Originally Posted by sc flier
Yes, there seems to be no reason to expect any change from the customer's perspective. I would think that the property would only get better.
But with an outside investor bringing additional money into Barbados, the government could then use the proceeds for other development investments on the island. Not sure if this might include additional construction at or near the Hilton. If so, that could become an issue. But since this sale has only been a blip in the news so far, I would not think such construction would happen anytime soon, if at all.
Yes, it is the intension of the government to encourage development of lands on and/or near the
Needhams Peninsula on which the Hilton sits. There is talk of luxury hotels and condos. And, the issue of the sale has become a hot political issue on the island since the revelation by the opposition last week of the governments "secret negotiations" to sell the Hilton and the surrounding lands.
In a fiery speech last night seen on this video clip the minister of tourism [lapsing into the local Bajan dialect] makes the point that a foreign investor cannot move the hotel to the Cayman Islands or even to St. Lucy (the northernmost parish on the island) and that the government and people would still be reaping returns on their investment. As for the property remaining in the Hilton brand, IMHO, despite assurances otherwise it is safe to assume that nobody really knows for sure in the current climate of reflaging and rebranding now that hotel chains are getting out of property ownership to become property managers only. We all witnessed what happened to the Jalousie Hilton just 100 miles away on the neighboring island of St. Lucia.