{"id":4290,"date":"2017-07-16T12:13:14","date_gmt":"2017-07-16T16:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=4290"},"modified":"2017-07-23T17:34:28","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T17:34:28","slug":"hotelier-denies-closing-due-to-hard-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hotelier-denies-closing-due-to-hard-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotelier denies closing due to hard times"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chairman of the Elite Island Resorts Rob Barrett is denying that the 45-day closure of his Verandah Resort is as a result of hard times.<\/p>

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\u201cI don\u2019t think that Antigua or tourism is under hard times,\u201d the hotelier told ABS.<\/p>\n

He was referring to a Daily Observer publication in which \u201ctrying times\u201d was attributed to the closure.<\/p>

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However, Barret conceded that \u201cwe are in challenging times.\u201d<\/p>

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Veranda will close for about six weeks starting from August 30 but the hotel mogul has said it\u2019s not for the reason being reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took this time as an opportunity to accomplish several things. First to upgrade Verandah in some of the critical areas. It would be hard to have your main dining room under construction and be operating a hotel.\u201d<\/p>

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He also said the upgrades will be too \u201cnoisy\u201d for the guests.<\/p>\n

“Thirdly we have to turn off our electricity for two to three days.\u201d<\/p>

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Barrett suggested that the hotel closure is being blown out of proportion since it is normal for hotel staff to be laid off in September.<\/p>

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In addition, the hotelier says not all of the 241 workers will be sent home as some will be on vacation, others will undergo paid training and some will be deployed to other properties owned by Elite Island Resorts.<\/p>\n

He said how a letter to the Antigua Barbuda Workers Union was worded may be the cause of all the confusion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chairman of the Elite Island Resorts Rob Barrett is denying that the 45-day closure of his Verandah Resort is as a result of hard times. \u201cI don\u2019t think that Antigua or tourism is under hard times,\u201d the hotelier told ABS. He was referring to a Daily Observer publication in which \u201ctrying times\u201d was attributed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-tourism"],"yoast_head":"\nHotelier denies closing due to hard times - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/hotelier-denies-closing-due-to-hard-times\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hotelier denies closing due to hard times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chairman of the Elite Island Resorts Rob Barrett is denying that the 45-day closure of his Verandah Resort is as a result of hard times. \u201cI don\u2019t think that Antigua or tourism is under hard times,\u201d the hotelier told ABS. 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