PIC now 95-pct. restored

Pacific Islands Club Saipan, one of the hotels on Saipan that sustained extensive damage from Super Typhoon Yutu, is about 95-percent restored now.

PIC general manager Gloria Cavanagh said that, seven months after Yutu, PIC is now 95-percent recovered and only a few minor repairs are left to be done.

Cavanagh is happy with the amount of progress that has already been made, considering that PIC was one of the hotels that was most heavily hit on Saipan during the typhoon, in addition to its sister resort, Coral Ocean Point Golf Resort, which was also heavily damaged.

“We have everything up right now. We’re about 95-percent recovered. There are still some issues with some leaks. I mean, we basically put this back together in two months or less than two months, so when it starts to rain, there are just leaks that you find,” she said.

The only thing left to do, according to Cavanagh, is to install the tiles on the roof to ensure resiliency and to keep the rain out.

“This weekend was a little bit challenging for us. We found some old and new leaks and we’re just going to go back and complete that. We’re just going to put the tiles back on the roofs but that’s a project that might be done partial and we’ll probably start that if not the end of this year, then hopefully next year,” she said.

Cavanagh said that hotel occupancy has been low, not just for PIC but for the entire island, but she expects that to pick up in the beginning of June.

“Occupancy for May was OK. It’s not a banner month by any means but, as far as visitors coming back to the island [are concerned], we’re not going to complain. It’s going to take awhile before the CNMI fully recovers and get the numbers back, so we’re OK. There’re some weeks that are better than others [but] the beginning of June should be fantastic,” she said.

Although the occupancy rate is still at the low-end since the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yutu, Cavanagh remains positive and believes that the island has come out smarter from the experience.

“It’s going to be a challenge but, this time around, we’re a little smarter, we’re learning to save for the rainy day, and I’m actually very excited in working in an environment where the occupancy rate is not as high so when it does become high, we’ll remember all the things we’re doing right this time,” she said.