MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica — Popular watering hole and eatery Margaritaville Montego Bay will have a soft reopening this weekend ahead of resuming full operations in the first month of 2025.

“This weekend we will actually open our main floor, not the entire facility,” chairman of Margaritaville Caribbean Group Ian Dear told the Jamaica Observer.

“The entire facility will be opened up in January and we will have complete redesign, a completely reimagined whole new energy and vibe, a much bigger place, new bars, new features,” he added.

Margaritaville MoBay was closed in February after storm surges associated with a freak weather system inflicted damage to infrastructure in sections of the north coast. The entertainment facility was among the worst affected.

“The damage was much more than we expected because the infrastructure was affected. It was pretty substantial, and so once we got into the repairs we realised that the damage was considerable,” Dear said.

“We then used the opportunity, because we had to redo everything, to practically rebuild the place. So after a lot of work, and because of our experience of what works and what doesn’t work, we took advantage of the situation and we are really pleased,” he added.

He opted not to say exactly how much the upgrades cost.

“It’s millions of dollars; it’s much more than we anticipated, but, you know, once you’re in it. And we’re committed because that’s our flagship location, that’s where it all started for us to expand throughout the entire Caribbean,” said Dear.

“We thought we were going to come in for a number, but it was a much, much bigger number. But at the end of the day we are excited because our customers — our faithful customers and we have had customers from the beginning that still come to this day — will be able to enjoy a brand-new facility, a brand-new experience. We are really excited as to what is going to come because the truth is this is for many decades going into the future,” he said.

The group chairman told the Observer that big things are planned for next year to establish that Margaritaville MoBay is back in the game.

“We are going to have a grand opening in 2025 for our 30th anniversary,” he stated.

Dear was also confident that long-time patrons will also be pleased with the offerings.

“Margaritaville has always been well known for its experiences, our motto is, ‘The best day ever’. We are also going to have now, ‘The best hour ever’. We are going to have different features about who we are and what we do,” he said.

“It’s not about coming to a restaurant; it’s about coming for an experience and it’s about coming and spending the day with us. We’ll have a brand-new water slide,” he said enthusiastically.

“We’ll have a lot more other features that we are going to be highlighting — water-driven, like hot tubs — in the future,” he said.

“The connection between the air-conditioning at Coral Cliff and the open air at Margaritaville brings a nice option for people to have as well. There is no bridge like what we’ve created between the two areas,” he continued.

He said those who visit are in for a treat.

“They are going to see some unique things, driving your visual senses, [and] also all the other senses I think will be unlocked. We’re really excited about what we’re going to offer to both our locals and visitors,” said Dear.