Our Prediction ABV Will Go The Way Of PBC Gathers Steam ...

Beaches Heywoods Being Pushed Back

Have the ghosts of Paradise Beach Club already landed in Haywoods?  Are we now seeing emerging one of the reasons why Sandals' Butch Stewart recently out of the blue bought Almond Beach Village outright off the hands of the government of Barbados at bargain basement?  It is suspected that the other reason had to do with the nascent calls from the operators of the section of ABV that's open for the entire St. Peter property to be turned over them for a quick and cheap re-opening.  Now that Butch got his way, any deviation from announced plans the question must be asked whether he is beginning to put ABV on the ice as much he did to PBC a generation ago:  

"The much talked about construction of the Beaches Resort at the former Almond Village property in St Peter could be delayed.
Although not saying how long the setback was anticipated to be, Gordon Butch Stewart, chairman of the parent company Sandals Resort International, said it was unlikely that the planned multi-million-dollar project would get off the ground in the first quarter of next year as initially announced.
In February, Stewart told Barbados TODAY that the plan was to start construction in the middle of April 2015, with an expectation that it would be completed in about 22 months.
However, when asked last Friday if the plans were still on course, Butch would only say: “We are working towards that [date, but] it is probably a bit further down in the year . . . We are juggling a lot of things right now and there is a lot of work taking place on that Beaches design.”"

Source: http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2014/08/19/work-on-beaches-resort-could-be-delayed


 

Ramshackle Catspradled

"The popular Ramshackle Bar in Mount Standfast, St James, has closed its doors, leaving 15 workers jobless.

According to co-owner Maxine Depeiza, the closure resulted from her business partner’s decision to pull out of the business and the owners of the land not wishing the operation to continue.

Ramshackle closed at the end of November and Depeiza said many of her former employees were mothers of young children.

She spoke to the SATURDAY SUN yesterday as she oversaw the removal of materials which she had added to the wooden structure in 2010 after leasing the property from owners who lived overseas."

Source: http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/bar-closed/

Is that a glimmering light at the end of the 4Seasons tunnel I see?

Clearly, if the PM and the Minister of Finance are hiding from you, and you are being schmoozed by the St. Lucy MP (no offense intended), we already know where this deal is going - if it goes anywhere at all.  All debts, including all political debts, must be paid before this project ever sees the light of day again.  Click here to read about it all. 

Just when we were beginning to think the ABV miasma couldn't get any worse, it just did ...

Rump Almond

"BY ROY R. MORRIS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | SUN, OCTOBER 27, 2013 - 12:11 AM

Before Sandals takes one step into St Peter, Barbados will get another taste of Almond.

Well placed sources have revealed that the Ministry of Tourism has selected MW Sun Hotels Inc., owned by wealthy businessman Bernard Weatherhead, to reopen and operate the now mothballed Almond Beach Village at Heywoods, St Peter, for at least one year.

In fact, in correspondence obtained by the SUNDAY SUN, Weatherhead explained to chief executive officer of Barbados Tourism Investment Inc. (BTI), Stuart Layne, that with an injection of $5.1 million from Government and speedy movement by Government’s operatives, they could have 138 rooms and related facilities ready to receive guests in mid January, missing only the first few weeks of the 2013-2015 winter tourist season. BTI is looking after Government’s interest at Almond Resorts.

Government is anxious to get the once popular 500-room all-inclusive resort reopened again, but recognize that even with the agreement with Sandals of Jamaica to take over the property, bulldoze and rebuild it as a family resort, its doors will not be thrown open until 24 to 36 months after construction begins – and the date for that could be as much as two years away, sources said."


2 comments

POSTED BY TONY WEBSTER
As Alice said, "this gets curiouser and curiouser"

The Mad Hatter, apparently, is in charge of plan A; plan B, and also plan "maybe". What a fantastic "mortar"...replete with two pestles, and endless of "possibilities" therein!

We could of course, retain the Almond at ground level, and then build the Sandals, on level two...with a lovely view. On the roof-top, a heliport would allow for Virgin Atlantic passengers, to be swiftly ferried to and from GAIA...a first in the Caribbean! To facilitate a smooth transition, (if our patience is rewarded this time around), we could coin a catch-all brand: "SANDMONDS". Get the URL registered now!

Mr. Editor: you sure you ain't pick up de wrong end of de stick?

