvements on the hotel property include the planting of 1,200 flowers and small trees in the gardens.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/83784-new-restaurant-openings-at-anse-marcel-beach-kakao
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