Neighbours have called for scrutiny of a proposed expansion to the Nautilus hotel project on Warwick’s South Shore.

While construction on hotel residences at the site is ongoing, developers earlier this year submitted plans to create another four-storey building on the property.

Pauline Richards, who lives immediately west of the site, said she was unaware of the planning application until she read a story about it in The Royal Gazette and the window to launch an objection had closed.

She said: “There are a number of things that bother us.

“This development is being done in phases, so the whole scope of it is not in one application. It’s piecemeal, and in doing that it has taken away from the actual size and scope of the project.

“From our balcony you can see into the apartments. We can see what they’re having for breakfast. We can’t figure out why they were allowed to build so close to the boundary.”

She said the construction itself had caused woes for her family and tenants who live nearby.

“The road has been dug up terribly,” she said. “We have tenants in these properties having difficulties going up and down that road because its full or rocks and stuff like that.

“I have tenants feeling badly about how things are going, so we may lose revenue because of that.

“Last year we had a big blow and the sand that was blown onto our roof was unbelievable. Why weren’t they required to put up a barrier? They put up these green sheets and the sand goes right through them.

“We have had the roof repainted, we have had people sweep off the sand. We have had to put in strainers in the tank.”

Ms Richards said that while she and neighbours were shown plans for the site before work on the property began, subsequent planning applications had caused the scale of development to expand.

“When they started they came over and they showed us the plans, and they were quite different from what they are now,” she said. “They keep changing.”

Mrs Richards noted that earlier planning applications for the Nautilus site showed a parking area in the location now earmarked for a four-storey hotel building.

She and her husband Bob Richards, a former minister of finance, both said the project would have a significant visual impact, with renderings they had been provided of the project showing it looming over nearby properties.

Mr Richards added that while they appreciated the need to rebuild the island’s tourism industry, they questioned the extent to which the Azura and Nautilus projects were tourism products.

“Governments want to encourage tourism, and we have a capacity shortage,” he said. “The issue here is that, particularly the Azura/Nautilus development, they are getting tourism benefits but I don’t think it is really providing any tourism, or hardly any.

“With the Loren, they built the hotel and they built condos. With the St Regis, they built the hotel and they are building the condos.

“This one here is all condos. There is not hotel other than the theoretical ability for people to put rooms into the hotel pool.”

Mr Richards said that while several recent tourism developments included the creation of condominiums, the Azura was different from the St Regis or the Loren.

“They are doing just enough that they can slide in under the hotel banner,” he said. “We want to grow capacity, but let’s have hotels, not this.“

John Bush, the developer behind Azura and Nautilus, however denied the suggestion that the project was doing the bare minimum in the tourism space.

“The neighbour’s comments are factually not accurate, and likely reflect their understandable frustration with construction activity near their homes,” he said.

“They happen to be located immediately next to property that has been zoned tourism for decades. Azura and Nautilus are tourism developments and are recognised as such by the Department of Planning and the ministries of tourism and finance.

“The Azura Hotel is thriving and growing, receiving exceptional reviews from hotel guests. The hotel residences at Nautilus will create additional critically required scale added hotel keys to the hotel operations.”

Download PDF File

Azura Royal Gazette Information 7-20-23.pdf

A document released by the developer stated that Azura welcomed 444 hotel guests last month with 821 booked room nights over the course of June for an average of 78 per cent occupancy.

The document added: “By summer 2024 we anticipate at least a 50 per cent stronger performance across all metrics to coincide with our expanded room inventory, indoor restaurant, and other property wide amenities.

“There is no denying that Azura is a well-regarded full-service hotel making a direct and positive impact on Bermuda’s tourism industry.

“Azura is also attracting an entirely new cohort of visitors to the island — travellers who are seeking a fresh take on the perfect Bermuda escape. And Azura delivers.”

By the end of 2025, the developer said he hope to have 125 bedrooms which can be used by hotel residence owners or hotel guests.

The property now has 66 bedrooms, with another 29 under construction and expected to be completed this year.

The developer added that the property also employed 40 people, 36 of whom are Bermudian.

Mr Bush also said the Nautilus development was “no larger than originally planned”.

He added: “It is built over a carefully planned time period and business structure to allow for a conservative capital structure with very limited debt that will ensue long-term financial viability and sustainability for the full Azura/Nautilus hotel.”