Government officials were last night investigating reports that Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort is closing its doors until October.
A letter signed by Gary C. Sadler, senior vice president of sales at Unique Vacations, Inc., advising of the closure circulated yesterday.
It said: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, Sandals Royal Bahamian Spa & Resort & Offshore Island will be temporarily closing from August 15 to October 13, 2016."
The letter said, "We appreciate your patience as we work through this challenging time.
"We have instituted a streamlined and efficient course of action for those guests affected and are extending all of our call center resources to you, including a 24-hour hotline."
Guests were offered re-bookings at another Sandals Resort or Beaches Resort and were assured that Sandals would absorb all airline change fees.
They are also being offered two complimentary nights at any Sandals Resort.
Senior government officials told The Nassau Guardian late yesterday that they were not aware of any planned closure of the property at Cable Beach.
Director of Labour Robert Farquharson also said he had not heard anything of the sort.
"Reports have reached the Department of Labour concerning the possible closure and the department has initiated an investigation to confirm the facts and ensure that the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act are satisfied," said Farquharson after The Guardian brought the letter to his attention.
He said he spoke with two members of the senior management team at Sandals yesterday evening.
"They themselves are unable to speak until they get some concrete information," Farquharson said.
"I'm not commenting on it because I don't want to comment until we have completed our investigation."
He admitted though that he was not surprised to hear of a temporary closure at the property, which he said employs about 490 line staff and just under 100 managers.
"As I indicated, the Department of Labour has been in discussions with the senior management team of Sandals concerning a number of employee related issues and non employee related issues, and so that it is not surprising," the director of labor said.
Farquharson noted however that seasonal closures are not unusual in the hospitality sector.
"Most hoteliers take the low season, the end of August to October to renovate. So this is nothing new in the industry. This isn't out of the norm in the industry," he said.
The reported plans to shutter the property for two months comes weeks after industrial tension led to a protest being staged by the union representing Sandals workers.
Officials of the Bahamas Hotel Maintenance and Allied Workers Union say Sandals officials have refused to negotiate an industrial agreement.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian