Hurricane Irene at Beaches Turks & Caicos after the storm

[jocundday9]

Thanks, Tami!

We have a week booked in October and your reports have been invaluable. No information is being made available by the resort's management as to the physical condition of the resort. Your video is much appreciated.

[tamisantini]

I have an official statement from Sandals and Beaches on the re-opening of their resorts. The resort in the Bahamas was also damaged. Please visit my blog or Face Book Page to read the official statement.

.getawayinparadise. or Face Book Paradise Getaways

[tamisantini]

Inside Sales at Sandals told me that Oct 6 is the re-opening date, if anyone needs help with re-booking let me know.

[ransomdev14]

My mother heard from a worker at the resort who she is good friends with that the resort did not close and there was not to much damage done to the resort but they are not letting anyone else into the resort and they are closing it after the last guest checks out until they here from the insurance company

[tamisantini]

@ransomdev14 Yes, when we were there Jenna told us that were not allowing anyone else on the resort and would close after the last guest left. I am glad to hear that there was not a lot of damage done. They were at the beginning of evaluating everything when we were leaving. I am going to call on Monday to find out the latest.

Thank you for the update

[1972blaklex]

@tamisantini Hi Tami,

We are scheduled to arrive on September 17, 2011. Have you heard anything about the resort closing until past this date? Has anybody else heard anything?

thanks

[tamisantini]

@1972blaklex I talked to Inside sales today. Oct 6 is going to be the re-open date.

[ransomdev14]

My mother heard

[overloard1992]

Thank god yall ok

[tamisantini]

@overloard1992 Yes we have been praising him for his help.

[casib69]

Glad you are all safe ad thanks for the updates. Please keep us informed. I am scheduled to take a trip with Make-A-Wish and arrive on October 2nd. Hearing they might be closed until middle of October is heartwrenching. Please let us know anything you find out. My daughter is really looking forward to this trip. Thanks again.

[tamisantini]

@casib69 I will try to find out the exact dates of re-opening on Monday for everyone, and I will make sure that i let all you know what the word is. I hope your daughter does get to go.

[casib69]

@tamisantini Thanks. I will check back then. :)

[singinggirl365]

I was supposed to leave for Turks&Caicos on Saturday the 27th and my mom and I were so pissed when we got the call! We have been to Turks&Caicos about 5or6 times so we asked if it was totally closed just for cosmetic issues because we didnt care, but we are now getting refunded for the trip, but we are being slammed with the airfare even though we got the insurance for the trip&the plane tickets through sandals. They were very nice though, they let us rebook for the same price in june(:

[tamisantini]

@singinggirl365 I am sorry to hear about the airfare. Did Sandals adjust that for you and so you were able re-book for the same price? June is a good idea for weather. Sometimes I will advise my clients to book their air through other sources, because it can be cheaper than the sandals system.

[singinggirl365]

@tamisantini Well, I'm not completely sure but we were supposed to get our airfare money back, just with some penalty, but now they said we have to book for a different time because it had to be within a year of our previous booking...so now we are going in April. And yes, Sandals did try to adjust it for us, but then we were called by the airline and they said they couldn't do that....so we are just trying to switch everything for April for Easter!

[ransomdev14]

Im so mad ...the resort called my mom today and told her it would be closed until the 15Th of october

[tamisantini]

@ransomdev14 Hi, sorry that my updates are so late, we just got back in the states last night at 3am, all flights were delayed. We were told for at least 15 days. I know they have a lot of landscaping issues going on there, and some workers,as of yesterday still were not able to go home. I will try to find out the truth about the re-opening.

[tamisantini]

@ransomdev14 Hi, sorry that my updates are so late, we just got back in the states last night at 3am, all flights were delayed. We were told for at least 15 days. I know they have a lot of landscaping issues going on there, and some workers,as of yesterday still were not able to go home due to a lot of flooding. The airport was still without power when we arrived to leave yesterday, then the lights came on around 2pm. I will try to find out the truth about the re-opening.

