Above: Sandals Barbados

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Sandals Barbados resort is set to temporarily close to begin a planned $65 million renovation project, Sandals Resorts International has announced.

The property will begin “wide-ranging” renovations starting April 1. The renovations will include seven new restaurants (for a total of 10), a total refurbishment of the resort’s 280 rooms and “numerous other additions and enhancements,” according to the company.

The resort is scheduled to reopen in December.

“When we acquired this property in August, we knew we were buying great potential; here was a lovely resort that could be transformed into something truly magical,” Sandals Chairman Gordon “Butch” Stewart said in a release. “The time has now come for the ‘Sandalization’ to start and drive forward into what is an exciting future for Sandals and Barbados as a destination. We cannot wait to reopen.”

The resort will include Sandals’ new dining concepts, including Butch’s Chophouse, a French-style patisserie, Cafe de Paris, Soy Japanese sushi and Sandals’ first-ever Indian restaurant.

It will also add two new tennis courts, eight new elevators, “state-of-the-art Wi-Fi capabilities” and the introduction of Sandals’ Butler Elite programme.

The move comes two months after Sandals debuted its newest resort, the Sandals LaSource Grenada resort.

“The launch of Sandals LaSource Grenada has been one of the finest in the history of our company, not just in terms of the response from the international marketplace, but what we’ve managed to physically create there. The creativity and innovation of its design alone is exhilarating — it is a truly remarkable resort,” Stewart said. “It has only been open for six weeks but we are now starting to see the true quality emerge. We now intend to create that kind of magic here in Barbados.”

The company said guests with existing bookings at Sandals Barbados could relocate their booking to any other Sandals, Beaches or Grand Pineapple properties, “including any associated airfare change fees.”