Lloyd’s Guest House, in the historic Lower Valley, originally marketed as “A Home Away From Home”, is now under repair following extensive damage to its roof by Hurricane Irma in September 2017. It is a most-welcome effort to return to the hospitality industry in Anguilla.
Rafters are now being put into place along with other rebuilding work. The conveniently-located guesthouse has served Anguilla very well over many years, dating back to about 1959. It has provided much-needed accommodation, at very affordable rates, for visitors wishing to stay in the middle of the island where many offices and business places were then located. Lloyd’s Guest House was one of two locally-owned places of accommodation built and owned by visionary Anguillians who saw the island as a potential tourism destination.
One of them was the late Mr. David Lloyd, a builder and a former Elected Representative of Anguilla in the then Legislative Council of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla who also served in the West Indies Federal Parliament in Trinidad until the Federation was dissolved in 1962. Since his passing and the passing of his wife, Nurse Vida Lloyd, their children, Vida and David, have been carrying on the hospitality business which also includes Lloyd’s Villas, DaVida Restaurant and DaVida’s Grill & Beach Bar at the scenic and historic Crocus Bay.
The other Anguillian tourism accommodation owner was the late Jeremiah Gumbs who built and owned the once popular Rendezvous Bay Hotel, now in a state of disrepair and closure – except perhaps for some newer villas. Smokey’s, a much-patronised restaurant, keeps part of the property functioning and is being run by Mr. Alan Gumbs, one of the late hotelier’s sons.
Mr. Jeremiah Gumbs was a former successful gas and oil businessman in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where he and his family lived for many years. He shot into greater lime-light when he became known as the “Roving Ambassador” in the 1967/1969 Anguilla Revolution. Among other things, during that time, he took Anguilla’s case for self-determination and separation from St. Kitts-Nevis to the United Nation’s Committee of 24; raised money to finance the island’s Revolution; and brought a number of advisors to Anguilla to assist in steering its course at a most difficult and uncertain period of its revolutionary history.
All that time, his Rendezvous Bay Hotel and David Lloyd’s Guest House were still the main tourism accommodation places in Anguilla.
