250-room government-owned hotel on the cards

A 250-room government-owned hotel is be constructed at Private Mt Wynne “in the near future”, laying the foundation for a fully developed tourism area catering to visitors as well as Vincentians vacationing at home.

Invest SVG’s executive director, Annette Mark told SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday that the development would be the first hotel constructed since the opening of the Argyle International Airport.

She added that the publicly-owned hotel would set the standard for other hotels to be built in the future.

“It is a matter of the development of the entire area and not just a particular hotel,” Mark explained. “Given the site, it will be nice to have maybe two to four five-star hotels.”

Restaurants, a high-end boutique hotel and condos for sale are also possible, as plans for the area are developed, Mark added.

The executive director noted that a start date for the project has not yet been decided because details like architectural plans, permits and engineering designs could take at least a year to prepare.

Mark said a number of major international hotel brands have expressed interest in managing the property. At a press conference yesterday, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves revealed that two of the “major international hotel brands’ that had come here to “see the lay of the land” were the Hilton and Marriot hotel chains. He noted that these brands manage and brand hotels built by other entities as they hardly engage in construction themselves. He noted that this model was followed in Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados and the possibility exists that it will be done here also.

Mark explained that Invest SVG is responsible for negotiating with these companies and that once a master plan is in place for the area, the agency would be “aggressively courting other investors in respect to the development” of the district.

The usual hotel amenities such as a spa, gym, conference rooms and a variety of restaurants will be included in the complex, Mark revealed, to ensure it could meet the needs of guests arriving by land and sea.

But the executive director stressed that the hotel would not be all-inclusive.

“We want people to come to St Vincent and experience St Vincent; not just stay in a hotel and be locked away,” she said.

And while she could not confirm, indications are that it is likely that the area’s black sand, which is synonymous with beaches on the Leeward side of the island, will remain a feature at the hotel.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves told SEARCHLIGHT this week that the government of China on Taiwan had granted St Vincent and the Grenadines a soft loan of US $50 million for the construction of the hotel at Mt Wynne.