'Renovation Island': Sarah and Bryan manage to pull off the soft opening of their resort without a hitch
After toiling for nearly one and a half years, Bryan and Sarah Baeumler are finally ready to open the doors of their resort to their first guests. When the Baeumlers decided to leave their cushy life in Canada to move to the Bahamas to run a luxury resort, little did they know of the work that lay ahead of them. They landed on the stunning tropical island with the goal of completing the renovation work within six months, and then immediately opening it for the guests so that they could start raking in some income, considering they poured in all their savings into the purchase and restoration of the resort.
But as soon as they began, the magnitude and scope of the work hit them like a tonne of bricks, and they had no choice but to push the opening date, to retain their sanity and not lose their mind over the unrealistic deadline they set for themselves. The couple got very lucky with the crew. They managed to rope in some amazing construction crew from the island itself while bringing in experts from Canada to train the locals.
From pests to leaky roofs, the team had a lot of renovation work on their plate. So, Bryan and Sarah decided to set a more realistic target for themselves. Instead of aiming to complete the entire resort's renovation work in one go, they zeroed in on finishing it phase-wise, and opening the resort to the guests, so that with the income they were generating, the could carry out the remaining renovation work.
With this new plan in mind, the team worked towards finishing the construction of villas, and most of the common areas. But even before they could finish the work, they already took a booking for a wedding party. A group of 10 people made reservations at the resort for four villas, so the Baeumlers had no choice but to put in extra effort to ensure that the resort was ready to give the marriage party their dreamy day.
Unfortunately, the ship carrying their cargo was delayed, and their shipment arrived only the night before the guests were to arrive. So, the whole construction crew pulled in an all-nighter to ensure that the necessary work was completed before the wedding party arrived the next morning. Everybody could be seen running around frantically making some adjustments, or rearranging furniture before the guests showed up.
While everything flowed smoothly on the renovation end, the kitchen had its own share of troubles. Sebastian, the chef, was in for a shock when his sous chef quit unexpectedly. So, the chef quickly roped in one of his friends to be the sous chef for the event and managed to pull off the catering smoothly. In the end, the guests praised the staff for their efforts and they seemed pleased with all the arrangements made for them. The Baeumlers and the staff should feel really proud of accomplishing such a herculean task to perfection. We can't wait to see all the arrangements that they have planned for the final opening!
'Renovation Island' airs every Sunday at 8/7c only on HGTV.