New Brac hotel on track

Despite the recent passing of Hurricane Paloma, the West Inn Hotel on Cayman Brac, which is currently under construction on the southwest of the island on the banks of Salt Water Pond, is on track for completion in February. Owner Cleveland Dilbert told CNS that the storm had set construction back by approximately one month.

The shingles on the roof, which workers had finished putting up Thursday 6 November, were all blown off by Paloma two days later. However, aside from this, with a solid poured concrete building and a little luck, the only other damage was a couple of windows, Dilbert said. (Left: view from WIH 2nd floor)

News is not so good at the Brac Reef Beach Resort (BRBR), where the storm levelled the lobby area, office, boutique and work-out room, and caused major damage to the upper floor guest rooms, with one room totally destroyed, according to Hotel Manager Trudy Viers. Currently the hotel is being assessed for damage, but meanwhile 18 staff members, some of whom had lost their homes, were working on cleaning up and in the kitchen, and they had a crew from Grand Cayman working on repairs to the rooms left standing she said. (Left: the remains of the lobby)

Viers said the kitchen was half functioning, although it had considerable roof damage. A gas stove and a ”phenomenal” kitchen staff enabled the hotel to produce three meals a day for police and customs officers and workers at the hotel. “We’re having some of the best after-hurricane meals you could have,” she said. (Right: Manager’s office)

The BRBR has been the only functioning hotel on Cayman Brac since September 2006, when the Divi Tiara Beach Hotel suddenly closed – though the timeshare units have been open to those timeshare owners who have refused Divi’s offer to transfer their ownership elsewhere. There are now plans to use the hotel rooms in the two most eastern blocks to house the workers of McAlpine Construction, who will be on island for reconstruction work, CNS has learned.

(Left: Divi Hotel – block on right is one of two slated to become accomodation for workers, though the hotel has been closed for over two years. Below: West Inn Hotel eastern view)