Around 180 jobs will be lost with the closing of Wyndham on October 31 ? however management are helping staff hook up with other hotels while some will be rehired in 2009 when the resort reopens.

Mr. Worden said the hotel was complying with its collective bargaining agreement and the Employment Act and paying full redundancies for all qualified employees.

The best will be invited back as the hotel seeks those committed to the highest levels of service, said Mr. Worden.

In addition, the hotel is organising an on-site job fair for employees in mid-September and is inviting other hotels to participate.

Wyndham will also offer opportunities throughout its worldwide network to those staff who wish to move. All staff will be offered career counselling.

Bermuda Industrial Union president Chris Furbert said he?d had a positive meeting with hotel management.

?We want to help transition our members to new positions as quickly as possible and will be working together to make this happen.?

Larry Magor, Managing Director of Wyndham Bermuda, says: ?It is regrettable we have to close the hotel as it has touched the lives of many Bermudians during its 45 years of service.

?The guest experience would be severely compromised if we were to remain open during the construction phase.?

Staff at the resort have experienced turbulent times since Hurricane Fabian shut the hotel in 2003. Damage led to the demolition of the 80-bed west wing. Staff were laid off several times including late 2004 and at the beginning of this year.

Mr. Worden said: ?Since we became involved last winter our goal has been to create a more stable environment.?

He said the hotel had stayed open this summer for that very reason.

?It was not a great financial decision but it was the right thing to do,? said Mr. Worden who revealed his grandmother had worked all her life as a chambermaid.