Savannah Hotel up for sale

One of Barbados’ prime south coast properties is up for sale.

The 93-room Savannah Hotel is being sold “via a structured offer process”, according to Terra Caribbean, the real estate company advertising the sale of the property.

“All intended parties are invited to submit their offer on or before October 23, 2019,” the company said in one of its updates.

The Savannah Hotel, which experienced several leased arrangements over the years, was one of three properties under the GEMS of Barbados portfolio, which was managed by Hotels and Resorts Limited (HRL), a government entity.

The sale of the multiple building beachfront property, which sits on approximately 3.32 acres of land, comes several years after it was reportedly leased to the Sun Group.

The other GEMS properties were Time Out at the Gap, which was sold to the Bernie Weatherhead led Sun Group for some $7.5 million a couple years ago; and the Blue Horizon hotel, which then Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy had said he was in discussions with “private sector interest” to get sold.

It was in 2010 that it was revealed that the GEMS project had gone bankrupt after accumulating debts of about $229 million, after its parent company HRL had benefited from government loans of about $145 million.
The Savannah Hotel, which sits on a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, consists of 84 standard rooms, eight suits and one junior suit, a kids club, two restaurants, a spa, beach bar and fitness centre and several conference rooms.

According to a brochure, the property was being sold with furniture, fixtures and equipment and “there is no guide price as the property is being sold via structured offer process which commenced on July 31, 2019 and will end on October 23, 2019”. (MM)