Hard hit hotels battle back |08 January 2005

General Manager of the Cote D'Or Lodge, Fabrizio Persico said that he hopes to reopen the hotel's island accommodation on Chauve Souris on Sunday, once repair work on the jetty is finished.

He also said that another 14 rooms on the Cote D'Or, which was inundated by the tidal surge, should be open on Sunday.

Mr Persico said that the hotel's remaining 16 rooms could reopen in as little as two weeks time, but that the speed with which new equipment, such as air conditioners and mini bars, could be found would be the determining factor.

Having spent around Euro 100,000 so far on the clean up, Mr Persico estimated that the hotel is also set to lose out on roughly Euro 85,000 through lost revenue, despite the early reopening of the 14 rooms.

The GM explained that the hotel had been forced to cancel all bookings as it did not know how long repair efforts would last.

Mr Persico praised the swift action of the hotel's staff in getting the guests away from the beach when the water rushed out ahead of the Boxing Day tsunami.

General Manager of La Reserve hotel, Jenny Pomeroy also told Nation Tourism that she is hoping to have 14 rooms ready to open by next week.

However, with eight rooms written off, the main restaurant closed and the cold store broken, the hotel appears to be some way from a full reopening.

But Ms Pomeroy remained up-beat, especially thanks to the work of the La Reserve staff.

"The staff all worked very well, they've been very supportive, working late almost every day. We've seen the light at the end of the tunnel," she said.

Hardest hit appears to have been the Cote D'Or beach front Paradise Sun.

General manager John Nothard said that the hotel is looking at a reopening date of March 15, before which the insurance company estimated US$6million worth of damage will be repaired, and the opportunity also taken for an upgrade of the unaffected areas of the hotel.

Mr Nothard said that structurally the hotel was unaffected by the rising waters, but that floors, furniture and the gardens had been ruined by the rushing tides which rose to three metres above normal.

And while the hotel misses out on what was set to be a bumper January, Mr Nothard said that all 124 staff members are being kept on at full pay throughout the shut down.
"It's all about how you treat people, how you take care of your staff," he said.