Yesterday, Sunday morning, Hotel Verdanza, on Isla Verde, said goodbye to its last “regular customer”.
Today, early in the morning, they have opened the doors exclusively to some guests of international standing who will help the inn sort out the finances that have been hit hard since the incarceration on the island caused by the Covid-19- pandemic.
The Verdanza – which has stood out in recent years as a hotel closely associated with sporting events on the island – will be home to teams from Mexico, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, United States, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Virgin Islands and Canada. . The teams will meet in the third and final qualifying window for the AmeriCup 2022 tournament, to be played from February 17-21, with no audience and in the bubble format at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, in San Juan.
Approximately 222 rooms – located between the six floors of the hotel’s main tower and another three floors of the adjacent building and overlooking the pool – will be fully occupied by the players and FIBA staff who will work in the window.
El Verdanza will become a huge bubble where athletes will have to stay in their designated areas at all times under strict anti-Covid protocols.
“This is going to be a big bubble,” said Ricky Newman, Verdanza’s CEO. “From Sunday (yesterday) in the morning we said goodbye to a business customer who we have had here for years. Once he left, the hotel is a 100 percent bubble with FIBA until February 22. There will be no tourists, ”he reported.
“This has come out of the blue for us as it is a time when global tourism is on the ground as a result of the pandemic. Hotels in Puerto Rico barely have an occupancy of 20 or 30 percent. Filling a hotel is a blessing and this has a very positive impact for us, even for a short period of time. As a result, the money moves and we were able to hire new staff, even temporarily. This is easily a good millionaire injection for the industry. This is something that has not been seen since February 2020, I would say, ”he added.
All health measures, delivered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), by the Puerto Rico Department of Health and FIBA itself, have been implemented in Verdanza.
“Each team is given a floor. There is no ‘jangueo’ in the lobby here. We have very strict restrictions. The players just arrive, they go to their living room to eat – located on the same floor where they will be staying – and there they will eat or bring the food to their room, ”he explained.
About 1,000 meals are prepared daily and they will also have a medical support team to assist in an emergency, and will also run the coronavirus tests.
“This is a challenging project, but at the same time it was not that difficult, as we had previously implemented a fairly rigorous protocol,” said Newman. “What has helped us a lot is the restriction that FIBA has imposed on delegations to limit a maximum of 25 people per representation. That way we keep better control, ”he added.
Puerto Rico, which will have shipowner José Juan Barea in uniform, will begin its participation on February 19 against Mexico and on February 20 against the Bahamas as part of the Group D action.
In that pool, the already qualified United States are unbeaten at 4-0. It is followed by Mexico, 2-2; Puerto Rico, 1-3; and Bahamas, 1-3. The top three of each group will advance to AmeriCup 2022.
Group C consists of the Dominican Republic, Cuba, the Virgin Islands and Canada. That group starts on February 17, with the Virgin Islands against Canada, at 8 p.m. Cuba announced it will not participate due to Covid-19.
Newman, who is also a huge fan of the sport, is crossing his fingers to Puerto Rico to get his ticket to AmeriCup 2022. If so, the island could be one of the stops and Verdanza would have another boom.