Thursday, next week, January 28, the stunning Zemi Beach House Resort & Spa, Anguilla’s newest beachfront hotel, will officially open for its first guests and become a most welcome and proud addition to the other luxury and up-market accommodation properties on the island.
This follows a mass open-house party on Monday, January 18, when a huge crowd of residents and visitors from throughout Anguilla rubbed shoulder to shoulder to see and experience the brand new resort at Shoal Bay East.
The onlookers were awed to see how a once rugged area of terrain, accounting for 6.58 acres on, and above, one of the world’s best beaches, overlooking Anguilla’s Atlantic coast, has been transformed into a most idyllic site by the sea. The stately building construction rises to some sixteen feet above the surf to elevations up to seventy feet, giving all areas of the property commanding ocean views and much exposure to the cool trade winds.
Here, and there, gigantic limestone boulders, and other rock-formations – elements of the once rugged land mass – are neatly tucked in at some of the foundations, and lush undulating gardens, along the connecting surfaced pathways, pleasantly greet visitors travelling on foot or driving on the convenient carts. A Thai House, one of the original buildings on the site, also lends beauty and creativity to the alluring modern Caribbean-style architecture property.
“It’s been a very long, hard road. We started this in 2011. We stopped for a little while; and then we started out again shortly after in 2012 and, as you can see, it has turned out to be really the dream that my father, my wife, my sons and I wanted.” That was said by Mr. Jeffrey Goldstein, partner in the Goldstein Family Partnership, the resort’s owners and developers. He was at the time delivering the opening address following an extended tour and welcome reception for the visiting guests. His father, Mr. Sheldon Goldstein, whom he fondly referred to, died some four weeks ago leaving the New York family to see about their vast properties in various parts of the United States and now their resort in Anguilla – the first in the Caribbean.
“For those who don’t know, I am now the owner of this complex with my family,” Jeffrey Goldstein continued. “We have a great staff and I would like to thank all of you in Anguilla who are supporting this project and coming out to celebrate this opening. Our first reservation is January 28 and we hope to really continue our reservations and to get this hotel up and running as a 12-month hotel (applause).”
Among those whom he thanked were the present and past Governments of Anguilla for supporting and facilitating the project, the late Brian Hughes who did most of the construction work, his brother Greig Hughes and Vanburn (Andy) Brooks, the Project Manager.
Chief Minister and Minister of Tourism, Mr. Victor Banks, said: “It is obvious that everybody was excited about being invited to this event because it seems that everybody came out. I believe that is important because this is a great addition to the Anguilla tourism plant. As Jeff pointed out, it began with the past administration and now we are privileged to have the opportunity to open it so that a number of Anguillians will benefit in the operation phrase of this project. He has assured me that it is a 12-month project and at this point he has employed up to 82 Anguillians – and I want you to give the Goldstein family a big round of applause.”
Mr. Banks continued: “I also want to thank all persons involved in the development of this project and we regret the fact that Jeff’s father is not here today. I am sure he had the opportunity when he was here in November to have a look around and see that things were coming to their conclusion, and he was very happy about that… This is just the beginning as the family is planning to do some expansion, and we hope that the family will continue to have the kind of success that they associate with properties such as the quality and calibre of the property they have built here. It is exquisite and I am sure from the reaction of the staff who led us at this property that they are very proud of being part of this. That is a very important element of the success of the property: to have a staff that is satisfied and proud to be a part of the property. I want to thank you, Jeff, and your family once again for making his happen, and we look forward as a Government to giving you the support that is necessary to make it a great place.”
Speaking earlier about the property, Mr. Goldstein told The Anguillian: “The first phase right now is 49 hotel rooms and 9 condominiums which turn into another 20 suites and hotel rooms – so as of today we open with 69 rooms. The final development is 129 rooms.”
He said the occupancy was now at 20 percent for February with reservations increasing during March and April with bookings from across the north-east United States, other states, and Europe. “The development has been very good to us,” Mr. Goldstein stated. “We started originally with the Banks’ Government; we worked with the Hughes’ Government and now we are back with the Banks’ Government. Each of the Governments has treated us fairly. We have been good to them and they have been good to us…The [access] road has been a good collaboration between us, and this development opens as a [result of] collaboration.”
The developer said that several other condominiums and hotel suites – to complete the entire 129 rooms – were now under construction to come on stream between later this year and 2017. “Everything seems to be on track at this point. It all depends on sales and reservations,” he added… “We intend to have this as a gorgeous lush property.”
