MAUNDAYS BAY, Anguilla -- As part of our recent coverage of Anguilla's Festival Del Mar, Travel Agent had an opportunity to visit one of the island's most popular resorts, Cap Juluca, and talk to its operations manager about all the property's latest news.
Perhaps the biggest nugget of information we obtained from Operations Manager Kevin Carty was that 26 villas that were removed from Cap Juluca's inventory in the midst of a legal battle involving one of the property's stakeholders will be back on the block within 12 to 18 months from now.
Carty says the property still has roughly 70 villas available. He says Cap Juluca is currently operating at about 80 percent average occupancy.
"It hasn't really hurt us too much," says Carty. "We did lose some repeat customers who couldn't stay in their regular villas, but overall we are seeing some impressive occupancy numbers."
In November of 2011, it was reported that Cap Juluca was facing auction of some of its assets. According to that report, the owner of the property, Adam Aron, had reportedly failed on his payment to the previous owner Charles Hickox at the end of July and still owed some $67 million.
Future Renovation
Carty says once the villas are back on the market, the hotel will undergo a multi-million dollar upgrade. Although he didn't give us the full details of the renovation, it can be assumed that most of it will involve upgrading the shuttered villas to keep them on par with the roughly 70 villas that all recently underwent upgrades.
"The plan is to not just come back fully operational, but come back bigger than before," Carty told Travel Agent.
Recent Renovations
Each of the resort’s repainted guestrooms sports clean lines and vibrant hints of color, outfitted with new room amenities, furniture, linens and other decorative accents.
A highlight of the recent redo was the new Jonquil Suite – a 3,290-square-foot villa featuring two master bedrooms, a sitting room, full-service kitchen, an oceanfront dining terrace, a Jacuzzi and a private, freshwater infinity pool.
Spice Lounge is a new exotic Arabesque-style waterfront bar featuring live music, dancing and a global tapas menu. Maundays Bar has been updated with distinctive rattan furniture, dark woods and dramatic lighting. Blue is an open-air beachfront restaurant has been refreshed in an elegant yet casual style against a bright white and pale azure backdrop – accented with pale blue chairs and tables and bright raspberry, lime and orange pillows.
Also in 2013, enhancements included new menus and a refreshed Pimms, the resort’s signature restaurant; more live entertainment and a new luxury cruiser, Juluca Pride, available for private charters from Anguilla to St. Maarten and St. Barths.
General Manager Hunt
Meanwhile, Cap Juluca is still searching for a new general manager to replace Gary Thulander. Carty says a new general manager will be named when the villas are back on the block.
Visit www.capjuluca.com and keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for updates on this story. And follow Travel Agent's Joe Pike on Twitter @TravelPike.