Part of the west wing of Sonesta Beach Hotel may be demolished and the property could re-open with 80 fewer rooms next spring, owner Clifford Schorer confirmed last night.

Hurricane Fabian has destroyed a large retaining wall making part of the cliff-side unstable, he said.

Mr. Schorer said a decision will need to be made within two weeks because new construction will have to begin, but pulling down part of the western wing was definitely under consideration.

He told The Royal Gazette he was considering using the insurance money to rebuild a smaller unit of one or two storeys high on the same site.

"On the cliff-side was an enormous retaining wall, about 60 feet by 30, that collapsed and we are looking at the cost of putting walls back and the cost of restoring rooms, or restoring rooms elsewhere," said Mr. Schorer, whose newly formed company Southampton Beach Resort bought the hotel in June.

"If we were to retreat off the cliffs as they were unstable, it would be to replace the rooms elsewhere with new construction."

The hotel normally has 400 rooms, but the number of rooms available when the hotel re-opens has not been determined because some may be reconfigured, he said.

But with the hotel only running at an average occupancy of 45 percent, the loss of 80 rooms in the short term would not have much impact.

"I don't think it will have a terrible impact on the property, but in the long term we want to build up the occupancy rates then we would need that back."

Mr. Schorer, an American citizen, has said previously that in the long term, he wants to demolish the main Sonesta building and reconstruct the hotel.