Secret Caribbean's Barbados Coverage Disappointing

"I found Trevor McDonald's portrayal of Barbados so dissapointing and was left wondering what impression it gave to anyone who has not been lucky enough to visit...probably that it is an overdeveloped playground for the uber rich only.Most of the programme was spent discussing Sandy Lane and Port St Charles and the high end developments, no mention of the ordinary people who for me make the island so special, neither did it show any of the beautiful scenery that we are all so familiar with, there was a 10 second snapshot of the coastal highway and that was it! What a shame it did not examine the fascinating contrasts between North, South, East & West and some of the islands history and rich culture instead..."  robiv

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Vera Wang’s Sandy Lane Chic

 

"If versatility is that key word that makes a fashion season collection rank above the rest, then Vera Wang got it right on as she showed her Resort 2010 collection in New York on Thursday, June 18.

"I wanted this collection to feel light, airy, and athletic … pieces that reflect a resort mood yet sophisticated enough to go urban," Wang said in a statement. Naming the line "Sandy Lane," after a luxurious premier resort spot in the Caribbean-island of Barbados, Wang mixed vivid tropical colors like peacock, chartreuse, and orange alongside a variety of skin-tone shades like nude, blush, a light sandy brown and rosy-red accents.

Wang kept silhouettes narrow, long and tastefully close to the body, and toyed with hemlines of asymmetry in both upper and lower spheres. She invigorated a new sense of dimension and volume by layering colors, themes and accessories. A series of nude-colored dresses and tops crafted under a delicate lace were both seductively suggestive and aesthetically appreciated. Pairing "tresses," a personal moniker Wang coined for tunic-dresses, with lace shorts and skirts, charcoal knit cardigans, and her go-to "basketball" T, casual was vamped up with iridescent sequined daisy chain accessories and sparkling hippie scarves.

Draped, wrapped and overlapped, Vera Wang's dexterity with diaphanousness is skillful, and from the West Indies to New York she executed effortless chic sophistication to perfection."

Click here for original FWD article and photos.

Hushed Attack On Sandy Lane Guest Breaks Into Open

Barbados TravelAdvisor • View topic - Breaking News

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Apes Hill In Media Spotlight

"SIR CHARLES WILLIAMS and his Apes Hill polo team have done Barbados proud on the fieldsof England.

Yesterday, they won the prestigious Queen's Cup polo final at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park in Surrey.

Speaking to the DAILY NATION by telephone from the grounds just after accepting the cup from Queen Elizabeth II, an elated Sir Charles said: "Words cannot describe my feelings or that of the team. It was a nail-biting finish and great jubilation for all of us.

"This is the third year I have sponsored the team and never in my wildest dreams did I expect to win the cup this soon. It's truly an incredible feeling."

Playing against Sumaya, both teams were locked at 11-11 at the end of the sixth and final chukka. It took England's three-goal handicapped player Charlie Hanbury moments into the extra chukka o seal the deal for Apes Hills with a well executed shot."

http://www.nationnews.com/news/local/sir-charles-polo-glory-CPT-FRONT-PAGE-OTHER

What Recession – Not Royal Westmoreland

“WHEN BRITISH BILLIONAIRE John Morphet bought the exclusive Royal Westmoreland Resort five years ago for £60 million he had huge plans for it as well as for the island.
To date, by dint of hard work and determination, he has taken the resort from an occupancy level of 30 per cent for its rental villas to over 90 per cent.
It has also commanded a very high repeat customer rate with more than 50 per cent of clients also buying holiday homes there.
During an interview with the SUNDAY SUN last week at his home, also located at the exclusive St James resort, and overlooking his vast investment, it was clear why he had fallen in love with the island while on vacation - and hence the purchase of Royal Westmoreland…”

Click here and here for entire Nationnews.com article.

