The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The One & Only Ocean Club invested “almost $30 million” in today’s re-opening, with the high-end resort set to hit “full pace” immediately via 85-90 per cent occupancies.

John Conway, the property’s general manager, told Tribune Business yesterday: “We have been working through all of the time we have been closed. Our sales effort has been vigorous; in fact, more vigorous than ever.

“When you have a closure like this, to make sure that you are on the normal pace when you reopen, you almost have to. When people hear that a resort is closed you have to work twice as hard to get the message out.

“We have started that over the last several weeks and done re-opening parties in New York and Toronto. We think that with all of the direct mailings we are doing, our customer base is fully aware that we are reopening.”

The One & Only Ocean Club closed its doors temporarily to repair damage caused by Hurricane Matthew in October. The resort lost roof shingles from the Crescent Wing and the Villas during the category four storm, while the Dune restaurant sustained serious damage.

The Paradise Island-based resort was initially expected to re-open at the beginning of December, but later confirmed it had delayed its re-opening date to Valentine’s Day.

It then became embroiled in controversy after teminating 61 staff, around one in six - or 15-17 per cent - of its then-350 staff. The One & Only Ocean club blamed the terminations on under-performance by certain employees, which had resulted in guest complaints and a failure to meet the resorty’s high service standards.

Mr Conway, though, yesterday told Tribune Business the property will open today with 430 staff - implying that it has hired more persons than were released.    

“We think that the first quarter is shaping up quite well,” he said. “We have half a month in February, all of March; that is peak season. We roll right into April, May and June with pretty good numbers.

“Right now, we are very optimistic and we’re working hard on the third and fourth quarter. We could have a very good year, especially after the major investment in training.”

Mr Conway: “In season we are typically running 85-90 per cent [occupancy]. We open with those kind of numbers. We are into full pace, which is where we should be at this time of year. The second quarter looks good and we are looking at third and fourth now.”