Above: a rendering of the Best Western Premier Haiti

By Alexander Britell

The Best Western Premier in Haiti, which had planned to debut March 15, has pushed back its opening to the first week of April, Caribbean Journal has learned.

The Petion-Ville hotel is now slated to open April 3, according to Tom Osborn, regional director for Best Western, told Caribbean Journal the move was the result of delays in receiving materials.

The grand opening of the 106-room property will occur later in the month, as originally planned.

“It’s still pretty close on track,” he said.

The company’s Premier hotels are its highest class of hotel, after Best Western Plus and Best Western. The planned opening follows the late 2012 opening of the nearby Royal Oasis hotel in Petion-Ville, an Occidental property.

The property will be Best Western’s first in Haiti.

Earlier this year, Osborn told Caribbean Journal that the hotel would employ between 40 and 60 Haitians.

The company plans to have a total of seven properties in the Caribbean by the end of 2013.