No vacancy for hotel renovations: Travel Weekly

For some hoteliers, the concepts of peak and off-peak seasons are no longer as relevant as they once were.

Thanks to unrelenting pent-up demand, many popular destinations can no longer discern a marked lull in business at certain times of the year.
Nikheel Advani, COO and co-founder of Grace Bay Resorts, which has several Turks and Caicos properties, told me that much of 2021 and 2022 has blended together into a single, homogenous season.

“Sometime around March of 2021 was when we saw a sudden wave start, and things jumped to 80%-to-100% occupancy,” Advani said. “And since then, quite honestly, we’ve had just one season: busy.”

Turns out, being busy all the time comes with its own unique set of challenges. While the high occupancy is certainly welcome, finding the best time to take care of routine maintenance or make updates to a property becomes complicated when there’s lots of business on the books.

“At the luxury level, we’ve got to make sure that the rooms are in tip-top condition and that we’re always adding or upgrading,” Advani said. “What we’ve had to do these days, quite honestly, is close a section of the property and displace some level of business in order to paint, change out furniture or make upgrades.”

It’s a decision that marks a stark contrast to the earlier phases of the pandemic, when travel remained largely at a standstill and properties could embark on significant renovation projects with little worry around bothering guests.

While Advani acknowledged that Grace Bay Resorts could likely delay some enhancements, he and his team have chosen to move forward with them this year, even if it means turning away some of that pent-up business.

“Yes, we could take that extra business and push the maintenance to another year,” he said. “But that’s not our style.”

Elsewhere in the Caribbean, the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino faces similar challenges as it embarks on its first major revamp since 2016. 

• Related: Adults-only experience at Aruba Marriott Resort

Raoul Lemmerling, general manager for the property, reports that Aruba’s occupancy levels remain exceptionally high, hovering in the 80%-to-95% range for much of the year. While July and August were once somewhat slower months for the island, Lemmerling has seen that trend change more recently.

“July and August, very strangely, have shifted,” Lemmerling said. “Now they’ve been running in the 90s as well over the past two years.”

The lack of any relative quiet time means that the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino has had to get strategic when it comes to renovation plans. According to Lemmerling, that means having to make updates in smaller phases in order to be less intrusive to guests, even if that means sacrificing speed.

The property has already started on the initial phase of its face-lift, which involves a reimagining of its beach restaurant, Atardi. With the restaurant temporarily closed and set to reopen in December, the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino has opened two pop-up food and beverage venues to compensate.

“We’ve built these pop-ups temporarily because they help distract the eye” as the property make changes, said Lemmerling. “And then we’ll also maybe play the music a little bit louder. These are things that help us make sure the guest experience is not affected.” 

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