By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 18, 2023 – Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell shared a collection of photos taken today at the reopening of the British Colonial Hotel following a $100 million-dollar renovation that I absolutory had to share with readers of my online publication, BAHAMAS CHRONICLE, which has a huge following among the Bahamian diaspora across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as well as in The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean.
Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, who is also and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, spoke about the opening on Friday, following a ceremony to welcome two new Alaska Airlines flights to The Bahamas, The Nassau Guardian reported in today’s edition
Touting the “magnificence” of the $100 million worth of renovations the owners have put into the hotel, DPM Cooper welcomed the addition of 300 rooms back into the country’s hotel inventory.
“The British Colonial is going to be a magnificent new addition to downtown Nassau,” DPM Cooper said. “I have had the occasion of doing a preliminary tour several weeks ago, and even then they weren’t completed, but it was fantastic. The lobby areas, the Bullion bar at the back that we used to know… is coming back. I hope that it will be as exciting as before.”
He added, “The water features in the back are really fantastic… 18,000 square feet of meeting space and almost 300 rooms. But most significantly, more than 300 Bahamians employed. I’m excited about this. We are experiencing magnificent growth in tourism. It is absolutely important that we continue to increase our room inventory.”
DPM Cooper said the country is constrained from growing its stopover visitors because the room inventory is not growing quickly enough, adding that the reopening of the British Colonial is therefore an important addition for Nassau/Paradise Island.
“This is how smoothly investments work with tourism to ensure that we continue to improve our overall product,” DPM Cooper said. “This is an exciting opportunity for Downtown Nassau. This is an exciting occasion for the Ministry of Tourism and, of course, our British Colonial partner.”
The newly renovated property features a brand-new lobby, five new restaurants, brand new meeting spaces and completely renovated guest rooms and hallways.
There is also be a new porte cochere, all new landscaping, two new swimming pools, a new beach bar restaurant and a completely renovated beach area.
