Cheri Selfridge, Director of Sales and Marketing for Antigua Resorts, sent me an excellent update about St. James, Royal Antiguan, and Galley Bay (October 2, 1998).
She expressed her releaf that all guests and staff came through the storm safe and sound and that physical damage to their facilities and amenities was actually quite minimal in comparison to what it could have been.
The very minor repair work that was needed at Galley Bay has already been completed. The hotel was closed for a few days, so that the clean up wouldn't disturb guests, but Galley Bay is now open and operating with all facilities and amenities. The beach is one of several on the island that is now even more spectacular than it was before the storm which added quite a bit of new sand. Aside from the fact that the landscaping "got a good haircut", guests at Galley Bay won't encounter any real evidence of Hurricane Georges.
Cheri tells me that the damage at Royal Antiguan was mainly cosmetic (broken windows, awning damage, some water damage, minor elevator outages, and beach debris). Royal Antiguan has remained in full operation - the resort never closed. All facilities and amenities are operational, and Royal Antiguan is running pretty much on a normal basis.
Apparently they had previously suggested that tour operators not send their guests to Royal Antiguan until 4 October, ".....on the anticipation that the crunch from the non-tourist business related to Hurricane Georges would provide the primary clientele until then." However, since the overall damage throughout Antigua is far less than originally anticipated, ".........that non-tourist business hasn't been as heavy as we thought it might be. Therefore, we've notified tour operators that tourists are welcome now at Royal Antiguan, and we already have a good number of them in-house."
I had reported that damage at the St. James's Club was greater than at their other resorts. What we now know is that most of the damage was to "the village" a collection of villas that are quite a way from the main hotel. St. James is a sprawling development, I had a gallery there for 9 years, and as in past hurricanes the 70 Two-Bedroom Villas suffered more significant damage (primarily to their roofs) than the main hotel.
None of the 113 hotel rooms and suites at St. James's Club suffered any damage at all. They all remained water-tight, both the interiors and exteriors are in excellent condition, and all 113 are ready for guests right now.
There was some minor damage at the "Reef Deck" gathering spot by the main swimming pool. The outdoor bar and partition walls surrounding the viewing area were knocked down, as they have been several times in the past (because the area is pretty exposed in a hurricane). That's the primary rebuilding job that's going on now in the main core of the resort complex. There won't be any problem with completing this work by 21 October, since it's not a major project.
The swimming pools at St. James's Club were not damaged and the beach " .....was not affected at all by the storm". A general beach cleanup will be completed well in time for the proposed opening.
Rob Barrett has confirmed that the 21 October reopening date is firm but only a few of the Villas in the Village will be fully repaired by that time. Since the Villas are located so far away from the other portions of St. James's Club, the needed construction work to bring all of the Villas back on line will not be a disturbance to resort guests. It's anticipated that it may be several more months until all of the Villas are completely restored.
Cheri says:
"The bottom line is that Galley Bay and Royal Antiguan are operating
normally right now, and St. James's Club will reopen with normal
operations on October 21. Things are pretty much back to business as usual with our Antigua Resorts, and on Antigua in general."
If you have questions, please contact her at our U.S. office as follows:
Cheri Selfridge
Antigua Resorts
6401 Congress Avenue, Suite 100
Boca Raton, Florida 33487-2885
Telephone: 561-994-5640
Telefax: 561-994-6344
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Liz Marlow <marlowl@candw.ag> of Magic Carpet Yacht Charters & Marketing Services http://www.jalypso.com/magic writes about damage in the Dockyard:
Subject: AntiguaNews
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 22:50:51 +0000
From: Liz Marlow <marlowl@candw.ag>
To: Nick Maley <Nick@CineSecrets.com>
Dear Nick
You are putting so much effort into publicising the progress being made with the clear up after Hurricane Georges. Thank you.
I was in Newport Rhode Island at the time of Georges, representing the Antigua Marine Trades Association at the Newport International Boat Show. There were quite a number of people there from Antigua and we were all following carefully the hurricane's track. It was an extremely worrying time to know what might have been happening and to be so helpless. The morning after the storm I was able to reach Antigua by cellular phone and receive the news that there had been damage to parts of the Dockyard, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been. I came back to the island on 28th September, earlier than planned, and was amazed at the progress made with the clear up. Its now three weeks after Georges and its almost back to normal in English Harbour - roofs have been repaired, fences tidied up, electricity fully restored and gardens looking well pruned, and getting greener.
Thanks and best regards
LIZ
==========================================
Subject: Re: Sorry
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 10:06:01 -0700
From: "Sanhall" <sanhall@candw.ag>
To: "Nick Maley" <Nick@CineSecrets.com>
Dear Nick,
Must confess that this is the first time I have looked at your site; it is very good and I must say I feel pretty smug after reading your report on hurricane Georges damage since I maintained that damage was not as bad as some would have us believe. Who sends out that information anyway? My telephone worked through the storm, a couple of breaks for short periods for a week afterwards. I kept track of the storm on the internet and compared notes with my grandson who lives on Cloud Nine on Smiths Estate, he said it
was very noisy up there! Wonder if the electricity department will ever go underground.
Would you like updates on Antigua Sailing Week?
Regards
===========================
That's all for today. See you in Antigua...............
regards
Nick
