Zemi Beach House Resort & Spa, now coming into operation following a most impressive Open House Party, has attracted a great deal of comment and praise from the massive number of persons who were in attendance.
One of them was Ms Palmavon Webster, Leader of the Opposition in the Anguilla House of Assembly and Head of Webster Law Firm. Among other matters she has a keen interest in tourism development – a major contributor to the island’s economy.
“I think it is a beautiful property, and I think it is the beginning of what we are looking towards the future for – the development of the East End of Anguilla,” she stated. “It is of a very high quality. I think there is a focus on our people and all the employees, from the time we came in, everyone of them stood up to greet us. I like the idea that Zemi connects with our incredible heritage of our Arawak and Amerindian history and I think that is going to be a major plus for the development you will see going forward in this area.”
Ms. Webster continued: “I feel passionate about that culture, and that in the immediate past we haven’t focussed enough on what that yields – and I think we are still to reap the harvest of that incredible history. I think, for instance, about the focus on the tranquillity pools. Who would have thought that the spa area, created by someone who loved this environment and came here because of the heritage, and built the Thai House, would have inspired this current developer to create a development that emphasises our history in a bigger way? I think that this is the incredible potential we have in this part of the island. A lot of it hasn’t been touched very much. It is vast and its rich and I think you will see, in the coming years, other developers will be further inspired by this project. That’s why I am happy about it.”
Ms. Webster spoke about the connection of Island Harbour where she was born and continues to reside. “We share with this area the Arawak heritage. We have the Big Spring. This is an example of what we can do with the Big Spring that needs to be highlighted. I think that guests visiting Anguilla would want to experience the Arawak culture at the Big Spring, so I see the connection and I see that we can draw on this resource for catapulting higher – and there are plans for the development of the Big Spring. I see it also linked to the heritage and brand of a culturally peaceful Anguilla. These are all aspects of the tourism product we are offering and that we can maximise and achieve much more.”
Former Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism, Mr. Hubert Hughes, was among the invited guests at the Open House event. He told The Anguilian: “This project, unfortunately, was supposed to be stalled and I had to work very hard to make sure that it continued. On several occasions it was supposed to have been stalled completely and I got in trouble with a lot of people along the way. Thank God we have it; we need it; and I am happy to see the number of young Anguillians who are gainfully employed here.”
Mr. Hughes continued: “I was involved in the project from day one when Mr. Scott Hauser [a Real Estate Agent] came to me. We worked together to get this project going. We met a lot of difficulty. There was difficulty in Executive Council and difficulty among Permanent Secretaries. We met difficulty all the way, even from the Governor, but God was with us and we succeeded in getting it going. As I said, I am happy to see all these young people gainfully employed.”
Mr. Vanburn Brooks, the Project Manager, provided some useful information to The Anguillian about the design of the property. Mr. Brooks is a professional Anguillian Architect who was trained in the United States where he designed and oversaw the construction of a number of notable projects.
Asked to describe Zemi Beach House Resort & Spa in terms of its construction, he replied: “It is a hybrid of modern and Caribbean [architecture]. The designer, who I think is an absolute genius, put together the Caribbean style, softened the concrete with wood features. He made it feel really homely by how he did it with a lot of open air pavilions; the selection of the tiles and the furniture – all blending together to create a beautiful and stunning hotel and resort. We tried as best as possible to stay as close to the Caribbean set of architecture, and we also renovated an old Thai-style home – and we really played homage in respect of it and its linking to such modern capabilities and adjoining the spa.
“The project is fantastic. It is not just the materials and the design, but also the people who came together to actually make it work – all the engineers, contractors, sub-contractors and others. They all worked together to create a really wonderful space.”
The original designers are Lane Pettigrew Associates based in Miami, Florida.
