The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

While major Nassau/Paradise Island hotel properties saw inevitable cancellations in recent days due to Tropical Storm Erika, one resort said it had gained some local business as a result.

Rui Dominques, the British Colonial Hilton’s general manager, told Tribune Business the hotel had seen some cancellations since the beginning of last week as a result of Erika, but had also gained reservations locally.

“We have had some cancellations. We have also had some people leave a little bit earlier than normal in terms of their original reservations,” he explained.

“We have also had people who have made reservations so that they could protect themselves or their families or their businesses. We were fully prepared for the storm. The Hilton has a wonderful foundation; it’s been through many storms before and hasn’t budged.

“We have some financial institutions that use the hotel as their headquarters, and some other organisations that use the hotel as their headquarters in case of hurricanes. This is something that we know in advance; we expect them to book with us and therefore we plan that out with each organisation’s needs.

Ed Fields, Atlantis’ senior vice-president of public affairs and retail services, told Tribune Business: “Our first concern is for the safety and well-being of our staff and guests. The resort is fully prepared for storm activity. Should a storm build, our management team will communicate directly with our guests on-property on the preparedness plan.”

Mr Fields added: “The resort is presently half full”, noting that Atlantis had seen a number of cancellations due to Erika.

“As a general rule, Atlantis adopts the applicable airline carrier’s storm or hurricane policy in the event it becomes necessary for flights to be cancelled and reservations modified. Standard revision, cancellation and no show policies will apply for reservations that are not affected by flight interruptions,” he explained.