Carimar Beach Club was very lucky during the passage of Hurricane Irma. The property suffered only very limited damage and had power and water straight through the Hurricane. We had 2 guests staying with us during the storm (they could not get a flight out in time). And although we were officially closed starting September 4th, in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, we at Carimar Beach Club were able to host stranded guests from other properties and opened the hotel to relief workers, NGO representatives and the British government and army as a base for their recovery efforts.
Within two weeks after the passage of Irma (the eye of the hurricane just touched Anguilla to the south), we had to prepare for two other Cat 5 hurricanes: Jose just three days after Irma and Maria another 10 days later. Luckily for our island, Jose passed well north of us and Maria about 100 miles to the south. We had a good amount of rain with Maria, which was a welcomed gift for Anguilla; it will allow our gardens to green up again within a few weeks’ time.
The major damage at Carimar are the gardens, the railings going up to the rooms, the warm water solar heaters, beach chairs, some doors and a couple broken windows. The inside of our units did not suffer any damage. Thanks to the hard work of our staff and some additional workers, we were able to clean out the debris on the grounds within days and open one room after the other for more unexpected guests. After four weeks, most of the island is cleaned up or well on the way. The Valley and other villages in the center of the island already have power and ANGLEC is making progress every day. Carimar’s utilities are independent with the use of own generator for power, solar energy panels for hot water, and our own water production (reverse osmosis plant).
One of the remaining challenges is still communication, as our land phone lines, cable tv, and internet connections are down and may be out of service for a few months. However, cell phones are working fine again, and for the last week, we have internet service on the property by the use of “hot spots”. The easiest way to reach us is by emailing us at
[email protected]. We can also be reached at 264-497-6881 (int’l #). Our office is currently open from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm daily. Our beach (north-east side of Meads Bay) lost some sand, but it has already started to return slowly and we are confident that nature will restore our beach as it always has within the coming weeks. The first flowers in our gardens are blooming again! Visit our Facebook page to see photos taken on October 3, 2017.
When is Carimar open for business again?
As mentioned before, we are currently hosting over 70 guests at Carimar, including regular guests (business people, government officials, and relief workers) and are expecting our first repeat guests returning at the end of October and early November. All of our units have electricity with a/c in the bedrooms, running water (hot water should be restored by the end of October), daily housekeeping and all the comforts our guests could enjoy. Our guests can use their cell phones and access the internet in our reception area and use our “hot spot” with limited service. Landline phone access and cable tv will probably not be available for a few months. There will be repairs and replanting done over the next 2-3 months to upgrade and enhance our property for the upcoming season. We also went ahead with our scheduled plan to renovate the bathrooms in 2 buildings (we will add additional bathrooms each year).
Please direct all inquiries, cancellation notices, and postponement notifications to our reservations department at
[email protected]
Period until October 31st, 2017: We decided to keep part of our property open for guests in need of an accommodation throughout the coming weeks, although they know that there will be some noise in the daytime through our rebuilding efforts. The rates for this time will be discounted, and some of that income will go directly to our staff relief fund that Carimar has set up for our staff (more details on our Facebook page and website). Our objective during this period is non-commercial but to accommodate the needs of the Island as there are only very limited open places to stay in Anguilla.
November 1st to November 30th, 2017: Although most of our repairs and replanting will be done by the end of October, there will still be some work going on at Carimar (painting, landscaping, etc.). We have not opened our booking portals (like Expedia, Booking.com) for new bookings for this period, but will accept guests to stay with us if they wish. There will be only a limited choice of restaurants opened for the guests. – a great opportunity to discover many of our excellent local restaurants for a true Caribbean experience. We have some repeat guests who strongly want to come during that time to show their support for Anguilla and Carimar Beach Club. We will offer a special 30% discount to those guests who still want to come and support us.
December 1st to December 20th, 2017: We are confident that we will have all repairs and enhancements done by December 1st. However, we see this period as a soft opening as we are not sure if all services (only limited internet, TV, and landline phone) will be available as it usually is. We will offer a special 15% pre-opening discount during that period to all our guests and this special rate (clearly mentioning the possibility of limited services) will be available directly and through our travel industry partners.
December 21st, 2017: Grand re-opening of Carimar Beach Club on Meads Bay. We are very confident that Carimar Beach Club will be fully operational with all services running at the beginning of the Christmas Season. Our property will be nicer than ever, everything will be repaired and repainted, some of the units will have brand-new bathrooms (this project was planned before the hurricane) and will most likely have one of the lushest and loveliest gardens we have ever had. A lot of your favorite restaurants will be reopened as well, including our neighbors Blanchard’s and the Beach Shack. Some of your favorite restaurants will be reopened as well, and there is a great opportunity to explore some of the excellent but less famous local establishments.
WELCOME BACK TO PARADISE!
For weekly updates check our Facebook Page or send us an email if you have specific questions.
– Rolf Masshardt (General Manager) and Your Upbeat Carimar Team
Please help support the needs of our incredible staff so they can get back on their feet. Thank you!
www.gofundme.com/carimar