Barbados’ premier five diamond resort, Sandy Lane Resort and Hotel has completed its soft furnishing refurbishment, valued at more than US $25 million.
This is the latest news from the top management of the exclusive west coast property, which is reporting a challenging 2009 but an impressive first quarter for 2010.
Telling the local media of a 100 % occupancy of the hotel for the festive season and 98 % occupancy for January 2010, hotel executives appeared satisfied and even excited about their new look.
With the beachfront of the upscale resort property now outfitted with beautiful pink parasols and lounge furnishings, the General Manager of the property, Robert Logan said, “The soft refurbishment was administered to keep the property state of the art.”
Logan, who was upbeat about the property’s new look said, “It was a multi-million dollar refurbishment by our ownership at a time when our owners knew that we were headed into an economic downturn. They still invested into the property with the understanding that anything that we did in 2008 would keep us at the top of the market and refreshed and keep us competitive.” He asserted, “At all times you need to be as competitive as you can, especially in a downturn.”
According to the General Manager, they reinvested into the physical plant and continue to bring in new furniture, even in the festive season. He explained, “We launched on the first of January with a glorious morning on the beach of pink. Sandy Lane now has new pink lounges, so we now have moved from the iconic blue to pink, which went extremely well. On the pool side we have an iconic blue for lounges and parasols. This again shows our reinvestment is strong. The owners are very suppportive and recognise that you could never stop continuous reinvest in your product if you want to keep it competitive internationally.
The Sandy Lane boss contended, “We added value and we ensured that there could be no perceptions of cutting back. The refurbishment of the soft furnishing was started at the beginning of the global recession but the need for it was seen as critical.”
The Spa of the property has also benefitted from some critical upgrades, with new facilities that bring an enhanced spa experience for guests.
The property, which has large source markets in the UK and Ireland, while attracting a number of celebrities and top businessmen from around the world, is one of the most popular resorts worldwide, particularly around the festive season.
The luxurious property has an inventory of 112 suites, penthouses and the Villa at Sandy Lane.
