STUNNING white-sand beaches, luxurious properties and 24-hour room service – this Barbados resort had all the ingredients for the ultimate millionaire getaway.
But it was never that way for wealthy investors, including Simon Cowell and Eddie Jordan, who spent millions on paddocks at the sun-drenched spot when the resort was abandoned before completion.
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Guests were required to enjoy the ocean view from the infinity pool Credit: Jake Williams – Bright Sun Films
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Nature has reclaimed the ruins and monkeys roam the site Credit: Jake Williams – Bright Sun Films
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The deal was to have private villas for the wealthy Credit: Ground Kent Architects
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Celebrities, including Simon Cowell, have made various payments for their luxurious mansions Credit: Getty
Nature slowly took it back, and the failed £470m project, masterminded by two Britons, sat abandoned for more than a decade amid a protracted legal battle.
The 32-acre ruin site is a hole in Barbados’ glittering tourist landscape, a concrete skeleton among the Caribbean island’s glitzy hotels.
Just a few years after the construction of the 110-bed Four Seasons Hotel with 35 private villas, construction work was halted because the original investors ran out of money.
Since that time in 2009, developers have been seeking money in an attempt to finance the completion of an ultra-luxury resort in Paradise Beach.
Jake Williams, director of the Bright Sun Films YouTube channel, explored the eerie spot and said the jungle and wildlife had completely overrun it.
He told The Sun: “Paradise Beach really lives up to its name. It is surrounded by a crystal blue sea and fringed by dense forest.
“You would never think that behind the forest was one of the biggest monuments to the financial collapse of 2008.
“In fact, it’s quite surreal to think that there’s an abandoned, derelict Four Seasons hotel. It’s the only one in the world that I know of.”
“The monkeys are now climbing through the planned 5-star hotel, which is probably the most difficult juxtaposition you can imagine for what this structure was meant to be.
“Sounds you can’t quite place are coming from the ghost fairies.”
Jake said the ruins create a “creepy, haunting feeling” when you walk through them.
He added: “I couldn’t really comprehend the waste here.
“These splendid and almost finished luxury villas are rotting on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
“Sitting by an abandoned infinity pool, inside an abandoned Four Seasons hotel, watching the sunset is possibly the most surreal moment of my life. I’ll never forget it.”
When then-Tourism Minister Richard Sealy took an extensive tour of the site in 2009, he insisted it would bring jobs to the area and “do a lot for us as a destination.”
He said: “This is the kind of project we would like to have.
“There is a great demand for villas because there is a market that finds this type of accommodation very attractive.”
Despite his claims that the mansions were in demand, more than half of the properties, priced between £8.6m and £14m, failed to sell before the entire project collapsed.
It has caused a real headache for celebrities like British tycoon Simon Cowell, songwriter Andrew Lloyd Webber and former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan, who have already made huge payments for their luxury apartments.
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Developers are seeking cash in a bid to complete the complex Credit: Jake Williams – Bright Sun Films
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More than half of the private villas, priced between £8.6m and £14m, failed to sell Credit: Jake Williams – Bright Sun Films
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Fire devastated the site in 2018. Credit: Jake Williams – Bright Sun Films
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The villas were designed in a Balinese style and had access to a stunning infinity poolCredit: Ground Kent Architects
Each villa would have access to a cinema, wine cellar, gym and infinity pool, as well as 24-hour room service from the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel next door.
The stunning stretch of coastline was home to a hotel during the 1950s until the 2000s when it closed.
It was then taken over by new developers who drew up ambitious plans for a hotel and villa complex, boasting that it would be “the most opulent and luxurious resort” on the island.
The designs were primarily overseen by British business partners Robin Paterson and Michael Pemberton, who, with a hefty £30m loan from the Bank of Scotland and an army of investors, set to work trying to turn their dream into reality.
Construction was supposed to be completed in 2011, but the brakes hit in 2009 when funding ran out.
There has been speculation that the 2008 recession hampered sales, but Pemberton dismissed the suggestions.
He said: “What people tend to see in this development is the security of the Four Seasons brand, because it is a Four Seasons hotel with residences, not an apartment block.
“It’s a global brand. It’s the strongest five-star global brand in the world and people feel very comfortable investing their money in the strength of the Four Seasons, and also the destination is very important.”
After a few years, the development attracted the attention of other investors and even the government, which promised staggering sums in an attempt to restart construction.
But those who had already invested large amounts of cash were fed up and wanted to withdraw their money, leading to a series of legal entanglements.
The site is now littered with trees and crumbling concrete, with monkeys roaming around.
Many materials such as copper gutters were also removed from the site.
With the fire that devastated the site in 2018 the final nail in the coffin, the corporation set up by the original developers dissolved, sparking a major dispute over land ownership claims.
But the following year, the resort was saved when Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that talks with potential investors had begun.
The government took possession of the land and buildings and began looking for an investor.
Speaking in 2019, he said: “The last government left it to rot and rust and taxpayers invested over $120 million, but your government has now agreed to keep it whole.
“The government will receive $40 million in cash at the closing and transfer of ownership, and the other $84.5 million will be retained in preferred stock, so we will receive the money before the owners receive a single penny.”
Ms Mottley revealed that new investors would be taking over the site and that development would be completed in the “next two to three years”.
But four years later, the hopeless structure remains a concrete graveyard.
It was revealed last year that ownership of the land had been transferred to a private company called Blue Development Ltd after the Four Seasons was sold to it for £46m.
Director of Finance and Economic Affairs Ian Carrington told Barbados Today: “At the same time, an additional agreement was signed.”
Jake said he hopes to resume work on the site one day.
He added: “It’s incredibly sad to see what happened here and I really hope something is done with the site.
“Either continue to develop it or tear it down.
“It’s a disservice to the community to leave it today.”
The Sun has contacted the Barbados Government Information Service and Four Seasons for comment.
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The site was to feature a 110-bed Four Seasons hotel and 35 private villasCredit: Jake Williams – Bright Sun Films
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The location overlooks a paradise beach in Barbados Credit: Jake Williams – Bright Sun Films
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The hopeless structure remains a concrete graveyard Credit: Jake Williams – Bright Sun Films
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It’s unclear what the future holds for the site Credit: Jake Williams – Bright Sun Films
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: newstars.edu.vn