Barbados TravelAdvisor • View topic - Things You Can Do To Help The Save Mullins Bay Effort

Barbados TravelAdvisor • View topic - Things You Can Do To Help The Save Mullins Bay Effort

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The Face Of Holetown Is Changing

Construction photo 05/11/09  Click image to enlarge Artist rendering of Limegrove Lifestyle Center Click image to enlarge  Contruction workers adding decorative details to one of the buildings at Limegrove Lifestyle Center 05/11/09 Click image to enlarge

With the recession biting on the West Coast shuttering almost all the major tourism related construction projects, it surely must be reassuring to the public to see hard hats and cranes in action on the massive upscale mall under construction along the main road in Holetown.  When completed the multi-building shopping, entertainment and office complex will boast some of the leading top-of-line luxury boutiques in the world including: Armani, Hugo Boss, Breitling, Bulgari, Dior, Diane von Furstenberg, Gucci, and many others in its tenant line-up.  If this project survives the current recession it will change the face of shopping on the west coast of Barbados.  Also, associated with the project is the building of scores of condos aimed at the high-end market.

However, not all of the construction activity in and around Holetown is centered along Route 1, another “route” is taking shape along the beach variously dubbed “The West Coast” or “Holetown” Boardwalk.  Similar in concept to the popular boardwalk in the Rockley/Hastings area on the south coast, when completed it should provide continuous waterfront access along the beaches in Holetown from Discovery Bay to Beachlands.  It also involves widening some beaches and fortifying revetments.

West Coast Boardwalk Construction photo 05/11/09 
Click image to enlarge

More on Limegrove see www.limegrove.com
More on Holetown Boardwalk see www.coastal.gov.bb/pageselect.cfm?page=75

What A Difference A Year Makes

The rumor mill is swirling again around the cash-strapped, stalled and/or abandoned Banyan Plantation golf and villa project in Black Bess, St. Peter and it’s developer, Bacassa Developments (Barbados) Ltd. Only a year ago Bacassa was still boasting that it has secured premium beachfrontage on the prestigious Platinum/West Coast on which it was to construct a top-of-the-line beach club for the “uber-rich and uber-cool.” Well, something happened on the way to Coolville – a recession. Now the West Coast Blog has learned that Bacassa has sold the Turtle Nest property on Mullins Beach, not to Royal Westmoreland next door as originally rumored for expansion of RWM’s own beach club, but to a new duo of developers looking to build more condos. Apparently, RWM could not or would not come up with the rumored US $9M asking price.

So, it looks like Bacassa got some cash to service its debts on Battaleys Mews, Haymans and Porters but apparently not enough to do anything with their dream property - Black Bess. For that to happen the West Coast Blog has learned that Bacassa is hoping to secure massive concessions from government including bringing into the island cheap foreign (re: slave) labor to construct the luxury villas for the rich; and that they are musing (re: threatening) moving the project to St. Lucia if those concessions are not forthcoming. This week the Tourism Minister was heard making noises about Barbados needing more golf courses, and given the fact that nothing is happening at other large tourism related developments on the island, including Four Seasons, Bacassa could still get its way.

Mariah Carey Celebrates 39th Birthday On West Coast

You heard it here first, folks. Our microblog was the first to bring you the news that Mariah Carey was spotted on the West Coast last Friday night. Now we have the pictures to prove it. Click here for more photos of Mariah celebrating her 39th in a secluded west coast cove.

A Late March West Coast Sunset

Is Four Seasons Barbados Dead?

The answer to the above question is still on the minds many people both in and out of Barbados.  If you listen to the chatter coming out of the Government of Barbados, no one there really knows.  The Prime Minister promised that the project was going to restart in a week but a whole month has gone by and there is still no signs of like on the old Paradise Beach Club site.  If you read what the Minister of Tourism said yesterday as reported by The Barbados Advocate today , it looks like the project is in "limbo."  From the little this blogger knows of Catholic theology you must first be dead to get into limbo.  So, it looks like the project may be dead but people are fearful of saying so.  All government is saying is that they are prepared to "facilitate," which, to this blogger at least, sounds like something an undertaker does.