By CLEOPATRA MURPHY

Freeport News Intern

The Westin and Sheraton Grand Bahama Island Our Lucaya Resort and Starwood Hotels and Resorts World-wide Inc. are cutting ties as of July 1.

As a result, the resort will be dropping the Westin and Sheraton brands, which it acquired in 2003 when the Starwood chain took over operation of the hotel facility.

Stepping in place to take over the reigns, the Radisson chain will once again return to the island. The upcoming changes at the resort were posted on the company's website.

"Please note that the Westin will be rebranded to the Radisson at Our Lucaya Beach and Golf Resort and the Sheraton will be rebranded to Our Lucaya Reef Village on July 1, 2009," the website said.

The Westin, which will be operated under the Radisson flag, was once Breakers Cay and Lighthouse Pointe, while the Sheraton will reclaim the name it formerly held: The Reef Village.

The rebranding of the resort will bring to an end a nearly six-and-a-half year relationship with the Starwood chain.

The chain that holds the popular Sheraton and more upscale Westin brands took over operations of the Our Lucaya Resort that was built in 2000 by Hutchison Lucaya Limited, on February 6, 2003.

When the news spread of the upcoming arrival of the popular Sheraton brand, at the time there were high expectations for what it may have meant for the island's tourism industry and the quality of service and products its arrival would bring.

The Sheraton brought with it renovations to the décor of the hotel, with an upgrade to the type of bedding the property provided. The brand brought with it the signature Sheraton beds, which featured Sealy Posturepedic Plush Top mattresses among other improvements to the derelict properties.

While the arrival of the resorts had high prospects, there were challenging times for the industry on the island as the hotels sometimes struggled to maintain a 12 percent occupancy rate.

So far at the Sheraton, things have been looking up with current summer occupancy rates at the resort at 50 percent.

Still, with the current state of the economy and the effects of the economic downturn on the island's tourism, The Westin and Sheraton Grand Bahama Island Our Lucaya Resort was forced to let go 181 of its employees in January of this year.

The Freeport News is unaware of what has led to the approaching changes in the resort's management, but we along with the Bahamian public will wait to see how tourism on the island will be affected.

When contacted to comment on the shake-up at the property, officials said they were not yet ready to comment on the rebranding but did confirm that it would in fact take place.