Sonesta Hotels, which represents three hotels on St. Maarten, has issued a statement after Hurricane Irma passed over the island.
As part of the hotel's Hurricane Preparedness Plan, all in-house hotel guests were advised to take their passports, any pertinent medication, and comfortable clothing, and move from their hotel rooms to an internal shelter, which had been set up in line with the company’s operations plan.
According to the statement, guests and staff of all Sonesta hotels remain in on-property shelters at this time. Guests of Sonesta Ocean Point Resort and Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, Casino & Spa are staying in conference rooms located at The Royal Islander, a vacation ownership property located in the Maho area. The Royal Islander is operated by The Maho Group, which manages Sonesta's St. Maarten hotels. Guests of Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort, Casino & Spa are staying in the internal conference rooms of the hotel.
According to the statement, the hotel provided light amenities for their comfort.
“Our executive and management team are currently assessing damage as weather conditions permit and verifying next steps for guests to return home,” according to the statement. “For those travelers scheduled to arrive in the next days, please monitor your airline's cancellations and call 1-800-SONESTA for information on our Hurricane Cancellation Policy. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the Caribbean today. We will be updating you again shortly as we receive more information.”
As islands are still assessing damage, it appears as though St. Maarten/St. Martin and St. Barts have been hit the hardest of the Caribbean islands Hurricane Irma has already passed through. Both Antigua and St. Kitts/Nevis have reported minimal damage.
Keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for more Hurricane Irma updates and be sure to follow Travel Agent’s Joe Pike on Twitter @TravelPike and Instagram @pike5260.
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