March 21, 2008 — It took close to seven years, but King's Alley Hotel on the boardwalk in Christiansted has finally opened.
Reports indicate that occupancy rates have been at about 50 percent since its soft opening in January. Government officials predicted its opening as far back as three years ago.
A scan of headlines about the hotel shows a project plagued with problems and cost overruns. A story in the Source in early June 2006 had Kent Bernier Sr., Public Finance Authority interim executive director, saying approximately $826,000 was needed to complete the King's Alley project, and he anticipated it would be completed by the end of that month. (See "PFA Approves More Funding for King's Alley Hotel Project.")
In March of that same year, the Public Finance Authority board authorized the release of $1.5 million from the 1994 Government Construction Fund, bringing the PFA's overall investment in the project at that time up to approximately $8 million.
King's Alley Hotel is a public-private project the V.I. government got involved in after the authority acquired control of the property through a loan default in 2001. The PFA has provided the funding to sustain the project.
There has been no public announcement of its opening. A worker, who asked not to be identified, said there had been discussion of having a grand opening celebration, but no date has been set.
Government employees have used the hotel since its opening. The government rate is $10 less than the standard rate of $169 per night.
Work also appears to be almost complete on the restaurant-and-bar facility in the front of the hotel near the boardwalk, but nothing has been said publicly about when that restaurant will open.
The 21 spacious rooms are done in a contemporary island décor in greens and yellow. Old-fashioned black-and-white photos by Stephanie Schoyer decorate the walls and give the room a Caribbean ambiance that many of the larger V.I. resorts lack. The modern furniture is dark mahogany wood. All rooms have either a king bed or two double beds. Each room has a narrow balcony with standing room only. The bathrooms have marble vanity tops, with frosted-glass bathroom doors.
The lobby is open air with mosaic tile floors in green, orange and blue. There are plastic, rattan-like chairs and large ottomans with cotton turtle print cushions.
The front desk clerk, who didn't want to give her name, said the only complaint guests have had is the absence of a swimming pool.
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