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Club Med Hotel Bermuda
Holiday Inn
But after eight years of operation, in 1981 it was sold out to the Loews Hotels group of New York.
In 1985, it was sold again to the Club Med group and it re-opened as a 630-room grand hotel called St George's Cove. But further ill fate was awaiting the hotel.
Two years later, the hotel was badly damaged by Hurricane Emily. The next year, the Club Med group finally decided to close down the hotel. Since then, it was lying in derelict condition for 20 years till 2008. Many attempts to resurrect the hotel failed despite mediation from the Bermuda Government. Finally, in 2007, Bazaria International was named as the developer for the property. They have tied up with Hyatt Group now to build a new Hotel - Park Hyatt Bermuda by early 2012.
Derelict Club Med Hotel Bermuda (from St Catherine Fort)
In August 2008, the hotel was demolished completely through implosion by dynamite. Take a look at the video of this Implosion. The button was pressed by the Premier of Bermuda Ewart Brown.
Implosion - CluB Med Hotel Bermuda
Over 70 pounds of dynamite were used. This is the first building implosion in Bermuda's history and has been one of the top events of the year. At 10 a.m. on Aug. 25, 2008, the explosives were set off and this huge landmark hotel in St. George's began to tumble.
Update: October 24, 2010
Park Hyatt has declared that they are now official equity stakeholder in this $300M project. They had so far offered only to coordinate and facilitate the project. With the group formally joining hands, the project now seems to be a reality. However, no construction work has yet started. It is estimated that it would take 24 to 30 months to complete the project once the work starts. The work is expected to begin soon.
Update: January 2013
Prior to the general election in the island held in December 2012, a letter was issued by the Tourism Department of the previous government (PLP) terminating the contract of Bazaria/Park Hyatt group. Although the real reason is unknown, it seems the Tourism Department had given one month notice to the group in September 2012 asking them to cure the beach. Since the group failed to do so, another letter was issues in October 2012 terminating the resort development contract. Now that the new government OBA has taken over, it lies in total confusion and the fate of the new resort is unknown.
Bermuda Hotel Map: A map showing the location of all the top hotels in Bermuda including the upcoming Park Hyatt near St George's Club.
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Visitors' Reviews & Comments
Cheryl MacDonald
Just in the interest of accuracy, the Holiday Inn opened in St. George's in 1971 not 1973. I was hired as part of the food and beverage night audit staff and my interview for that job was in December of 1970. The opening was delayed because of dock strikes in South Florida interfering with materials for construction and furnishing.
I arrived in Bermuda in late March of 1971 and left in November of 1971. The first guests at the hotel arrived in June but the official opening was not until later in the year. I met my husband there as he was a part of the construction staff (onsite financial comptroller) for Savage Construction.
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