By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

An Exuma resort is investing several hundred thousand dollars to enhance the guest experience while capitalising on stronger-than-usual tourism demand.

The Exuma Palms Resort, which began renovations in March, is modernising its hotel, restaurant and outdoor amenities while remaining open for business, with management targeting completion of the current phase within six months.

Reginald Wood, management consultant at Exuma Palms Resort, said guests are already seeing significant improvements across the property. Among the completed upgrades is a redesigned pool deck, which will be resurfaced with teak.

“It started already,” Mr Wood said. “We started with the pool deck. The area has been redone. We are going to resurface the pool deck with teak. It’s a little costly, but extremely beautiful, and very, very comfortable.” 

The resort has also replaced its outdoor furniture with teak furnishings, installed two new pergolas and expanded guest amenities surrounding the pool area. One pergola serves as a relaxation space with lounge chairs, while the second functions as an outdoor summer kitchen where guests can reserve time to grill their own meals.

Guests may bring or purchase their preferred meats or seafood, while the resort prepares side dishes for an additional charge. The grilling facilities themselves are available free of charge to hotel guests. The improvements have also extended beyond the pool deck to the beach area, where additional lounge furniture has been installed.

“If you come in now, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what’s done already,” Mr Wood said. “It’s going to continue until this entire property has been redone.”

The renovation programme also includes a complete redesign of guest accommodations. One room has already been fully renovated as the model for the remaining accommodations.

“We completed one of the rooms already with the upgrade of what they would be, and that’s our model,” he said. “All of the other rooms would be redone exactly like that room.” 

Despite the construction activity, the resort has avoided disrupting operations by scheduling renovation work around occupancy levels.

Mr Wood said that when rooms become temporarily vacant for several days, construction crews move in immediately to complete upgrades before the rooms return to service. The resort expects to close briefly between October and November to complete additional work. The investment comes as demand for the property continues to strengthen.

Although September and October have traditionally been the resort’s slowest months, Mr Wood said bookings are significantly ahead of normal levels following the property’s acquisition by its new owners.

“Our traditional slow period, which is September and October, is not slow this year,” he said. “Our bookings are up a lot after the purchase with the new owners. They have a very energetic drive towards marketing, and our calendar for August and September is already filling up, when usually there’s no one on this island.”

While management declined to disclose the exact cost of the project, Mr Wood said the overall investment is expected to total “a couple hundred thousand dollars”.

The expansion plans extend beyond renovations. Exuma Palms Resort currently has 12 guest rooms, but has received approval to construct ten additional accommodations. The new units will be developed as two-bedroom bungalows designed to accommodate families or couples travelling together while providing greater privacy.

Construction of the new bungalows is expected to take up to a year, extending beyond the completion of the current renovation plans.