PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

One of the most dramatic real-estate developments in The Bahamas lies at this outpost on the island's extreme western tip. Locals, educated and trained in the U.S., run this operation. Built on a site that in the early 1980s was the setting for the unsuccessful Jack Tar Village, the project centers around a cluster of upscale hotel units, a state-of-the-art 72-slip marina, and a palm-flanked beach. The resort's core consists of nine two-story beach houses, each with between four and six living units inside. Spacious and breezy living quarters are outfitted in a Caribbean colonial style with a tropical country-club feel. Bathrooms are sheathed in marble, and each contains a shower/whirlpool tub combination and deluxe toiletries. A pair of restaurants -- the Dockside Grille and Aqua -- serve well-prepared Bahamian and international dishes. This resort encompasses much more than just hotel accommodations. Its owners envision it as an entire village-in-the-making, relentlessly upscale and dotted with celebrity references. There's even an airplane landing strip less than a half-kilometer (1/3-mile) away. Plans will expand the marina and improve the beachfront. Building sites range from US$400,000 to US$1 million each; most are already sold, we were told. Investors have included John Travolta, who presently owns four of the beachfront hotel units. Celebrity sightings include Jack Nicklaus, Geraldo Rivera, and Sex and the City star Chris Noth.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Bahamas 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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