That a renovated former Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort and Spa will operate under the JW Marriott brand (see related story) from November next year is obviously good news. The property near Oyster Pond has been sorely missed since it closed following the devastating impact of Hurricane Irma in September 2017, with no clarity on a possible reopening except for Dawn Beach Club (DBC) timeshare units that were reconstructed.
The hotel will reportedly have 203 rooms and amenities similar to its predecessor. That is no doubt a welcome addition to the available visitor accommodations substantially reduced five years ago.
Many perhaps don’t stop to think about it, but quite some rooms were lost back then with the (partial) destruction of Pasanggrahan, Ocean Club, Summit Hotel and Great Bay Beach Resort. Incidentally, it would be nice to know when the Hard Rock Hotel of Sunwing planned in the latter location will finally be realised too.
Of course, several properties have since been rebuilt and reopened, including the Flamingo and Royal Palm resorts, while others underwent expansions, and several new ones were added as well. All this is also quite significant in evaluating the recovery of stayover tourism, as occupancy figures relate to the present inventory.
As it grows back to pre-Irma levels, more guests can be attracted to fuel the economy because there will be somewhere to house them especially during the traditional high season. At the end of the day, “everybody’s business” depends on enough heads in beds.
