I have just received the following notification from Duane Kenny at the Blue Waters Inn and have decided to post it in its entirety. It is so sad that the BWI seems to be the ONLY hotel on the island to have any interuption to service, and that primarily becuase of power failure.
Good luck Duane. Our thoughts are with you....All guests were evacuated to Grafton Beach Hotel at 6 pm on Monday some time before the hurricane hit (it pays to be a surfer that study's the weather). I chose this hotel due to its choice location, high above the storm surge area, backed by a mountain, and sheltered from the brunt of the storm track. Myself and about 3 managers stayed with the hotel but at around 11 pm after the hurricane was tracked to hit Tobago we evacuated just to be safe.
Damage to the hotel seems minor. Our Jetty sustained major damage and will require a total overhaul. All roofs took some slight damage. One window broken, and one tank cover damaged. We lost some of our lovely large sea almond trees on the beach but I guess the sea view has improved. I also lost the large Bougainvillea bush in front of the staff building. I have to do a more detailed inspection of the rooms but I think we can turn around the hotel by Saturday and be ready for Sunday with the exception of the Jetty. All boats will operate from the beach, which is not a problem.
The real problem is about 45 electrical and phone lines are down and we can't get a definite answer back from TTEC as to when we would get power. The talk is sometime next week. We also have no water on the Main line. We have 50,000 gallons of storage which would last us for quite some time. Phone will be down for a bout a week, although cell sights may be up soon. I will not open the hotel till I have electricity, water and phones. So I will have to keep you posted every so often.