[1138garey]

We are hearing rumors that the date of reopening is October 1 as apposed to September 15th. Can you clarify?  Thank you

[tamisantini]

@1138garey Just talked to a Sandals and Beaches rep at corprate. They told me that the resort will be for sure closed for the next 15 days and that they are flying some experts down to Beaches today to check out the damage and make a determination as to when they will re-open the resort. I am supposed to call back on Monday. I will keep everyone updated, I will also be updating what is going on at Beaches from my blog and my facebook page. getawayinparadise

[clubvoyage1]

@tamisantini

does anyone know for sure whats going on im schedulaled to arrive 10th sep some are saying no problem i called beaches directly , and now i see on blogs oct????

[sllewellyn3]

We appreciate your updates! Our family just left there on Saturday! Glad you are all safe and well cared for. Great work, Beaches/Sandals! :)

[tamisantini]

@sllewellyn3 I am so glad that they made it home safe!

[jme8778]

Thank you so much for doing these updates. It is nice to get answers from someone actually staying at the resort. The 1st phone call my travel agent received yesterday was from someone with Unique Vacations that told her the resort would not open back up until Oct. 1st. Of course, that person was WRONG and did not know what they were talking about. I really wish she could have understood her name! We are scheduled to arrive Sept. 11th and keeping our fingers crossed the resort will be opened

[tamisantini]

@jme8778 I hope so too!  I know management has made it clear to me that they want every guest to experience the best Beaches has to offer for the type of money you have invested in your vacation. When you do come, I am sure you will be very happy! I can't stress enough to everyone how important it is to get travel protection on your trips, especially during the tropical hurricane season.

[xxruthie]

@tamisantini thanks for the awesome updates. how did the beaches fair in the storm. I am booked at a private villa this week and WAS scheduled at BEACHES sept 3. Beaches has confirmed it is closing for 2 weeks. is the flooding subsiding.

[tamisantini]

@xxruthie There was some leaking of roofs, a lot of tree damage, and some shingles that came off of the roofs, and some beach coverings that were damaged. Not too bad, considering how much rain and wind we experienced.

[ransomdev14]

so when can any one who is supposed to travel there in the upcoming week go?

[tamisantini]

@ransomdev14 I will talk to the supervisor and try to find this answer out for you as well.

[ransomdev14]

@tamisantini thank you ..me and my mom were supposed to leave the 30Th Ihope every thing is back to normal by then

[tamisantini]

@ransomdev14 I just talked to the reservations supervisor, and she said that you will have to re-schedule your trip. You can use your travel agent or the 1-800-sandals. They will be officially closing the resort down by Monday, due to the safety and clean up issues. She also told me that because everyone who has paid this type of money, they want the resort to run at perfect capacity and services for all of the guests. Which I can understand, based on the last two of very limited services.

[dsalladin]

my daughter is there right now.. do you think they will have to leave early?

[tamisantini]

@dsalladin I will find this out for you and let you know as soon as I find out.

[tamisantini]

@dsalladin The resort supervisor has told me that everyone will be given a choice of either leaving early or finishing out their stay. If people do chose to finish their stay, they may not experience the full features and services of Beaches at this time. It will be up to each individual traveler. 

[tamisantini]

Hey everyone. We just spoke with the Reservations Supervisor here at the resort. They are closing the resort for a minimum of 15 days in order to properly clean and fix the damage. This is a safety precaution (trees are falling down/almost down) in addition to the resort's operational standards. They really don't want anyone who has spent this much money to come here and be disappointed in any way or be unsafe. Please work with your travel agent as he/she can assist you greatly.

[superguy5000]

beaches 800 # told me resort is closed til October 1st, to assess damage and cleanup.... any idea if this is true?? we were supposed to leave Saturday morning to arrive there and noone notified us from actual resort. thank you

[theboatboy]

Hey Tami, your updates have been great. Thanks for doing them. We've been down to Beaches a few times so the images hit home. I guess the jerk chicken guy won't be at it today!

[tamisantini]

@theboatboy Things are actually looking back to normal this morning. Staff is out and about setting up chairs, cleaning up and the restaurants and stores are open. The sun is shining!! Woo-hoo! We are heading home in a few hours.