POSTED BY ORSON ARTHUR
I know we have people in Barbados that
can get that hotel going.
I don't trust Stuart as far as I can see him.
Always remember Paradise hotel. Now he would
like to tie this one up also. I agree that it can be back in operation and bring in some money for the country. MR. Weatherhead I know you are going to do a good job. May God be with you and your team"

Source: http://www.nationnews.com/index.php/articles/view/almond-again/

The Slow-Selling/No-Selling "One Sandy Lane" (formerly The Sands) Just Hit The Jackpot

"Superstar Rihanna has splashed out $22million on a beachside home on the Caribbean island of Barbados - after renting the same property last year.  The 25-year-old singer has bought a home at the luxurious One Sandy Lane resort on the island where she was born and raised.  Rihanna always returns to her native Barbados for Christmas and last year revealed she rented the same five-bed condo and planned on her mother Monica Braithwaite and younger brother Rajad joining her."

Read more ...

Will Butch Stewart do to ABV what he did to PBC ...

... shutter it up and run it down for a million years, then dump it?  Can't say I am excited about this deal at all, at all, at all:


"The future of the Almond Beach Village property at Heywoods in St. Peter, as planned by Government, is starting to take shape.

Barbados TODAY has learnt that the Freundel Stuart Cabinet has determined it will purchase the property from Neal and Massy of Trinidad for US$53 million, with an initial cash payment of US$25 million and the balance of US$28 million being paid over three years at an interest rate that is still to be agreed between the two parties.

Additionally, after an initial Cabinet decision instructed the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc. to work with Sandals Resort International “to have a Sandals Beaches Resort in Barbados within three to four weeks”, that body last week determined that Sandals be given the nod to operate and manage a rebuilt Almond under the Beaches brand, with an option to purchase the property at a future date.

In a very brief dismissal of the only competing written offer, a Cabinet document titled Long-term Operator for the Almond Beach Village at Heywoods, St. Peter, stated:

“Crane Resorts proposes to buy one-third of the property for one-third of the purchase price paid by the Government, with an option to purchase the remaining two thirds … in the future. The plan would be for the development of the villa accommodation for sale by way of time share. There is also a proposal for the short term operation of Almond…

“This proposal is quite similar to the existing Crane model, which involves building accommodation based on sales and may therefore take a full decade to fully realise its potential. It will therefore fail to achieve increased visitor arrivals in the next few years and will be unable to assist Barbados in protecting its airlift.”

On the other hand, the document explained, the Sandals proposal involved the building of a 426-room, all-inclusive family resort “which will allow Barbados to regain its share of the families market which was lost with the closure of Almond Resorts. These will be large family rooms with on average six persons per room.”

Based on the calculations made, this potentially will result in an additional 112,684 visitors to Barbados annually.

“This large number of visitors will protect airlift for the entire tourism industry in Barbados and contribute to an increase in visitor spending. It is also worthy of note that Almond, at its peak, accounted for an additional 25,000 visitors annually. The Sandals proposal would increase this number by a factor in excess of four…

“While it can be argued that the issue of a long-term operator for the Heywoods property should be the subject of a public tender, it is the view of the Ministry of Tourism that the need for the return of the room inventory to production is extremely urgent.

“In addition, it is also believed that a tendering process is unlikely to result in a better operator than Sandals since the only other major all-inclusive operator in the Caribbean region was Almond Resorts Inc., which is now closed.

“The Sandals proposal also addresses all of the national tourism objectives as follows:

* An increase in the number of long-stay visitors that come to Barbados each years; and

* Protection of existing airlift in critical source markets,” the document stated.

“It should be noted that Barbados stands to gain substantial exposure as a result of the marketing and promotional might of the Sandals brand. The company has indicated that experience in other destinations show that the mere announcement that a Sandals property is to be constructed … is enough to generate interest from the airlines.”

Given this approach, the Ministry of Tourism recommended that Cabinet invokes Section 239 of the Financial Management and Audit Act for authority to achieve its objective without inviting tenders, but instead through “direct negotiations in accordance with arrangements as the Cabinet directs”.

“The Ministry of Tourism is satisfied that this matter is urgent and that there are no other operators as capable as Sandals in assisting Barbados to maintain its share of the all-inclusive tourism market, while protecting airlift into Barbados,” Cabinet was told.

The challenge for Barbados with the Sandals proposal, however, is that it could take at least a month for an agreement to be finalised and a further 24 to 36 months of construction.

“This would mean that unless a short-term plan is developed there would be no activity at Heywoods over a three- to four-year period … when the tourism industry in Barbados is short of hotel rooms,” it added.

Following BTI investigations, it has been determined that it may be feasible to operate the 120-room southern block, which is still fully furnished with functioning utilities, to meet needs from the Canadian and United Kingdom markets. This would accommodate up to 8,700 visitors over a 12-month period."

