A sainted isle of tranquillity
The mention of the island of St Lucia conjures up an image of a typical four-star honeymoon destination: picturesque and relaxing, but not necessarily on the same level as other, more exclusive Caribbean islands. But that may well be set to change, as St Lucia attempts to steal the thunder of some of its more upmarket neighbours.
One of the Windward Islands, over the years it has been colonised by both the British and the French. When it gained independence in 1979, bananas were its main export, thanks to a preferential trade arrangement with Britain.
This arrangement remained in place until the early 1990s when it was halted by an EU directive, and competition from cheaper South American bananas all but destroyed the banana trade. This encouraged the St Lucian government to invest heavily in tourism.
The sandy coastal area around Rodney Bay in the sheltered north-west of the island was ripe for development, as it included the biggest expanse of low-lying land on what is a mountainous island. This area is still home to most of St Lucia’s beachfront properties, bars and restaurants, and consequently attracts most of its tourist traffic.
But there’s a lot more to do in St Lucia than just sunbathe. Much of the island is mountainous rain forest, which makes for dramatic hiking territory and plenty of eco-tourism opportunities, while expansive reefs and underwater volcanic hot springs provide some of the best diving in the Caribbean.
St Lucia is also a popular second home destination, and there was strong Irish interest in the island during the property boom. The island has not been immune to the effects of the economic downturn, but the outlook for its property market is now cautiously optimistic.
In 2009,theWorld Bank placed St Lucia in the top 30 countries to invest in, higher than anywhere else in the Caribbean.
While tourist arrivals last year were down by 5 per cent on 2008, this compared favourably to the drop experienced by other Caribbean islands – Barbados was down by 8 per cent in the same period, and Antigua by 12 per cent. The island’s best-known landmarks are the twin volcanoes at its south-west tip known as the Pitons.
Rising dramatically out of the turquoise ocean to over 2,000 feet these mountains cradle the Val de Pitons at their base. This area is a protected Unesco world heritage site of outstanding natural beauty, and is also the location for a new five-star resort being constructed on the site of the original Jalousie plantation.
The British aristocrat Lord Glenconner – who was known as Colin Tennant before he inherited his title in 1983 – first came across Jalousie in 1982, when he travelled there by boat in search of the sulphur springs that give the nearby town of Soufriere its name.
Tennant had already had huge success turning the island of Mustique into an exclusive resort, and saw an opportunity to do the same with Jalousie. Since then the hotel has passed through a number of different owners, and in recent years had attained an air of faded grandeur.
Roger Myers, the former owner of the Cafe Rouge restaurant chain, bought the hotel in 2005 and is now spearheading a $100 million transformation programme aimed at turning it into one of the Caribbean’s premier five-star resorts. Key to the transformation programme is the Tides hotel group, which already operates chic resorts in South Beach in Miami and Playa del Carmen in Mexico. When it is relaunched at the end of 2011, the resort will no longer be known as Jalousie – its new title will be the Tides Sugar Beach resort.
Work on the project is well under way, and some of the major features have already been completed. These include an impressive bar and dance club in the main building of the new hotel, where swathes of back-lit white fabric contrast dramatically with shiny glass and lacquered hardwood.
Roger Myers’ impressive personal modern art collection adds an ¡ber-cool feel to the space.
The Rainforest spa consists of treehouse treatment rooms connected by wooden walkways that snake up the side of the hill behind the hotel.
The spa is cooled by a thick canopy of rainforest, while the stream that ran the original sugar mill trickles beneath the treehouses.
This strong focus on detail and design extends to the hotel rooms, which feel more like luxurious colonial villas and incorporate individual plunge pools and vast terraces with incredible views.
Architect Lane Pettigrew is responsible for the refurbishment of the 85 luxury Sugar Beach villas that are nestled in small groups among the 185 acres of rainforest around the resort. Each group of villas has a butler station to take care of the needs of guests, while a shuttle service transports them around the island.
The villas are being sold as a freehold buy-to-let investment with four weeks usage per year for owners.
Prices start at just over €443,000 for a one-bedroom bedroom villa and go up to just over €1 million for a deluxe superior two-bedroom villa.
The villas are fully furnished and finished to a European five-star standard.
There is a guaranteed minimal rental return of 5 per cent per year until the end of 2012, based on hotel occupancy rates of 53 to 67 per cent. The current pre-refurbishment occupancy rate is 78 to 80 per cent, so investors could generate a significantly higher return once official five star prices are being charged.
A little further along the beach, Lord Glenconner is capitalising on his proximity to the revamped hotel, and is selling seven contemporary freehold villas in a scheme to be known as Glenconner Beach. With uninterrupted views of the bay and the Pitons, the villas have between five and seven bedrooms, and prices start at just over €5 million. The plots range in size from 13,000 to 26,000 square feet.
The Glenconner villas have also been designed by Lane Pettigrew, and are in a traditional Caribbean style. The designs include pools, extensive terraces and staff quarters, but these designs are flexible, and the architects will work with the owners to ensure that they get their dream property.
Lord Glenconner, whose own residence is beside Glenconner Beach, is also developing a small market area with shops and a restaurant on the site.