The Royal Yacht sets sail

Congratulations to the team at The Royal Yacht on the opening of the new hotel. Despite all the delays and difficulties with completing the building work, the hotel is now open and looks great.

I was at the opening party last Tuesday (along with half of Jersey it seemed!). In fact it was so crowded that I am really looking forward to going back and having a look at the hotel when it’s quieter. What I did see, looked good and in particular the new bedrooms are impressive. Apparently, the building work has delayed the rooms opening for a few more days.

The nightclub on the ground floor is interesting. It holds 700 people, so I would imagine that the existing clubs around town will be concerned about the impact. I understand that with the exception of Saturday nights, most clubs are already struggling to attract numbers. I am also wondering what the impact of several hundred clubbers spilling out into the night at chucking-out time will be on those paying top dollar to stay in the balcony rooms at the front.

The spa also looks good, the restaurants could be good – depends on the menu and service, and I believe the bar prices are quite high. One thing’s for sure, if we ever get a summer, their al fresco area will do very well.

Thanks for a great party. It’s been a long time since I have bumped into so many members of the tourism industry in one night. It was great to catch up with everyone. So that’s one new opening down – one to go. I saw Jonathan Huglin, the GM at The Radisson walking around looking slightly aghast at the party going on. Jonathan – it’s your turn next! You’ve got a hard act to follow.