Source: http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2013/09/11/almond-to-be-bulldozed-and-replaced-by-426-room-beaches-resort/

More Four Seasons Intrigue

One continues to wonder why a prestigious brand like Four Seasons Hotels And Resorts allows its flag to be dragged around in the mud in Barbados in this fashion:

"A group of Italian developers has cried foul over the pricing for restarting construction of the much-talked-about Four Seasons Resort and Residences project at Paradise, St Michael.

They claim that the stalled project is considerably over-priced and want the Freundel Stuart Government to get involved “to iron out a balanced and reliable solution based on fairness and transparency rather than greed and selfishness”.

“Value of the site (Four Seasons Resort and Residences project) is nowhere near the US$105 million,” Elio Raccah, spokesman for the group, told SUNDAY SUN in a telephone link-up from Italy.

“Someone asserts that the works have been paid about US$60 million but where has the remaining US$45 million added value to the project?”

But Avinash Persaud, executive chairman of Paradise Beach Limited, developer for the Four Seasons project, has dismissed the Italians’ claim and hinted that before monthend, a recommendation could be made to Government for the take-over of the former Paradise Beach Hotel site."

Source: NationNews.com

Holetown Waterfront Improvement Project

"... work on the Holetown Waterfront Improvement Project is progressing smoothly.

The project began this year following the completion of another Coastal Risk Assessment Management Programme at Heron Bay, which began last October to run for six weeks.

That section of the programme focussed on coastal enhancement, while addressing sea level rise, coastal erosion, climate change, as well as addressing storm surge and winter swells. It saw the construction of a series of groynes and elements of offshore work being done there.

Now, the Coastal Zone Management Unit has focused its attention on Holetown to stabilise the shoreline and creating a hazard resilient area that will involve the construction of a boardwalk as well as other offshore and shoreline features.

A source said the work there was on schedule and going great, and there was evidence today of workmen removing boulders from the much eroded Holetown beach where once existed one of the most attractive beaches on the west coast.

Once the project is completed, there should be an expanse of beach comparable to what would have existed in the 1980s, along with much needed and attractive improvements."

Source: Barbados Today

West Coast Demonized In Billionaire Heiress Death

"It is just an eight-hour direct flight from London Gatwick and once you arrive you are never more than 10 minutes’ stroll from a palm-dappled shore. Barbados is known as the Switzerland of the Caribbean for the high number of wealthy home owners, and its residents spend their days swimming, lounging on white sand beaches, lunching and golfing at the famous Sandy Lane Hotel — before playing long into the night. The drink of choice is, of course, rum, and the atmosphere, like the heat, intense, heady.

It is a life that the late Eva Rausing and her husband Hans knew well. The tragic couple split their time between the capital and Barbados where they owned an 11-bedroom beachfront mansion worth £15 million. Set on a private estate near Sandy Lane — said to be the Rausings’ spiritual home — Greensleeves comes with an oriental water garden and koi-filled lily ponds.

But for Hans and Eva, their sun-drenched second home in Barbados may have held a dangerous appeal. For all the island’s well-heeled affluence, it is also reportedly a place of hedonistic debauchery and widely available drugs..."

Read more - "Dark side of paradise... the death of Eva Rausing puts the spotlight on Barbados"

The West Coast Will Do That To You... Rihanna

"A visit to her native Barbados certainly seems to have given Rihanna a much needed rest from her hectic schedule. RiRi looked lovelier than ever for dinner with friends at Il Ristorante di Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica on Friday night, shortly after returning from her homeland. The 23-year-old showed off her natural beauty, wearing minimal make up on her sun-kissed skin and her curly hair pulled away from her face..."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2025680/Fresh-faced-Rihanna-glows-LA-return-Barbados.html#ixzz1V5CCGbwg

Rihanna reportedly stayed on the West Coast in the penthouse of that monstrous horribilis [horrible monstrosity] south of Sandy Lane aka The Sands.

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West Coast Getting The Sands II

Artist impression Palazatte Residences

A little thing like poor condo sales at The Sands just south of Sandy Lane is not stopping their imitators five or so miles up the west coast from going full throttle bringing even larger ultra-luxury apartments to the marketplace.  And, it doesn't seem the matter that they are going up next to equally empty and already hugely discounted condos at St. Peter's Bay in Road View, St. Peter.  

