Above: the Crystal Palace

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Baha Mar is converting Nassau’s Crystal Palace hotel into a training facility, the company announced Friday.

The facility will be used to train Baha Mar employees, effective Friday.

With the closure of the hotel to guests, around 190 employees will be made redundant, the company said.

“As previously planned, the property will close to paying guests and be used primarily to train thousands of hotel, food and beverage, security and other personnel in advance of Baha Mar’s opening scheduled for late Spring 2015,” the company said.

According to Baha Mar, 100 Crystal Palace employees have been invited to accept new positions at the Melia Nassau Beach Hotel and the Baha Mar.

In addition, more than 350 casino employees have been taking training classes at the Crystal Palace since July.

“The Crystal Palace site will serve as a live setting to train more than 800 graduates of the Leadership Development Institute and 600 pre-selected high school and college students to the highest luxury service standards to prepare for new jobs at Baha Mar,” the company said.