The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

A boutique Abaco resort is planning for a full November 16 re-opening that will be followed by a "splash" for New Year as it bids to make a quick rebound from Hurricane Dorian's devastation.

Tom Hazel, the Abaco Inn's general manager, told Tribune Business: "We plan to have a full opening a week from Saturday on November 16, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. We are also going to do a very soft opening on Friday night, November 15, to see how all of our systems are working as a test run.

"A lot of stuff right now is challenging, but that it takes the boredom out of the debris removal and most of the 'dead time' you deal with after a storm. I really can't complain about anything now.

"I don't know how many visitors we are expecting for the re-opening and moving forward. But we are planning to do a splash for our New Year's celebrations. The Inn will be serving our regular Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners."

Mr Hazel previously said the Abaco Inn lost four villas and four rooms due to Dorian, which inflicted substantial damage to the property's garden and trees. All staff members are accounted for and survived Dorian

Describing his marketing strategy going forward, Mr Hazel said: "A lot of stuff is word of mouth; we do very little marketing and advertising. I'm old fashioned and not into the coffee table books and the like. I genuinely appreciate when someone says 'I had a good time' and then tells someone else, and then the word of mouth takes over.

"Visitors come back all the time to see our staff. So we have built up relationships with a lot of families over the last few years. They know our bartenders and hospitality staff. They have become family to us over the years as we have shared very important family events with them."