See also:  Mullins Bay Blog and Barbados TravelAdvisor 

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Plans afoot to turn Holetown into a cruise visitor focal point

"Government wants to turn Holetown into a major cruise tourism hub.  Well-informed sources told Barbados TODAY that ever since August 2009, the Ministry of Tourism had been advancing a series of recommendations to drive cruise passengers into the historic St. James area.  It's all part of the plan to ease long-standing beach congestion, and suspected unlawful activity, in the Payne's Bay area.
The intention, sources noted, was to have cruisers driven into the area by taxis and other forms of transportation, and that there would be major cooperation between the National Conservation Commission, police, businesses and other stakeholders.  "It is considered that the beach area and urban infrastructure at Holetown has the capacity to accommodate a larger number of cruise ship visitors, the associated vehicular traffic movement and areas for parking," a Ministry of Tourism brief on the matter stated.
"All relevant Government ministries and departments should work collectively to put in place the appropriate environment at Holetown to accommodate an influx of cruise ship passengers in terms of beach chair vending, jet ski vending, safe swimming areas, provision for parking, signage for the regulation of vehicular and pedestrian movement and adequate policing," it added.  The ministry also said taxi drivers had an important role to play and should therefore "be approached with a view to having them redirect their cruise ship passengers to Holetown".  "Businesses in Holetown should be approached to encourage them to upgrade their facilities to accommodate greater cruise passenger visitation," it noted.  
Additionally, the suggestion was for the NCC to undertake a study "to determine the number of chairs, which a vendor should be licensed to rent per standard measured area of beach".  "This will assist in regulating beach chair vending at all beaches," the Ministry of Tourism document stated. Officials were concerned about the image behaviour in the area of Paynes Bay and now closed Blue Monkey Restaurant.  They said at the time that part of the problem was "an overwhelming number of cruise ship passengers" were being ferried there by taxi drivers, who were offered "monetary and in-kind incentives".  Sources pointed out that just last year several agencies were called to be a meeting hosted by Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy "to urgently examine some complaints brought to his attention about a particular location, namely, Paynes Bay.""

Source: Barbados Today article "Holetown a hub"

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Another Morning Breaks On The West Coast

From the webcam on Mullins Beach
(click link on the left to access)

See also: Save Mullins Bay

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Michael Winner Disses Four Seasons ... Again

"The dream of celebrities owning a villa facing a sandy beach in Barbados, adjacent to, and serviced by, a Four Seasons hotel, turned from idyll to nightmare as a bizarre saga unfolded.

It started in March 2005, when the Sandals hotel company announced it was selling Clearwater Bay, near the island’s capital Bridgetown, to a group of international investors headed by local hotelier Michael Pemberton and Robin Paterson, a London estate agent. Pemberton, an audacious if not always successful entrepreneur, was photographed looking at plans of the area and trumpeting the advantages of snapping up sites priced from $10 million to $20 million. As I sunned myself at the nearby Sandy Lane hotel, expectations reached fever pitch. Simon Cowell and Andrew Lloyd-Webber bought two plots. Eddie Jordan, Lucien Grainge, head of Universal Music, and other luminaries joined Pemberton’s Valhalla..."

Read more: Telegraph.co.uk
See also: Barbados TravelAdvisor and Four Seasons

Something The Government Of Barbados Should Think About For What's Left Of The West Coast

"After years of welcoming well-heeled tourists from around the world with open arms, one of Tuscany's smartest, most discreet beach resorts is in revolt against outsiders, wealthy or not.

Forte dei Marmi – the traditional summer retreat for Italian captains of industry, writers and film stars – is changing the law to try to stop locals fleeing because of house prices driven out of control by incoming Russian millionaires. The town's combative mayor, Umberto Buratti, is reserving space next to luxury villas with sea views for new homes that will only be sold to locally-born buyers or long-term residents. Other Italian resorts with similar problems will monitor the experiment with interest.

"We want to safeguard the character of the town instead of seeing it turn into a place with no ties, as anonymous as a motorway service station," Buratti said.

"Not everyone here is rich or Russian," added local councillor Michele Molino. "You look at the designer shops round here and we could be in London."

Despite the economic crisis that has kept some smart Muscovites at home, local estate agents expect up to 500 Russian families to descend this summer, following in the footsteps of super-rich visitors such as Roman Abramovich and splashing out up to €100,000 at a time to rent villas for the season – albeit a snip compared with the €20m reportedly paid out to buy the biggest villas nestling behind bougainvilleas between the broad beaches and Apuan Alps.

"Five million is the norm now, but if you go just a few miles inland prices drop by two thirds, which is where the locals have disappeared to," said a local estate agent, Umberto Giannecchini..."

Read more:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/04/italian-resort-forte-dei-marmi-tourists

Coral Reef Club: Spa Spy investigates the curative claims

"Against my expectations, the patches of psoriasis became less angry and less visible within days. They were, of course, helped by the Barbados sun, but the exfoliation and rehydration seemed to help. Or maybe it was the "medicinal" rum punches and the seafood and vegetable diet. Spa Spy's revitalised face was commented on by friends, and the rest of her skin took on the required healthy glow within days. Sadly, however, there was no prevention for that other affliction – Stupid Snorkeller's Burnt Back..."

