Jan. 27, 2005 – The pending sale of the Grand Beach Palace Resort has fizzled, leaving owner Mexican-based Palace Resorts searching for another buyer.
Earlier this month, property manager Joyce Smith had told a Source reporter that the hotel was in the process of being sold. (See "Grand Beach Palace in Process of Being Sold".)
However, in the wake of seemingly related incidents, the owners are now looking for a new buyer for the 290-room hotel.
"It is now back on the market," Smith said Thursday afternoon, adding the sale reported earlier had not been finalized with the interested party.
Knowledgeable sources had told the Source that Dexter Chappelle, chairman of The Future Limited Inc. and producer of the Caribbean Shining Star event, which included a concert with Alicia Keys, had shown interest in purchasing the hotel.
Also, earlier this week Shining Star's Web site, www.caribbeanshiningstar.com, encouraged individuals to "book a room at our fabulous Caribbean Shining Star Hotel & Beach Resort." The site listed a Virgin Islands telephone number for reservations.
"That was a mistake," Jo-Ann Geffen, public relations officer for Caribbean Shining Star, said Thursday. "There was an offer made on a local hotel but nothing was finalized."
The site now reads, "Book a room at a fabulous hotel and beach resort." The contact is the same local number. When called, the voice mail said "Caribbean Shining Star" and asked the caller to leave a message with name and phone number.
According to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity, representatives of Caribbean Shining Star had been setting up an office in the lobby of the former Grand Beach Palace Resort.
But according to another source, Chappelle is no longer staying at the resort. He reportedly left around the same time he announced on a local radio show that the Caribbean Shining star event and Alicia Keys concert scheduled to take place this weekend were postponed. (See "Alicia Keys Concert, Talent Competition Postponed".)
Chappelle did not return calls from the Source on Wednesday about the concert or on Thursday about the hotel.
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