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The Sandals Grande Antigua will close on Sept. 20 for maintenance work and will reopen Dec. 17.
The closure is the first in the resort’s 25-year history, according to Butch Stewart, chairman and founder.
“There is no convenient time to inconvenience people, and while many hotels in Antigua have traditionally closed on an annual basis, we have not and we recognize the dramatic consequences this action has on our staff, industry, destination partners, vendors and, of course, our guests,” Stewart said.
A letter of intention to close the property was shared with Antiguan government officials late last week.
Original estimates forecast that the maintenance work would take five months to complete but following a detailed assessment and new project plan to condense work flow, the reopening date was moved up to coincide with the start of the peak season.
Stewart appointed COO Shawn DaCosta to take necessary steps to engage with affected staff, union representatives and government officials.
“The local economy is tied to ours and we sincerely hope our efforts to shorten the closure period is helpful to them,” Stewart said.
Sandals is working with travel agents and tour operators to re-accommodate guests, who have a couple of options. They may choose to return to the resort within one year of their original travel date and Sandals will honor the original rate and pay any airline change fees or penalties. Or, they can choose to travel on their original date but switch to a different Sandals or Beaches resort and the airfare will be covered.
In either case, travel must be completed by Dec. 18, 2018.
Sоurсе: travelweekly.com