Read more: Coral Reef Club, Barbados - Telegraph

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Limegrove Comes Under Heavy Environmental And Ecological Criticism

Limegrove under construction on the mangrove swamp in Holetown

(Click here for larger image)

Limegrove, the upmarket shopping, entertainment and residential development in the heart of Holetown has come under heavy environmental and ecological criticism from a professor of Marine Ecology and Fisheries at the local branch of the University of The West Indies. Professor Hazel Oxenford described Limegrove and another big tourism development in the works for another mangrove swamp site on the south coast of the island as having "the potential to devastate Barbados' already struggling coral reef population." She explained that mangroves protect coral reefs by holding back,slowing down and absorbing rainfall runoff which unchecked destroys coral reefs and animal life which live on them.

She did not mince words when she zeroed in on Limegrove: "You see in Holetown right now that ridiculous building complex which is going up right in the swamp. What is it going to do? They are turning [the swamp] into concrete to make the water run off fast, really fast water takes with it soil, garbage, anything. Say 'no' to that kind of building."

In the above photosynth you can see on the landside of the bridge where they have built a new concrete canal to channel the water through the swamp area. Recently in the local media the developer was boasting that with the new canals together with the new catchment pond miles inland at Farmers in St. Thomas built to facilitate irrigation of the new golf course at Apes Hill, they have finally solved the flooding problem in Holetown. Professor Oxenford and others believe such thinking is shortsighted, for with the reefs gone the coastline is more exposed to storms and erosion. And, with the beaches gone, so will the tourists, supposedly for whom these monstrosities are being conceived.

Click here to read original Barbados Today article.

Click here for more context to the mangrove swamp in Holetown.

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Simon Cowell's £15m nightmare in paradise ..."

"At the moment, it certainly doesn't look like paradise. Known locally as Black Rock, it remains a spread of rubble and weed, with unfinished roofs and unglazed windows. Hummingbirds, doves, bats and lizards enjoy it for now.
Still, Cowell wishes he was there. This was to be the year when he laid claim to his own home on Barbados - complete with an infinity pool, his own butler, housekeeper, gardener, chef and maids.
He had put down £15million - all in cash, as Cowell makes a point of never taking out a mortgage or any other loan.
The question now is, will he ever see that money again - or receive the keys to what he had hoped would be the finest holiday home money could buy?"

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1239043/Simon-Cowells-15m-nightmare-paradise-dream-Caribbean-hideaway-leave-hugely-pocket.html?ITO=1708&referrer=yahoo#ixzz0b99vnnOS

See also:  Simon's Villa Progress or No Progress

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Bleak Christmas On West Coast

Simon Cowell is here, and so is Roman Abramovich and many other celebrities but their star power is dimmed but the darkness of the Global Economic Recession still hanging over the West Coast and indeed the rest of Barbados.  Government tried to lift spirits yesterday by issuing a vague statement about the restart of the Four Seasons project, but it has been whistling that same tune in the dark for the last eleven months.  The brief bulletin  this time said:

"Work on the stalled Four Seasons development at Black Rock, could be resumed early in the New Year.  CBC understands that several parties to a plan to re-start the multi-million-dollar tourism project are likely to sign off on the deal before the end of this year.  If this happens, our sources say work is likely to restart in the first quarter of 2010.  Over 700 workers were sent home in February 2009 after the project ran into finical difficulty.  Since then, a group led by Barbadian Professor Avinash Persaud has been trying to raise financing so that the project could resume."  CBC TV News

It is doubtful whether Four Seasons will continue to associate its flag with this project for very much longer.  As an asset it may now be even more toxic and hazardous than the gas tanks under which it sits in Black Rock.

Another near West Coast project in similar 5-star luxury brand jeopardy is Banyan Tree golf and villa project at Black Bess (Black Rock, Black Bess, hmmm...).  The company behind this project has long since sold its crown jewel when it got rid of the beachfront property on Mullins Beach it had earmarked for the beach club for the "uber-cool."  Now rumor has it that Batalleys Mews - the 30-condo project  ("townhouses") this company constructed just off Mullins is now in receivership.  An accounting firm is now running the show there.  This can only be bad news for Black Bess.  Meanwhile, into this bleak financial climate, St. Peter's Bay (only a stone's throw away from Battaleys Mews) is preparing to launch 60 more condos - not that they weren't advertising them for sale for at least the last five years.