Cape Town hotel to rebuild after tragedy

Turning devastation into recreation, the Tintswalo Atlantic has built itself back up after the fire.

The South Peninsula fires raging through the region burnt the hotel, which opened in 2008, to the ground on March 2, leaving nothing but charred remains and a fireplace chimney.

But with a reconstruction process that’s expected to span several months, the Tintswalo Lodges Group is confident they can bring Tintswalo Atlantic back to its former glory.

Tintswalo plans to reopen on December 1 this year, and is documenting the rebuild on their blog http://www.tintswalo.com/atlantic/.

Gaye Corbett, Tintswalo Lodges group owner, will be contributing to the contents of the blog herself, giving a personal account of what is happening on the ground.

Tintswalo Atlantic staff will remain employed and will be assisting in the rebuilding of the property, with a central hub standing in as a makeshift office on site for employees. Staff will also be involved in the Hout Bay community by initiating and running several community projects for the duration of the rebuild.

“We plan to take this as an opportunity to not only reconstruct our site, but to help build up our local community, who have generously given back to us over these past few difficult days,” Corbett said.

Training will also be made available to staff at Tintswalo at Waterfall in Johannesburg, or Tintswalo Safari Lodge in the Greater Kruger, should they want to work at a different property.

“We would like to express our sincere gratitude for all of the firefighters, Volunteer Wildfire Services, NSRI and those still out there fighting against this destructive force of nature. You are our real life heroes,” Corbett added.

“We’d also like to take this time to thank the Cape Town properties that have accommodated our Tintswalo Atlantic guests at such short notice. Hotel owners, managers and staff have pulled together to honour our terms and conditions in order to make this transition smooth and we are incredibly grateful.

“A special thank-you to the ever-gracious management team at 12 Apostles Hotel & Spa who have been unbelievably supportive.”

As a token of appreciation, Tintswalo Atlantic will host an annual charity on March 2 to commemorate the courage and commitment shown by Cape Town’s emergency services, Volunteer Wildlife Services, NSRI, fire department and the Hout Bay community.

All proceeds raised from this event will be donated to these organisations within the local community.

“As an additional thank-you we will make every effort to invite these brave people to personally experience the new, incredible, rebuilt Tintswalo Atlantic at some point in the future,” Corbett said.

For all enquiries and comments regarding the fire at Tintswalo Atlantic please contact Managing Director Michelle du Plessis on +27 (0)11 300 8888.

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