St Lucia is more than just a luxury beach resort

A PAINTED sign next to the road leading out of the village of Laborie reads: “I couldn’t care less.” As an illustration of the Caribbean approach to life, it fits the bill. And with its brightly coloured wooden houses, ramshackle bars and sweeping beach, villages don’t come much more Caribbean than Laborie.

But things are about to change in this southwestern corner of St Lucia, because one of the biggest names in the leisure market is coming to town. The hotelier Ritz-Carlton has joined the Irish developer Roebuck International to operate a $1.5 billion (£745 million) five-star hotel and residential complex at Half Moon Bay, just around the headland from Laborie and close to the island’s international airport.

Roebuck and Ritz-Carlton are keen to point out how little their project will affect the environment, but creating new beaches and the inevitable altering of the coastline around the bay is nothing short of tinkering with nature. Not that St Lucians, including the island’s Government, are worried, given the prospect of jobs and other spin-offs from The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton – which will have pools, spas, sport, diving and conference facilities.

But what really has offshore investors and big-spending visitors in a spin is the prospect of a pair of golf courses designed by two of the biggest names in the game. You have to admire Roebuck’s audacity in bringing together Arnold Palmer, the acknowledged king of golf course design, and the Irishman Christy O’Connor Jr, whose stock has risen ever higher since he forsook the scorecard for the drawing board.

The resort may nestle (just) on the leeward side of St Lucia, facing the relative calm of the Caribbean, but the 432 acres earmarked for the two golf courses at Honeymoon Bay sit squarely where the Atlantic crashes against its neighbouring sea. That means it is a 15-minute shuttle service trip from Half Moon Bay to the golf site; depending on your point of view, an inconvenience or a worthwhile journey.

The golf site was the clincher for Ritz-Carlton. It spreads across four headlands, with cliffs lining the seaward edge and winds gusting in all directions. One optional hole is on a small island: you can reach the green only via a rope-bridge, weather permitting. “We knew the minute we saw the site that it was perfect,” says Neal Sweeney, president of Roebuck. “It’s as though nature created a links course. Normally you move about 800,000 cu m of earth to create a golf course. Here we are moving less than a quarter of that over two courses.” Palmer says that Honeymoon Bay will be “the most spectacularly beautiful seaside course I have ever seen – comparable with, if not better than, Pebble Beach in California”.

Naturally, five-star resorts with challenging and beautiful golf courses thrown in come at a price – and Ritz-Carlton estimates free membership to both courses at Honeymoon Bay is worth about $180,000.

Even so, all bar 64 of the one-bed condominium apartments have been sold – the previous release of 162 being snapped up by Irish buyers and institutional investors at $1.2 million each in two weeks. Sun-loving British golf enthusiasts are also showing interest in the island. The UK launch in London earlier this year resulted in 12 further condominiums being sold, along with two of the 32 penthouses, which range in size from 1,000 sq ft to 2,000 sq ft and in price from $1.8 million to $2.9 million.

Paul Howett, of Bohan Property Consultants, the agent for The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, says that prices on St Lucia have risen by 25-30 per cent over the past year, fuelled by the arrival of upmarket developments. He points to king-sized carrots for the investor such as tax-free rental income for the first 20 years, no capital gains tax and no estate duty. www.bohanproperty.ie

FACTFILE

Virgin Atlantic and British Airways both fly direct to St Lucia from Gatwick.

St Lucia has spawned two Nobel prizewinners: the economist Sir Arthur Lewis and the writer Derek Walcott.

Celeb-spotters should keep an eye out for Mick Jagger, Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Source: http://property.timesonline.co.uk