The Reefs is closing for just over a month for repairs caused by Hurricane Fabian.

The South Shore, Southampton, property normally only has 20 percent occupancy in January, so management took the decision to close up from yesterday to February 13 to allow in the builders.

The hotel suffered severe coastal erosion which exposed foundations on some of the rooms on the South Shore and wiped away Coconuts Restaurant. And a platform on the rocks was also destroyed.

General Manager Neal Stephens said it was tricky for cement trucks to get down to the coast and the noise would annoy guests, so it was decided to shut up shop.

The repair work requires 200 cubic yards of cement, but the trucks can only take four yards at a time without spilling due to the steep incline.

"It is quite easy for us to stay closed because we had hardly any guests and we would just have annoyed them anyway with the work," said Mr. Stephens.

The hotel hopes to have most of the heavy repair work done during the closure, but other maintenance jobs such as painting will continue up until spring.

The last time The Reefs closed was in 2001 for three months to build some rooms rooms and install a new pool.