British Colonial Hilton Nassau Exits Hilton System On February 15, 2022

An iconic property in the Bahamas that has been associated with Sheraton and Best Western in the past and became known as British Colonial Hilton Nassau in 1999 will exit the Hilton system effective February 15, 2022.

The hotel’s owner, China Construction America (CCA), doesn’t appear to have plans in place. The hotel, which has been operating since 1924, is set to close its doors indefinitely on February 15, 2022.

You can access British Colonial Hilton Nassau’s page here.

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Hilton’s Notice:

Hilton has a notice that the hotel is leaving the Hilton system on February 15, 2022.

The “quality” score (TripAdvisor) that Hilton displays for this hotel is abysmal 3.5, indicating severe issues at the property.

It appears that Hilton didn’t want to be affiliated with this property once the contract with the Chinese owner, which hasn’t spent the money to refurbish the property, was over.

EWNews Bahamas has a story up on its website (read more here):

Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation Chester Cooper said in a statement last night that he had met with the hotel’s owners, who indicated that the agreement to carry the Hilton brand at the property has come to an end.

“Therefore, without a management company in place, CCA is facing challenges in keeping the property open,” said Cooper.

CCA acquired the downtown Hilton in October 2014.

Baha Mar’s former developer, Sarkis Izmirlian, has claimed the Chinese state-owned contractor used a $54 million payment pledged to the Baha Mar project to fund the acquisition of the British Colonial Hilton.

Conclusion

Why did a Chinese government own entity purchase a hotel in the Bahamas in 2014? What is their competitive advantage over other property owners that are more familiar with the market than cheap access to cash?

I guess that everything didn’t go to plan when Hilton walked out from managing the property with a horrendous quality rating.

It should not be difficult to find a competent operator to run an iconic hotel in the Bahamas if there are no other issues in play.