The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business 
Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The purchaser of the Paradise Island Harbour Resort, Warwick International Hotels and Resorts, has put down “hard, non-refundable money” on a $6.8 million deal, something that was yesterday said to “bode well for the Bahamas”.

The resort owners, Lehman Brothers Holdings and Driftwood Hospitality Management (via Gemwood Paradise Ltd), were able to secure more than the $6 million minimum price at an auction last week, sources close to the matter confirmed to Tribune Business yesterday, with the sale now awaiting approval by the government.

“The auction took place last Thursday, and the owner has entered into contract with the company that won the auction, which is Warwick International Hotels and Resorts,” a source close to the deal said.

“They are a well-known hotel group. I think it excellent for the Bahamas. There was a high interest in the auction. The buyer got it at higher than the reserved price. The seller is satisfied.”

The 246-room all-inclusive resort had been marketed as “ideally positioned as the affordable, all-inclusive alternative to the adjacent high-rated, world-renowned Atlantis resort.

Valentine Grimes, the Bahamian attorney for Paradise Island Harbour Resort, declined to comment when contacted by Tribune Business.

Elsa M�lique, Warwick’s press & public relations manager, with the sale “under contract” and not confirmed, would only say in a statement: “Warwick International Hotels is always looking for new acquisitions and is interested in the Bahamas market”.

Warwick International Hotels and Resorts is a collection of more than 50 4-star and 5-star hotels, resorts, and spas, providing what it calls “affordable luxury” in locations in Europe, the United States, Asia, Africa, Middle East, Bali, the Caribbean and the South Pacific.

This seems to mean that, once the sale is closed, Warwick is likely to close the resort for substantial upgrades and renovations likely running into the millions of dollars.

This would create Bahamian construction jobs and, in the long run, potentially more full-time hotel employment.

“The way these things happen, obviously they have time to close the deal. Obviously they have to get government approval,” a source said.

“With the purchaser being non-Bahamian, it requires government approval, but the purchaser has put down hard money, non-refundable money. It all bodes well for the Bahamas.”

Tribune Business reported earlier this year how a previous offer to purchase the Paradise Island Harbour Resort (the former Holiday Inn Sunspree) had fallen through after the potential buyers failed to come up with the necessary financings. Several attempts are understood to have been made previously to sell the property, but with no success.