THE Water’s Edge Hotel in Bouley Bay will shut its doors for guests at the end of the year.
The hotel part of the site is no longer making money so, the owners, who include Robert Behan, have decided to close down. However, they will continue to run the six self-catering flats further up the road, the Black Dog bar and restaurant, and functions in the main hotel, the Dive Centre and the Woodcarvers shop.
Mr Behan said: ‘We are not renewing the seasonal staff for 2009. The three staff that we usually keep on over the winter we are not keeping. We are not intending to operate residential rooms in 2009. It is not profitable.
We are keeping the profitable elements of the business and we are not operating the non-profitable parts.’
It is believed that there are plans to turn the three-star hotel into flats but Mr Behan would not comment on this. The hotel site has a long history and could date back as far as the 18th century.
Article posted on 13th October, 2008 - 2.57pm
9 Article Comments
yay more flats
It’s all very well taking a strict view of business profitability, and cutting out the unprofitable bits.
Before they shut down the hotel, I would ask the owners if they have considered the harm they will be potentially doing to the rest of their business.
Forgive me if I am teaching my Granny to suck eggs, but is it not possible that the Restaurant, Dive Centre etc are partially supported by hotel guests?
Once the hotel rooms are converted to flats and sold, there will be no way of converting back again. Could they be mothballed, or maybe let to Polish workers as they are?
i am so very sad to see yet another part of jersey tourism closing down, to make way for flats which you have to many of. its about time cohen turned down some of the planing for these sort of developments, and then these light weight hoteliers might make a go of running them as they were back in the 70s. jersey needs to get its head out of its backside, and remember that all the people you turned your nose up at visiting jersey were the ones that really kept tourism going. now your all up market no one comes, because you have bad weather, no vision for future,and no thought for the past, even though it was so much better than now. this was in enjoyment, and profit.sort your selves out, and try and get some fresh blood into your goverment as you have your elections soon. yours disapointed by jersey again. A. R. Doe.
Again MORE flats… luxury ones I bet so the young Jersey people could not afford..oh well that’s the norm now I suppose.
Would be nice to see flats that are affordable for young Jersey families that are desperate for accommodation.
jay doe- can I ask what experience of tourism you have? I have plenty both here and elsewhere, and it’s nothing to do with Jersey hotels going up market, or ‘light weight hoteliers’. It’s to do with the fact that Jersey as a whole is too expensive- flights and other expenses here. There are plenty of hotels on the island still offering cheap but decent accomodation and even they can’t fill them. At the end of the day what would you rather do- pay half the price for guaranteed good weather elsewhere in the world or come to Jersey- more often than not- in the rain?
The light weight hotelier is also a below the belt comment- you can’t have any idea of the hard work that gone into hospitality this year- with very little return. I for one am insulted at that comment.
With regards to the running them like back in the 70’s- that is the problem with so many places on the island and the UK- no one wants a 70’s style hotel any more, you just have to look at the Luxury market figures to see that one!
Also the accesability of further a field countries is playing a huge part in the demise of Jersey Toursim. The fact that flights for 3 days in New York are often the same, if not less than flying over here.
What do you mean demise of Tourism ? But all the people who work for Jersey tourism keep telling us that every year the figures are up,I’ll guarantee they’ll be up next year too Just how many people there are on £50,000 + No wonder the figures are up would’nt you say things are great lets face it if 1 small guest closes with even 5 beds and the same number of people arrive next year then the figures are up YIPPEE !!!But i do agree people who work in lots of aspects of tourism do work very hard and very long hours sometimes for very little return in an industry that lets face it all you can do is try to manage decline ! The other side of it is that it’s lots of tourists who are drinking the farmers milk with there cornflakes every morning
I used to come starting in 1967 as a young man then every year until 2001 first with our children then bringing friends with us until one time staying at a hotel on the North of the Island in 2003, We were made to feel like we were unwonted the staff were rude and unhelpful, the rooms were pre 1960´s swimming pool was neglected and badly in need of repair, accommodation was not very good at all.
In town six of us were refused a table at one of the larger stores,”As it was lunchtime and the regulars are coming” The six of us would have spent about 70 pounds between us, Jersey has some of the best views, beaches and walks that I have ever seen, but spend a Holiday and about two thousand pounds per head for week in Jersey, I think not…good bye Jersey, Hello Barbados
, Australia, France.
Why not offer the hotel to the Youth Hostels Association (YHA)
this year me and my mum came to jersey on holiday,(it was mums 5th time.and my 3rd),o.k. so its a bit pricey to get to the island,but at least we have found the locals pleasant,mum enjoys browsing around the shops,i enjoy the nightlife.
the hotel that we stay in - the norfolk on la colomberie is excellent,so why are hotels being closed down and turned into flats or luxury apartments,
another thing that i’ve noticed,is the fact that i feel alot safer if i’m out in the evening/late night or early morning than i do here in blackpool,if i was coming out of a club in the early hours here.i’d be getting a taxi or at best looking over my shoulder all of the time,
i had no problems at all when i left la cala in the early hours,
many thanks for 3 pleasant stays on the island,and i’ll be back next year and as many as possible after that,
dave bird,
blackpool,
lancashire,