Caribbean Hoteliers Rebuild
<B>Caribbean Hoteliers Rebuild</B>
By Robert Curley
The two-island confederation of St. Kitts and Nevis long has been renowned for its lush tropical beauty and rich history. In recent years, however, the former British colony has weathered a series of destructive hurricanes, a storm of controversy surrounding alleged drug trafficker Charles "Little Nut" Miller (deported to the United States in February to face criminal charges after a four-year stay on St. Kitts) and even a secession vote (narrowly defeated by Nevisians in 1998). Nevertheless, hotel construction on St. Kitts and Nevis has boomed since the mid-1990s, and the trend shows no sign of abating.
Seven hotel projects--some in the proposal stage, others underway--would add a total of about 2,500 new rooms on St. Kitts, the larger and more developed of the islands. On Nevis, the Four Seasons Resort, battered by Hurricane Lenny last November and closed for extensive repairs to its pool, restaurants, guest rooms and Great House, is slated to reopen this month, according to general manager Robert Whitfield.
Lenny was the second major storm to hit St. Kitts and Nevis in as many years: In September 1998, Hurricane Georges battered the islands, forcing the flagship Four Seasons to shut down for months and smashing St. Kitts' Port Zante, which had just undergone a major reconstruction. The storms that have swept through the region represent a remarkable string of bad luck for the islands, which prior to 1989 had not been hit by a hurricane since 1936. Robert Kelly, manager of the St. Kitts and Nevis Tourism Office in New York, blames the storms, and particularly their public relations aftermath, for a 10 percent drop-off in tourist visits between 1998 and 1999.
Americans, who account for 52 percent of St. Kitts and Nevis visitors, are "very finicky," said Kelly: "They turn on CNN and they hear about these hurricanes over and over again, and they say, 'we're not going there because the island is devastated.' I think the media does more damage to the islands than the hurricanes themselves."
However, the declining visitor numbers haven't affected the confidence of hotel investors, said Kelly. "The people who understand this business understand why the numbers have dropped," he said. The hurricanes have stretched out some construction deadlines, but work is proceeding on such massive projects as the 900-room Royal St. Kitts Beach Resort and Casino and the 480-room Paradise Beach Resort, both located on St. Kitts' Frigate Bay and scheduled for completion in late 2001. SuperClubs also is planning a 230-room property at Frigate Bay, with a projected completion date of winter 2002.
Also on the boards are the Hyatt Regency Resort, a 250-room property planned for St. Kitts' Friars Bay and slated to open in December 2001, and a 300-room Westin Hotel that would be located on St. Kitts' South East Peninsula.
Closer to completion is the Rex Resort Papillon, also at Frigate Bay, an all-inclusive that will open next month. The Fort Thomas Hotel, located in St. Kitts' capital city of Basseterre, recently expanded from 64 rooms to about 200 rooms. With its 5,000 square feet of meeting and function space and international reputation for excellence, the Four Seasons Resort on Nevis has long been a favorite destination for business travelers headed to the West Indies. Whitfield said the resort does strong business in small conventions and corporate retreats, particularly during the off season.
To protect the 196-room resort, its Robert Trent Jones golf course and other facilities from the ravages of nature, the Four Seasons is working to improve the storm-water management system on the mountain side of the property, and plans to build a breakwater off the beach in front of the resort to take the energy out of the waves churned up by any future hurricanes, said Whitfield.
"What we're doing now was planned after Hurricane Georges, but we didn't have time to do it prior to Lenny," he said. Whitfield expects the Four Seasons' loyal clientele to return to the islands once the reconstruction is complete. "People have been extremely positive about our reopening," he said. "That spirit has carried Nevis and this resort through difficult times.