Staff at the troubled White Sands Hotel have not been paid since December, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

The hotel's American owner, James M Dwyer, last night apologised and said he expected to receive a bank loan this week or next which would allow him to pay off the staff and his other creditors in Bermuda.

A relative of a staff member at the Paget hotel said the worker was around $4,000 out of pocket and the workforce has contacted the Department of Tourism and the Bermuda Industrial Union to get help to get the outstanding cash.

Staff say they have been given “the runaround” by Mr. Dwyer as they tried to find out when they will get paid.

The hotel has been served with a series of writs for unpaid debts, the most recent one dated February 18 from Argus Insurance Company for tens of thousands of dollars in staff health premiums and on insurance for the building.

Speaking exclusively to The Royal Gazette from New Jersey last night, Mr. Dwyer said: “This has been a heartbreaker for me.

“I love Bermuda, I love White Sands, and I love every member of the staff. You could not ask for a better staff and people come back to Bermuda just to visit the staff.

“I have funded the property by a couple of million out of my own pocket and I feel that this year will be a very good year.

“We have a lender in the United States funding a loan which we thought we would have had the funds in place in November or the end of December.

“Frankly, I am hoping we will have the funds in place by the end of this week and by the grace of God not later than the following week.

“Then the money will be disbursed. We have talked to staff throughout through our manager there and I can't blame the staff. It is terrible they have been caught up in the middle of this. They could not be better.

“Once these funds are in place, I will be paying off all the vendors, and the first thing will be any arrears to the staff.”

Mr. Dwyer, who bought the hotel in 1998, said the hotel division of his company, Dwyer Hospitality Group, in the United States had also been hurting badly.

But he said this year was shaping up well for White Sands with June sold out already.

The hotel, which is closed until April, has completely refurbished 24 units in a wing and and new furniture has been put in throughout the property.

“The property is in good shape. There is a lot of positive feedback about Bermuda, and one reason is it's safe and very close to home. Our properties in New Jersey are experiencing phenomenal rentals because people are not wanting to travel far and Bermuda is going to experience the same kind of effect.”

The family member who contacted The Royal Gazette yesterday said: “They've tried to get Mr. Dwyer and general manager Esan Frederick keeps saying to them ‘the money's coming, the money's coming, you need to be patient. It's been putting my family and a couple of the families in jeopardy in terms of credit. We've tried to get Mr. Dwyer but that's been fruitless. He's not in the office or his staff say he'll return the call, but we hear nothing.

“It's not fair and it's not professional. He should have come in and had a meeting with the staff and told them what's going on and made other arrangements rather than this. Instead they've got the runaround.”

BIU general secretary Molly Burgess, said yesterday: “We are working on it, trying to do what we can, but its just a matter of contacting people.”

Bermuda Hotel Association chief executive John Harvey said: “We are not aware of that, but we would encourage all our hotel members to do the right thing and try as best they can to meet all their obligations as soon as they can.”