What no one is talking about and seems to understand is that Izmirlian committed business suicide on March 24 when he blamed China for the sudden cancellation of the March 27 opening. The #1 law of doing business with China is to never cause them to "lose face." That is taught in MBA programs in major business schools. China will now bleed Izmirlian to death and take control of the project, most likely with the support of the Bahamian government, since they have no other viable option given the nature of the deal -- a $2.4 billion LOAN (sec ured by the land), as opposed to an equity investment. Izmirlian's days are numbered.

The fate of Baha Mar is in the hands of China. Period. And they are playing hard ball, since they now hold all of the cards. If Baha Mar does fail (shut down), it will have less to do with money and more to do with the fact that Izmirlian broke the #1 rule of doing business with China. By blaming them on March 24 for the suddenly announced cancellation of the March 27 opening, he violated the cardinal rule of "Never let a public controversy cause China to lose face." Add to that the fact that China has contributed $2.5 billion of the $3.5 billion budget and that Baha Mar has stopped paying its bills and it isn't hard to figure out that Izmirlian is between a rock and a hard place. Whether the issues can be resolved while he is there now remains to be seen.

The hotels are all owned by Baha Mar, Ltd. The hotel companies signed on as management companies only and delivered the brands (SLS, Rosewood and Hyatt). From a business perspective, Baha Mar is in control of everything. And that's the problem, since Izmirlian got in way, way over his head.

I understand your point completely. But the critical thing for the Bahamas and Bahamian people is to get Baha Mar completed and open. And it does not seem like Izmirlian is up to that. The project has seemed doomed from the start. Nothing has ever gone as planned or announced. And it does not seem the government has done a very competent job either. Very sad to see.

The proper way for Import-Export Bank of China to "intervene" would be for it to oust the grossly incompetent Izmirlian team, assess the situation, and develop a plan for completing the project with a new partner -- IF one can be found at this point. Until all of the facts are fully known, which is clearly not the case yet because Baha Mar has gone silent since March 24, there is no way to understand what really happened, what is happening, and how to fix the problem.

It is very sad to see that the Prime Minister has no idea what is actually going on at Baha Mar or how to proceed in finding a solution. And "fervently" hoping will not make any difference. He has clearly been lied to and misled by the Izmirlian regime -- including the notorious liar "Sandy" Sands -- but has not yet figured that out and acted accordingly. Very sad to see.

I'm a very religious person, but I don't even think God can save Baha Mar at this point. They have told too many lies, thereby violating one of the 10 Commandments.

I meant "too big" in $$$ scale of the project. Remember that it was conceived and planned well before the 2008 economic crash. In today's market, such a huge (2,200 room, 40 restaurant and club) venue would never get off the ground because it could not get financed. I think that is the fact and reality that will kill it now. Given all the issues and delays, the experts say will will be very difficult, if not impossible, for China or the Bahamian government to find a buyer or new partner -- even in a sweetheart deal. I guess we'll know soon, since Izmirlian is remaining silent. That alone is a very bad sign.

I am the U.S. reporter who got the scoop for Hotel News Now on March 24 that the March 27 opening was not happening. The Prime Minister was wrong to say "Too big to fail." Baha Mar is actually "too big to succeed" -- and that was the problem all along. None of the experts I have been talking to think it will ever open at this point (it will likely go into bankruptcy and then start a legal battle between Baha Mar, China, the hotel brands and the Bahamian government that I am told could last 10 years). And most experts think because of its size and extremely high costs of operation when/if it does open, neither China nor the Bahamas will be able to find a buyer, even if they give it away in a sweetheart deal. Tragic, but true. Ite will become known as the biggest disaster in the history of the hotel industry and a case study in how to do the worst PR ever. Sandy Sands will be a joke by then, if he is not already. And to me, the most incredible thing about Baha Mar is that no one has been fired for ongoing and gross incompetence.