Cayman Islands Warns Owner to Restore Abandoned Resort

A once-prominent resort on Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach is now a hangout for rats, and Grand Cayman is fed up.

Minister of Tourism McKeeva Bush issued an ultimatum to the owners of the former Hyatt Regency Grand Cayman: Restore the resort under a comparable brand by year’s end.

“I told the owners that we have received many complaints about an increase in rodents as a result of the abandoned resort. The country cannot continue to be put on hold as a result of this,” Bush said in a report in Cayman Net News.

The 230-room hotel suffered damage from Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and has been closed ever since.

Ongoing legal battles over insurance claims filed after Ivan have thwarted financial settlements necessary to make repairs, and the property has remained idle on the inland side of West Bay Road, the main hotel thoroughfare that fronts Seven Mile Beach.

“The ruins take away from the prestige of our famous Seven Mile Beach as well as having a serious environmental impact on the whole area,” Bush said.

The empty buildings are clearly visible to tourists and residents. The property owner, Embassy Investments, has continued to independently operate the resort’s 53 beachfront suites under the name Grand Cayman Beach Suites.