The Waldorf Astoria resort on Seychelles' Platte Island is expected to open by October 2023, two months ahead of schedule, said a top official.
Glenny Savy, the chief executive of the state-owned Islands Development Company (IDC) that manages Platte Island, gave an update on the hotel development.
Initially, the opening of the hotel was planned for December 2023, but Savy said that since they are ahead of schedule, this might bring the date forward to October next year.
Work restarted on the luxury hotel early last year and Savy said that "over the last six months it has been difficult to get our orders on time due to shipping problems."
He said that despite the delays, work is ahead of target and IDC expects to hand over the keys to the Hilton group by the end of July next year.
The Waldorf Astoria Platte Island, a $100 million development due to be managed by the Hilton Hotels & Resorts group, will be the first six-star resort in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.
Once completed the resort will offer 42 seafront villas all equipped with private pools. Guests will have access to six restaurants and bars, a spa, kids' club, outdoor observatory, tennis courts and a marine conservation discovery centre.
The primary developer of this project is a group of investors from Abu Dhabi.
The island itself lies just over 130 km south of Mahe, the main island, and is renowned as a nature lover's paradise, covered with palm forest and surrounded by a coral reef and lagoon.
Platte Island has always been used for tourism and IDC used to run a small guest house there. The island can be accessed by plane and boasts a rich ecosystem with breeding grounds for a variety of seabirds: the brown noddy, white-tailed tropicbird, lesser noddy, bridled tern and Madagascar fody. The island is also a popular nesting area for hawksbill turtles.
The Waldorf Astoria resort will be the fifth tourism establishment run by the Hilton group in Seychelles.
The group already has Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort & Spa, Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa, DoubleTree by Hilton Seychelles, Allamanda Resort and Spa and Mango House Seychelles.
