‘We have sunk a lot of pylons already, with many more to come.’ — Bryan Guillot, Baha Mar Resorts
Baha Mar takes first step with debut of Sheraton Cable Beach
By Gay Nagle Myers
The Sheraton flag was unfurled on Cable Beach in
Nassau, Bahamas, on June
12, a milestone event for
Baha Mar Resorts.
“It’s our first step,” said Bryan Guillot,
Baha Mar’s chief marketing officer. “We
have sunk a lot of pylons already, with
many more to come.”
The opening of the Sheraton is the first
phase of a project that calls for the development of a megaresort on Cable Beach.
Baha Mar’s partners in the joint venture are
Harrah’s Entertainment and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
“This first phase is critical because it is
an indication of what the total product will
represent,” Guillot said.
▼
CARIBBEAN
The 694-room Sheraton Cable Beach
Resort, formerly a Radisson, was “taken
down to the concrete in the renovations,”
according to Guillot. Each guest room cost
$100,000 to renovate.
All rooms have a balcony or patio with
ocean views, high-speed Internet access,
LCD flat-screen TVs,
walk-in showers, large
desks, ergonomic chairs
and signature Sheraton
Sleeper beds.
The resort has seven
acres of gardens, three
pools with waterfalls, a
swim-up bar, oversize
Jacuzzis, four restaurants, two lounges, four
tennis courts, 25,000
square feet of meetings
facilities, a business
center and a Kids Club.
The Sheraton joins
its neighbor, the 550-
room Wyndham Nassau Resort & Crystal
Palace Casino, as part
of the Cable Beach Resorts family. Both are owned by Baha Mar
Development Co.
Together, the resorts form one complex
offering cross-property amenity privileges
to guests, including the Cable Beach Resorts Golf Club. Still to come in Baha Mar’s
grand plan are a 1,000-room Caesars Palace, a 300-room W, a 300-room St. Regis
and a 700-room Westin.
“We’ve tried to cover all markets in this
product development,” Guillot said. “The
Sheraton and the Wyndham target the
The Sheraton Cable
Beach Resort in Nassau,
formerly a Radisson,
opened on June 12, marking the first phase in the
development of the Baha
Mar project. At the flag-raising were, from left,
Robert Sands, Baha Mar
Resorts; Kevin Regan,
Starwood Hotels &
Resorts; Sarkis Izmirlian,
Baha Mar Resorts; Hans
Altenhoff, Sheraton
Cable Beach Resort;
Don Robinson, Baha Mar
Resorts; and Neko Grant,
Bahamas minister of
tourism.
midrange price level. The W aims for the
hip-and-cool market, the Westin for the
meetings segment, the St. Regis for the
high-end traveler and Caesars for the gambling crowd.”
The facilities of each hotel will be available to guests at all the hotels with the exception of the St. Regis, whose pool will be
for the exclusive use of its guests.
Marketing the Starwood brands (St. Regis, Westin, W and Sheraton) will be a big
part of selling the resort, Guillot said.
“We want travelers to think of Baha Mar
as a destination where they will stay at one
of the properties there. We want them in
the mind-set of, ‘I’m going to Baha Mar,
I’m staying at W’, for example,” he said.
For travel agents, selling Baha Mar will be
an “educational challenge,” Guillot said.
“Baha Mar is a place to relax or to invigorate, depending upon how active a guest
chooses to be,” he said. “The knowledgeable
agents will help the traveler sort out that
decision.”
Guillot said the resort will sell all-inclusive stays. “Sheraton is offering an all-inclusive option, and we are developing one for
Wyndham guests, as well,” he said.
As for the competition posed by nearby
Atlantis Paradise Island, also a behemoth
in terms of size, scope and facilities, Guillot said that Baha Mar “competes on a more
global basis.”
“In the end, we all need to grow business
to the destination, not to just one resort
project,” he said.
Airlift is a critical factor now and in the
future, according to Guillot. He’s pleased
that an airport upgrade will be taking place
in Nassau.
Guillot said Baha Mar was “a big vision”
and hinted that the project could be replicated in other destinations.
There are a lot of pylons to be sunk before that happens, however.
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