(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- From a balcony at the six-month-old SLS hotel in the Bahamas, there’s an expansive view of the main grounds of the Baha Mar resort: Clusters of palms, rows of sherbet-colored chaise longues, crisp white umbrellas, and slivers of turquoise pools. Beyond lies the beach and the ombré ocean.
It looks like heaven. And it can sound like hell.
Baha Mar, now humming with guests from around the globe enjoying its play pools and daytime dance parties, has been opening in phases since April 2017. That’s more than a decade after developer Sarkis Izmirlian promised the rebirth of Cable Beach, a prime stretch 5 miles from downtown Nassau. With six hotels, 50 restaurants, a casino, and a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, the megaresort was expected to generate 12 percent of the Bahamas’ gross domestic product.
The so-called “new Riviera” cost more than $4 billion, making it the largest and most expensive resort in the Caribbean. In 2015 it went bust, a victim of bad timing, overspending, and allegations of contractor malfeasance. A bailout came the following year, when Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd., the owner of Rosewood Hotel Group, bought the whole property out of bankruptcy. At the time, it was 90 percent finished. And 100 percent vacant.
Now, electronica thumps from the SLS’s adults-only “Privilege” pool, where revelers do bottle-service-fueled dances on reserved daybeds. The untz-untz knocks up against the sounds of Beyoncé playing at the long, slim Bungalow pool next door, where bachelorettes in coordinated bikinis day-drink on pastel chaises. The families staying at the Grand Hyatt (rooms from $225) cluster around other pools nearby with their own soundtracks, including one with windows looking onto the property’s shark-filled mini-aquarium and another equipped with “rain cabanas” whose walls are made from streams of water.
on Apr 26, 2018 at 9:22am PDT
With a staggering 2,300 guest rooms, Baha Mar needs to be all things to all people. Doing that without feeling generic—a word that’s become anathema to hoteliers—is a tall order. Yet Baha Mar seems to be succeeding. The convenient location helps: You can have breakfast in New York and lunch at the resort. There’s no need to leave the grounds, where you’ll find golf, tennis, baccarat tables, a kids club, and dozens of restaurants. There are even flashes of Bahamian culture, like a conch shack. The luxury of so much choice feels fun and indulgent—and not too tacky.
Despite the high-profile bankruptcy still visible in the resort’s rear-view mirror, business is brisk. “We’ve exploded our budget every month,” says Charles Dessert, marketing manager for the SLS (rooms from $355). His hotel and the year-old Grand Hyatt have at times been sold out. And with drinks at $21 a pop and a 100,000-square-foot casino, there’s plenty of revenue to be made.
But the magic begins to wear off after a few days. The myriad themed areas and their background noise devolve from a carefully orchestrated fantasy to a cacophony of hospitality. The design throws together concrete towers, tile roofs, and colonial gingerbread trim. Dining options include a Starbucks, a French-style bakery, a Mexican taco truck, a Chinese noodle shop, and a dimly lit English pub.
There’s arguably one unifying thread (besides the cake-flour beach) at Baha Mar: Instagram. At Privilege, a blonde in cherry-red sunglasses and a matching swimsuit seeks the right angle for her pool selfie. A few feet away, another woman reclines for a shot in a flamingo floatie. A hot-pink Airstream food truck near the pier awaits further perfect photos. Online, without the real-life noise, they’ll look vivid and serene.
on May 6, 2018 at 7:22am PDT
Actual serenity may come in June, when a high-end Rosewood hotel opens. Known for sophisticated spots such as the Carlyle in New York and Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, Rosewood aims to have its offering feel disconnected from the rest of the resort. The only way to reach the other facilities will be to walk along the beach.
“It will feel like an island estate home,” says Luigi Romaniello, managing director for the property. Just one with 1,500 slot machines at hand and a water park to come.
on Mar 14, 2018 at 7:48am PDT
See more in this week’s Caribbean travel special …
To contact the author of this story: Sara Clemence in New York at sara@saraclemence.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Rovzar at crovzar@bloomberg.net, Nikki Ekstein
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