The Tribune

By DANA SMITH dsmith@tribunemedia.net AFTER a six-month, $17.5 million renovation, Sandals Royal Bahamian Resorts celebrated the official opening of its Balmoral Tower yesterday. Damaged in Hurricane Irene, the former Manor Building has come back under a new name and was fully refurbished with "contemporary" rooms, a penthouse fitness centre with ocean views, personal butler service for every room, ground-floor rooms with patios, and sea front rooms with balconies. On hand for the ceremony was Tourism and Aviation Minister Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, who praised Sandals for being an "enormous contributor" to the tourism industry, offering "high quality experiences" and adding value to the Bahamian brand. He recalled a time in the Bahamas when all-inclusive resorts like Sandals were not welcome. "We had this mistaken belief that somehow people who bought all-inclusives came onto the property, they spent all their money at the property, and then they went back home," Mr Vanderpool-Wallace said. "We then did a wonderful piece of research which showed, without question, that the people who come to this particular property, their expenditure outside the property is substantial. In fact, in many cases, is greater than the expenditure of people who go and stay at EP hotels - so there is no question whatsoever that the contribution that this property has made to tourism in the Bahamas has been quite significant." The new Balmoral Tower was inspired by the 1940s Balmoral Club which sat on the original Sandals property and much of the old club still remains. Speaking on the new renovations, CEO Adam Stewart said the original property gained "so much legacy and history" during its time as the club, but Sandals is "always about modernising". "Customers change. You know, they want bigger rooms these days. They want plasma televisions, they want more marble... so you're always faced with the decision as to whether you demolish everything or whether you can renovate it and make it work," he said. "This building has so much history to it that it literally shouldn't be allowed to be demolished. It's an heirloom of the Bahamas." Sandals welcomed the first guest of the Balmoral Tower on March 1 and chairman, Gordon "Butch" Stewart, said the hotel is looking for 40 more employees for hire as a result of the renovations. Last week, general manager, Patrick Drake, told Tribune Business the resort is recording strong occupancies for the month, with all the available floors on the Balmoral Tower full. * For more, see Business section.