2 months ago
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The former Foote Prints on the Sands hotel is reopening with a new name and new design, and is going after a different clientèle.
“It’s going to be more upscale; it’s going to be more boutique, more luxurious,” said Executive Chairman Dr Andre Foote.
Business at the hotel buckled under the weight of lockdowns under the COVID-19 pandemic. And its reopening in 2022 was short-lived.
“We opened for the 2022 winter tourist season” but quickly “threw in the towel,” Foote recounted.
Subsequently, Ravi Sittol Architects was brought in to do a complete redesign of the property, which has been under renovation for a year now by contractor Novus Building Systems, with the expectation of a reopening by mid-June 2025 as Negril Footeprints Hotel.
The project is being financed by EXIM Bank Jamaica to the tune of $700 million.
Furnishing has been sourced from JFP Limited, formerly Jamaica Fiberglass Products, and bedding from Morgans Group.
The number of rooms at the redesigned hotel has been reduced from 38 to 32, which Foote said was meant to make the property more aesthetically pleasing and comfortable to guests.
Most of the space created from the six rooms taken out of commission has been utilised for a new restaurant to be called Gatsby’s, which is a pet name for sister Ingrid; and a spa to be called Audrey’s, which was named after the matriarch of the Foote family. Blushy’s Beach Bar, named after deceased patriarch, Dane Foote, will offer seafood and cocktails, while casual dining will be offered at Finkel’s Eatery, named after one of the Foote brothers who died tragically in 1987.
Prior to the renovation, Negril Footeprints had a beach bar, but now there is a new restaurant close to it.
“It was a complete renovation from an architectural and a construction perspective, so we had to close the hotel in order to do it,” Foote said, adding that the property is now being marketed as a “luxury boutique hotel”.
“The rooms are bigger and most of them have a view of the ocean, and they’re well appointed,” he said.
The June 2025 reopening is aimed at coinciding with the summer segment of what is now a year-round tourist season.
Foote Prints began as a 15-room hotel in Negril. Mother-daughter team Audrey Foote and Ingrid Foote ran the small property for about 38 years, adding to the roomstock along the way.
“It didn’t survive COVID, and the fact that my mother was getting a lot older, she wanted to pass it to the next generation – her children. The brothers and sisters have put me forward as executive chairman,” Foote said.
Companies Office of Jamaica records lists the directors and shareholders of Foote Prints on the Sands Hotel Limited as Ingrid Foote-Daye, radiologist Michelle Foote-Doonquah, Andre Foote, Phillip Foote and Dingle Foote.
The property is now to be operated as Negril Footeprints Hotel, the board for which comprises Andre Foote as chairman, hotelier Clifton Reader, businessman and JFP CEO Metry Seaga, Josuah Doonquah, Allison Taffe, banker Barry Chisholm, and Vernon Johnson.
Regarding amenities, apart from Gatsby’s restaurant, there is another more upscale but much smaller restaurant overlooking the ocean called Skywalk Restaurant, open for dinner only.
“The food experience, the dining experience, is going to be a big part of what we’re going to be selling, what we’re going to be offering,” Foote said.
“It’s also going to be the new place to be to watch the sunset in Negril,” he added, with reference to Skywalk. “Once you’re on the beach in Negril, all roads lead to Skywalk for drinks and cocktails to watch the sunset perched up in the air.”
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