The Anguilla Great House, which prides itself as a fully-locally owned property, on one of the best and most historic beaches on the island, is gradually and successfully moving forward to reopen for the next tourist season following Hurricane Irma.
Even as the full-scale repair work continues, repeat guests at the hotel, but staying at other properties, still find pleasure in relaxing at Rendezvous Bay, location of the Great House, and patronising its popular Beach Bar. This is according to the property’s major shareholder and builder, Mr. Conrad Walton Fleming.
Currently, the original Front Office building, constructed primarily from wood and galvanize sheeting, is now at an advanced stage of concrete construction. The five villas still have a high percentage of wood, but with reinforced front and back concrete porches which, apart from strengthening the structures, provide more privacy for guests. While the roofs are being covered by sheeting, as before, it is a heavy gauge aluminium non-corrosive material.
One of the senior staff members, Ms. Simone Rey, Human Resource Manager and Accountant, who operates at a more recent building, spared by the hurricane, spoke briefly to The Anguillian on behalf of Mr. Fleming.
“The Front Office was completely destroyed and a new and slightly-modified concrete building is now being constructed in its place,” she stated. “We redid the porches of the other buildings and the roofs are almost completed, but we have not yet started on the interiors. We are now in the process of putting back our signature walkway, with coconut trees on both sides, and our Beach Bar is open seven days a week. Mr. Fleming is not rushing the work. He is taking his time but we will be up and running for the next season.
“There are not many workers here from the original Great House staff, and we have about four or five persons working in construction. The work is costly and tedious but we are getting through very well.”
Mr. Fleming, who was busily replanting the coconut trees, commented: “We are trying to maintain the same local and Caribbean architectural concept and ambience at the Great House. We are well on the way to getting the hotel back up.”
Asked about the driving force behind his hard work, Mr. Fleming replied: “A number of years ago, we looked at the economy of Anguilla and decided that tourism was becoming its mainstay. While tourism may have been viewed as something for foreigners and wealthy people, we thought that we have a responsibility for our coming generations, and that we should therefore hold a little piece of our island for them. The Anguilla Great House is not money for me, but rather for Anguilla and the young generations coming up.”
He went on: “Fortunately, we have been able to get the best and most historic beach – and the best piece of property in Anguilla. I am proud to be able to make my contribution to preserving something of the history and tourism sector of Anguilla not only for my family but for coming generations and Anguilla on a whole. We are the only local hotel of its category on the island.
“Every day we have quite a large following. All the guests, who used to come to the Anguilla Great House in the past, are back on the island. Although we cannot accommodate them, they are here every day cheering us on. Notwithstanding that, we are already booked out for next Christmas. All of that is encouraging us to keep pressing on.”
Mr. Fleming disclosed that the reconstruction cost of the hotel is over five million US dollars. “Our insurance [benefit] was way below that because the buildings were insured at the original cost,” he added. “We cannot claim for the new and upgraded construction work so the insurance money is less than half of what it now costs us to put back the property. The restaurant is going to cost us over a million dollars and we are going to put it back with a new concept. There are two villas we haven’t touched yet and I think we are looking at nearly three-quarters of a million dollars restore them. The laundry is completely out. We have not been able to touch that yet, but we have faith.”
Meanwhile, the local developer’s son, Mr. Wilbert Fleming, Manager of the property, has recently returned from tourism marketplace where he promoted the Anguilla Great House.
“We are targeting next season to reopen and, if we are to do so, we really have to target the end of August because we do not trust September and October,” he said. “Every single day visitors are coming down to the hotel to hang out and talk to the workers. We have a lot of people who are staying somewhere else in Anguilla but they came to us and have already booked for next season. We are also getting other inquiries from the marketplace, asking us how things are going and when we will reopen. It is all about location, yes, location, and we have it on the best beach in Anguilla. We are passing on that information to everybody.”
The Anguilla Great House has consistently remained open during the slow season every year. The beautiful Rendezvous Bay is a historic location in that it was the landing site of the French invasion in 1796 when the invaders, from two frigates, travelled up through the island wreaking havoc until they were repelled by a defending battalion force at Sandy Hill and the timely arrival of HMS Lapwing. Rendezvous Bay is also an archaeological site.
