Bermuda’s next hotel overlooking South Shore in Warwick is now slated to open on June 1 instead of March, according to the Minister of Public Works.

However, Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch said that work, under the direction of the Bermuda Housing Corporation to repurpose the failed housing development as a high-end hotel, was progressing “like gangbusters”.

Colonel Burch added that the island had been beaten this summer by competitors to the south in being the region’s first to acquire a resort in the Tapestry Collection by Hilton.

“Hilton were here last week and have kept in regular contact with us,” he said.

“They have just opened a Tapestry in Kingston, Jamaica, which is the first in the Caribbean area. We were hoping to be first. But we’ll take second.”

Work at the Bermudiana Beach Resort, on the site of the old Grand Atlantic housing complex, was hit by financing holdups as well the chaos of the Covid-19 pandemic and a concurrent global tourism slump, Colonel Burch said.

“We have about 40 people at work on the site, and it’s coming along nicely.”

Hilton’s Tapestry Collection website still showed a November 21, 2023 opening date this week for Bermudiana Beach.

But June 1 is understood to be the most recent date agreed between the BHC and representatives from the global chain.

Tapestry, launched in 2017, was described by Hilton as an “independent” take on their brand.

Colonel Burch said there were two buildings at the site verging on completion that would “shortly” be unveiled as a show unit.

A source familiar with the project said furniture and doors being shipped from China had been held up by the supply-chain delays seen worldwide this year.

Much of the work involves refurbishing and altering the interior from what were once 76 condos billed originally as low-cost housing into 96 condos with 110 hotel room keys.

David Burt said early this year that March 2023 looked to be the opening date for a resort first hoped to welcome guests in July 2020.

A new design for Bermudiana Beach Resort got the green light this summer from the Department of Planning.

The site opened in 2011 as the Grand Atlantic affordable housing complex under the Progressive Labour Party Government.

But only two of its condos were sold, forcing a rethink of the site.

Speaking at the 2019 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the resort, Colonel Burch lamented that Grand Atlantic had been the victim of “sabotage” from environmentalists and the One Bermuda Alliance when the party was in Opposition.

The Hilton Tapestry site extols the clifftop resort’s five-minute distance from Horseshoe Bay Beach and 15-minute drive from Hamilton.

The most recent visit by Hilton officials was said to be a last check of the resort’s design, with a progress check expected towards the end of this year.