Hotel with Potential
The Beach Resort
The old Beach Resort Hotel in Sha Ha used to be a welcome sanctuary for local residents and tourists alike. It was a lively place with water sports nearby and a small sandy beach. Local residents had memberships that allowed them to cool off in the hotel's pool and enjoy free parking.
Now the sad hull of the hotel stands still, no longer welcoming guests, awaiting its fate. A coloured chute for dumping construction waste clings to the outside of the hotel and the gutted insides can be seen through many of the open windows. The pool no longer exists, having been filled in.
The owner, Urban Entertainment, is asking $100 million for the hotel. When the company bought the hotel in 2003 for $28 million it was already closed. There were plans to turn it into a Hawaiian village style resort, with bars, restaurants, boat rentals and upmarket resort accommodation. It was to boost the tourist appeal of Sai Kung and open in the summer of 2004.
Five years ago, you could have bought the place for a measly $50 million. Now it looks like the present owner is hoping that another punter out there is in the market for a hotel with potential.