Those that have been planning to stay at any of the Baha Mar hotels anytime soon, should put their plans on hold and probably explore other options.
The developer behind the project that includes Hyatt, Rosewood and Mondrian hotels has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US.
The developer blames the China Construction Company of the Americas for the delays. The hotel complex was supposed to open at the end of March, but there is no new firm opening date. The construction is supposedly almost finished.
You can read more about this development of Bloomberg here and on WSJ here. Below is an excerpt from Bloomberg’s piece.
When the March opening date passed, Baha Mar and affiliates were “forced to cancel months’ worth of room reservations and group meeting events and provide numerous customers with vouchers, refunds, and in certain cases were required to find customers suitable accommodations elsewhere, all at a cost in excess of $6 million,” Thomas Dunlap, designated representative of the debtors, said in court papers.
Baha Mar Ltd. listed unaudited assets of $3.1 billion and debt of about $2.7 billion in Chapter 11 documents in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, where affiliate Northshore Mainland Services Inc. is incorporated.
The company is seeking court approval of as much as $80 million in financing arranged by Izmirlian that will enable Baha Mar to operate during the Chapter 11 process, according to the statement. The company said it plans to use $30 million of that for operations over the next 30 days.
Conclusion
Many Hyatt Gold Passport members have booked the hotel that now has no firm opening date in place. Hyatt has subsequently ended taking reservations for this hotel.
New hotels rarely open on time and in this case we are talking about the Caribbean. They have poured so much money into this project by now that somehow they will find the few millions required to finish it. Whether it makes any sense financially, however, remains to be seem.
