White Sands Hotel will re-open in May this year, one month later than planned, new owner Jeff Amaral said yesterday.

Mr. Amaral said more work was needed than anticipated to get the South Shore, Paget, property in top shape and it was decided to delay the opening by a month. The hotel has been closed since last year after Bank of N.T. Butterfield called in the receivers when former owner, American businessman James Dwyer, failed to keep up with loan repayments.

"We had anticipated opening at the beginning of April, but we are not quite as organised as we would have liked so now we're looking at a May opening," he said.

He was still looking for staff and said it was decided it would be better to delay the opening to ensure guests get a good first impression. The hotel is working with a company to deal with reservations and once that is completed White Sands will be heavily marketed, he added.