Two western resorts taken over by creditors
Published:Wednesday | February 1, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Avia Collinder, Business Writer
Two years after its renovation, said by owner Constantine Hinds to cost US$3 million, The Vista Ambassador Resort & Spa is going on the auction block. So, too, is the 34-room boutique hotel The Palms, in Negril.
Both properties are listed with D.C. Tavares & Finson Realty Limited for sale by auction.
Vista Ambassador's Hinds could not be located for comment, but an auction representative at D.C. Tavares said the placement of the 110-room property was made by a financial institution whose name could not be disclosed.
The Palms, which is owned by principals John and Cassandra Nelson of United States (US)-based Mandolin Investment Inc, was placed in receivership by its creditors in the first week of January.
Joseph Smith, the hotelier and receiver manager appointed by the group of venture capitalists to whom money is owed by the owners, said Wednesday that he had put the property up for auction with D.C. Tavares & Finson on instructions of the investors who were located in different US states.
"I can say nothing about the money owed. They put up their money in the project and the former owners did not fulfil their mortgage obligations," Smith said.
The hotel is still operating with guests in-house.
Vista Ambassador Resort has had two name changes over the years, from Miranda Hill hotel and later Lifestyle Resorts. It was shuttered for seven years when Hinds announced the US$3 million renovation programme in February 2010.
He also proposed to raise cash to rehabilitate the business by offering about half of the 110 rooms for sale, priced at US$135,000 to US$150,000, in a switch of business model.
Purchasers were being offered the option of leasing back the units to the resort's operators at a fixed guaranteed rental of US$500 monthly, with the hotel paying the maintenance and utility costs.
Occupants of the units sold would have had access to the property's spa, restaurant, bars, swimming pools, basketball court, tennis court and gift shops.