Faced with critics who have speculated the April 21 soft opening of the .2 billion Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas is a “sham” because the property has yet to accept guest reservations, the president of the new resort’s parent company struck back at critics at a public hearing of the Bahamas Gaming Board last week.
Graeme Davis, president of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Bahamas, noted that the soft opening will fill the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, the first of six hotels in the resort complex to open. The reason, he said, is that the operator is proceeding “thoughtfully” in light of the past failed grand openings in which guests made reservations only to find out the hotel was not finished.
Davis’ testimony before the board came after Dr. Hubert Minnis, leader of the Bahamas opposition Free National Movement party, called the opening “election-year optimism” on the part of Prime Minister Perry Christie for the opening of a property that “has yet to engage in any significant marketing to draw people to the new resort.”
“I don’t try to play politics, I can tell you that,” Davis said at the hearing. “But I can tell you that I’m a lodging executive for 30 years. And I do know how to open a hotel. And when some people say that there are no reservations and how can we be opening, they’re not in the lodging business—we are.
“And when it comes to the past experiences of opening and not opening and missing your opening dates, anyone that’s been in the lodging business knows you don’t open until the experience, your details, are exceptional in every way. And if that means you open with 10 rooms, you open with 10 rooms.
“We only have one more chance to get it right, and we’re not going to take risks. We’re going to open in a thoughtful way, and I can assure you that it is real, and that we will be opening and our guests will be enjoying it. And we will start with invited guests with which we’re full already, and we will continue as the days progress, to open.”
It was the second time in as many weeks Davis found himself defending his company. The executive also responded to an open letter sent to the gaming that alleged “documented associations with international crime” involving the group’s owners and Macau operator SJM. Davis said the accusations were “baseless” and “untrue,” and told the Bahamas Tribune that CTFE does not have “any oversight, control, direct or indirect influence” over SJM.
Meanwhile, other preparations for the soft opening are moving along as planned. Baha Mar received government approvals for its gaming license last week, and associated certificates of suitability were granted after a comprehensive probity investigation, and on the recommendation of the Gaming Board.
