A near $100 million Warwick hotel project is coming to completion, without incurring a mountain of debt.

Azura Hotel developer John Bush told The Royal Gazette the opening of their Surf Restaurant on Saturday marked the end of resort amenity construction.

“We still have some residences to complete,” Mr Bush said. “That should take another 18 months.”

To fund the development, they used a conservative capital structure, building as they received support from individual investors. They also built much of the hotel while simultaneously hosting guests.

“This year was particularly poignant, because the new restaurant is in the nest of the property next to the pool, where people come to relax,” Mr Bush said. “It was like building a boat on the water.”

Mr Bush said if you built first and then waited for revenue to flow in, the debt load would “eat you alive”.

“That is why we now have this beautiful asset with virtually no debt on it,” he said. “It will become a very stable, secure, long-term hospitality asset for us and for Bermuda. You are not going to see a financial failure.”

He described their core equity investors as a “reunion group”. Money from selling hotel residences funded the construction of Azura’s infrastructure.

“We built it at the pace that people bought the residences from us,” Mr Bush said. “We had to really follow the lead of the market.”

Real estate sales have been successful and they only have three residences left to sell next year.

Azura started out selling apartments in the $1 million to $2 million range and are now in the $3 million to $4 million range. The remaining hotel residences — three-bed, three and a half bath units, range from $2,995,000 to $3,595,000.

All of Azura’s living spaces are defined as hotel residences under Bermuda law. Potential buyers are offered a fully managed home with hotel amenities, allowing them to use it as a second home, or rent it out for income, through the hotel.

Purchasers can decide how much time they spend at their residence each year, but must commit to putting at least one room through the hotel rental programme for half of the year, for a minimum of five years.

“With inventory fluctuating between 55 and 65 rooms, we classify ourselves as a mid-sized hotel,” general manager Nagma Walker said. “At our busiest period this year, we had 130 guests.”

When Mr Bush bought the old Surfside Beach Club in 2016, the property was in terrible condition.

“It was very popular for several decades, and then failed financially,” Mr Bush said.

“When we took it over it was literally falling down with rotted wooden railings. Ceilings were falling in after hurricanes. We totally gutted the cottages that were here and rebuilt them. The only thing we maintained was the masonry structure.”

The hotel now boasts a wellness centre, four pools, including a saltwater one on the beach, and two restaurants.

Hotel rooms sit right on the cliff top with views of the ocean.

Before starting Azura, Mr Bush spent 12 years at Rosewood Tucker’s Point in Hamilton Parish.

“I was involved in transitioning that from the Castle Harbour Hotel to Tucker’s Point,” he said.

Ms Walker has been general manager at Azura for three years.

“I came to consult for a month,” Ms Walker said. “It is an amazing project. It is new. It is different. We are incredibly proud of what we achieved in the last couple of years. We are on the finish line.”