It’s a typical August Wednesday, hot and sweaty. There is no breeze to dilute the sun’s heat, but small waves roll invitingly onto the edge of Lambert Bay’s expansive beach.
Despite the picturesque location, anyone who has ventured down to Lambert during the workweek in the last year has likely glimpsed a similar image.
The emptiness is due in large part to renovations to the area’s resort, which has been shuttered for nearly a year as the owners prepare to roll it into an international franchise.
That image could soon look different, however: The resort is on track for a mid-October soft opening, according to Alberto Reggidori, Lambert’s general manager.
It won’t only be tourists walking around, either. The property — officially rebranded as the Turtle Bay Resort at Lambert Beach — is also slated to employ a full-time staff of about 40 people, up from the nine currently working there, Mr. Reggidori explained.
The new staff will use the month of October as a transition period to prepare for the resort’s official opening as a Wyndham Vacation Resorts franchise on Nov. 1, according to the general manager.
That timeline remains consistent with the one Fabio Arduini — a member of the family that owns the property — provided to the Beacon in March.
Workers made renovations to the hotel’s 38 hotel units and common areas, including the pool, the pool bar and restaurant, the main restaurant, and the clubhouse.
Mr. Reggidori predicted work on the new gym and spa would not be ready until November, though he said the resort would be “100 percent” finished by the end of that month.
By December or January, the resort also plans to bring on four or five interns through the government’s Youth Employment Services programme, the general manager added.
One of Lambert’s main focuses will be attracting business travellers, Mr. Reggidori explained.
Relatively recent government developments like the opening of the BVI International Arbitration Centre, as well as Cabinet’s decision to offer work permit exemptions for some short-term business visitors, give the general manager confidence in the business tourism market despite recent slow quarters for the financial services industry.
To that end, the resort has also installed a multi-purpose conference room facility.
“They travel all year,” Mr. Reggidori said. “There is no season for the business traveller, and this is good.”
History
Mr. Arduini originally unveiled the plans for the renovation in March 2016, predicting that work would last from June to October of that year, and that the hotel wouldn’t close during that time.
“We will try to phase the construction and refurbishment to keep at least a part of the hotel open,” he said at the time, adding that no employees would have to be terminated as a result of the work.
A longer-than-expected renovation nixed that plan, however, and the resort closed in September 2016. The majority of Lambert’s then-32-person staff was also laid off, though Mr. Arduini has promised to rehire several people.
Work on the rooms actually began in August 2016, but halted in late December while Lambert finalised an agreement with the Wyndham Vacation Resorts franchise to become a Wyndham hotel.
Wyndham required the renovators to modernise the common areas in addition to the rooms, prolonging the process.
Lambert developers hope to expand the property’s capacity to 110 units, including hotel rooms, condos and villas, Mr. Reggidori explained.
The master plan should take about three or four years, he added.
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