The owners of Sonesta Beach Hotel are in negotiations with a potential buyer, it was confirmed last week.

The hotel's owners, Aetna Insurance, have been trying to sell the 400 room Southampton hotel for years.

Yesterday, Acting Tourism Minister Randolph Horton and Aetna confirmed that negotiations are currently taking place with an unnamed potential buyer.

ZBM News reported last week the insurance company was in talks with a businessman from Boston who wants to buy the hotel for $20 million, but this could not be confirmed.

Aetna spokesman Fred Laberge said last week: "Aetna has been in negotiations to sell the hotel but it has not been sold and we don't discuss potential buyers or any other details until after a deal has occurred."

Mr. Horton told ZBM: "All I can say is negotiations are ongoing, and the precise details I can't share at the moment."

However, reports that the hotel will close next month are not true, he added.

Sonesta General Manager Michael Collard did not return calls to The Royal Gazette last week.

Sonesta's director of corporate communications in Miami, Deborah Roker, said that her company only manages the hotel, and she referred enquiries to Aetna.