Frommer's Review
One of the most dramatic real estate developments in The Bahamas is unfolding at this outpost on the island's extreme western tip. Here descendents of local residents of the West End, each educated and trained in the U.S., are organizing and repairing, after the 2005 hurricanes, one of the most ambitious and upscale development projects in the country. Built on a site that in the early 1980s was the setting for an unsuccessful Jack Tar Village, the project centers around a cluster of upscale hotel units, a state-of-the-art 72-slip marina, and a palm-flanked beach. It's also the venue for some ambitious development plans for the very near future, including a radical reconfiguration of the coastline through the dredging of all-new saltwater lagoons and a redesign of the (man-made) docking facilities and harborfront.
Don't expect to find any evidence of former developments on this site. Virtually everything that had been here previously was demolished to make way for the new construction. The core of the resort consists of nine two-story beach houses, each with between four and six living units inside. Spacious and breezy living quarters, they're outfitted in a Caribbean colonial/tropical country club style. Bathrooms are sheathed in marble, and each contains a shower/whirlpool tub combination and deluxe toiletries. A pair of restaurants -- the Dockside Grille and Aqua -- serve well-prepared Bahamian and international dishes on a rotating basis.
Though the hotel is appealing, it's the homesites and plans for new marinas to be dredged out of the low-lying scrubland that have the real estate community buzzing. During the lifetime of this edition, we expect interesting big-scale development on this 89-hectare (220-acre) site that's ready and able to catch the real estate boom as it spills over from the Florida mainland. This resort encompasses much more than just hotel accommodations. Its owners envision it as an entire village-in-the-making, relentlessly upscale and dotted with celebrity references. There's even an airplane landing strip within a quarter-mile of this resort. Plans call for the expansion of the marina and an improvement of the beachfronts. Building sites range in price from $400,000 to $1 million each; most are already sold, we were told. Investors have included John Travolta, who presently owns four of the beachfront hotel units. Celebrity sightings include Sex and the City star Chris Noth, Geraldo Rivera, and Jack Nicklaus.
Facilities:
2 restaurants; 2 bars; pool; 2 tennis courts; fitness center; watersports equipment/rentals; room service; massage; babysitting; laundry service; nonsmoking rooms (all)
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
