One of Ambergris Caye oldest hotel, The Holiday Hotel, is undergoing major renovation. The facelift will however, keep the old colonial looks and charm envisioned since its construction in the mid 1960’s. The San Pedro Holiday Hotel opened its doors on June 15, 1965. As San Pedro’s first hotel, it had five small rooms, one cold water shower, one bathroom with plumbing and four full hours of electricity. At $10US, you would get accommodations, three meals a day and your laundry done.
Running her hotel under the fundamental principle of marketing: “Good marketing requires you to first identify your clients’ needs before you can appeal, attract and satisfy those needs and in the process profit from it.” Celi McCorkle has been able to run a continuously successful business for over 45 years.
Now Celi is passing down most of the reigns of management to her daughter, Lisa McCorkle Guerrero. Lisa is a successful businesswoman in her own right: Oasis Del Caribe and Train Station Fitness Center being two of her business accomplishments. With the new responsibility of an island icon in her hands, she has undertaken the task of renovating and breathing new life into the Holiday Hotel.
The San Pedro Sun spoke with Lisa to get some insight on the changes. “We’re giving it a complete facelift. From the outside, the exterior of the buildings, we’re changing it into like a nautical theme. So a lot of it will be the blue and the white with curtains that will fall on the deck. We want to maintain a boutique-hotel kind of feel, quaint but with finer little niches. It was time for a reno – it’s been so many years that we did anything drastic to the place,” stated Lisa.
Capitalizing on the hotel’s location and the view, Lisa stated that all they are doing is; “Giving everything a little upgrade; we are going with the blue and bright colors inside the rooms as well.” Other upgrades include the conversion of the bar and deck area into a Bar and covered Dining area. The deck will be completely covered using a PolyCarbonate material imported from Guatemala. According to Lisa, this material will maintain the outside dining feel while blocking about 90% of the heat and allowing for view from the upper floors. The upgrade will also eliminate the worry about weather, during Holiday’s many outdoor functions throughout the year.
Additionally, the old bar has been demolished and will be rebuilt to extend onto the deck with the current wall being completely torn down. The bay window facing Barrier Reef Drive, which is currently used as a show window, will also be torn down and replaced by a bar window overlooking the street, giving visitors the option to people watch while having drinks. The new design will also provide for three to four lounge areas and more bar tables.
Apart from physical upgrade, Lisa also plans on tweaking the restaurant’s present dinner menu to add a little “Belizean” to every dish. The renovations are expected to be completed in time for an Easter Opening.
