Speightstown Happening

"Known as Little Bristol, after the west of England city that received much of its sugar and rum exports in the 18th century, Speightstown has one main street of faded historic buildings, small shops and market stalls running alongside an idyllic Caribbean beach. Few holidaymakers spend much time in the town, beyond the odd drink at the beachside Fishermen's Pub or a glimpse of the night fish market. However, that could change thanks to upgraded roads and parks, the transformation of neglected buildings into museums dedicated to design and local history and a new beachside esplanade for live music.

"Speightstown is a town that is going to happen," says [Paul] Altman, who is converting the local car park into a commercial village of traditional wooden chattel houses selling crafts. "When everywhere is cleaned up, you'll see foreigners coming here far more."

Second-home resorts have started to spring up on the fringes of town. One of Barbados's biggest new inland communities is The Lakes, a hilltop retirement resort two miles away, but even closer is Schooner Bay, a development with tropical gardens leading to the beach that is also within walking distance of the town's central galleries, workshops and potteries. One-bedroom apartments start at $695,000 and Aylesford has already sold 80 per cent. Meanwhile, in Mullins Bay, which is designated a "special development area" where the government hopes to broaden the scope of property bought by foreigners, UK developer Bacassa's Battaley's Mews homes have sold out, mainly to British buyers, at prices from $750,000." -more-

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More Million Dollar Condos In The Mullins Bay Area

Two new tourism residential projects are being being rolled out in the Mullins Bay area - the townhouses at Battaleys (above top, click photo to enlarge) and the former Kings Beach hotel which is being turned into luxury condominiums (above bottom, click photo to enlarge). Units in both properties start at around US $1 million. The Battaleys townhouses are completed and sit on the first terrace above Mullins Bay on the northern boundary of Mullins Terrace on what was once some of the sugarcane growing lands of the old Battaleys Plantation (see Google map below). Currently, 30 2-storey/3-bedroom luxury townhouses with plunge pools and 2,600 sq. feet of living space are now being offered for sale with the potential for rental income. The Kings Beach project is still in the pipeline, probably still bogged down in legal hurdles. However, when and if it is completed it promises to transform Road View and its beachfront with a 4-storey/50-unit luxury condominium complex. Construction has already started on Kings Beach northern boundary on 60 more luxury condos at the infamous St. Peter's Bay development. All said, Mullins Bay is hot!



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LESSON FROM CANCUN: How To Restore Eroded Beahfront

October 13, 2006
BY Ioan Grillo Associated Press

CANCUN, Mexico -- "Carl Johnson said his heart missed a beat when he saw the beach outside his Cancun timeshare. He was expecting little sand a year after the resort was savaged by the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. But what he saw took him by complete surprise. His patch of golden-white sand had tripled in size, stretching a gaping 140 feet toward the crystal-clear Caribbean water...
Cancun's new beach, built by pumping 96 million cubic feet of sand from the ocean floor, is the highlight of an extreme makeover the resort has gone through since it was punished by Hurricane Wilma on Oct. 21, 2005...



Wilma came with little warning, swelling from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in under 24 hours, then pounding Cancun for two days and nights, felling roofs, hurling palm trees and submerging streets in stinking flood water.
When the storm finally retreated, an 8-mile stretch of beach was almost completely washed away, exposing a line of ragged rocks.
However, worldwide beach erosion has led to rapid advances in the techniques for its reclamation, and Belgian company Jan de Nul made Cancun a showcase for its newest technology.
Two ships sucked up sand 20 miles off the Mexican coast, carried it to the shore and used colossal pipes to lay down half a mile of beach a week.
"The white beaches are what Cancun is all about. So we wanted to make sure we were getting that same silky sand that people love, and a lot more of it than before," said Patricia Lopez of Cancun's Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
The new beach is an average of 140 feet wide, compared to an average of 70 feet before Wilma, officials say..." -more-

Intrigue Builds At Eastry House

It is curious to see the BTI packaging Eastry House with this development when as late as April 4 of this year another Government agency - CBC - was reporting that Eastry House was separately sold for in excess of $10 million. Whatever is really the truth here it is clear that the intrigue surrounding Eastry House continues to build.

The Mega Yachts Are Coming

We are seeing more and more mega-yachts along the west coast these days in Barbados and sometimes moored a couple miles north of Mullins Bay at Port St. Charles as pictured in this photo taken last winter [click photo to enlarge]. Yachts of all shapes and sizes are becoming more and more popular sights cruising up and down the west coast. Apart from the obvious thrills they provide for their owners and guests they are particulary attractive and interesting sights for beachfront property owners and their guests, as well as for people lounging on the sand or swimming by the shore. But even as we witness this trend in tourism we must ask the question: "Is Barbados Missing The Boat In Yachting?"

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CheapCaribbean Top Producer for 'Best of Barbados' Campaign

Tuesday , October 10, 4:31 pm ET
DOYLESTOWN, Pa., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- "CheapCaribbean.com has out- produced all other travel suppliers for Barbados Tourism's "Best of Barbados" promotion, launched in June 2006.
As part of the campaign, Barbados Tourism offered travelers an air credit of up to $300 US per person for travel taken or booked during the summer or fall 2006. Known for its amazing deals to Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Mexico, CheapCaribbean.com tapped its loyal, affluent customer base with an integrated marketing campaign, including its hugely successful weekly email deals, to become the top "Best of Barbados" producer."

www.mullinsbay.com

Barbados Going Diamond; Barbados Hotels and Restaurants to Carry AAA Rating by Next Year

Tuesday October 10, 11:13 am ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- By January 2007, Barbadian hotels and eateries will carry the prestigious American Automobile Association (AAA) diamond rating. In an effort to improve the quality of the island's hospitality offering, local tourism officials have introduced the rating system, known for its enhancement of travel experiences for tourists worldwide.

While a few of the island's major properties will carry the hallmark five- diamond rating, hotels and restaurants of all sizes and classifications are expected to be rated. Establishments will be ranked according to AAA product and service standards, ranging from management style of operation to room decor and ambience.

The industry-wide introduction of the AAA diamond rating marks the BTA's second effort to have the island develop customized services to match worldwide standards. The "Zagat Barbados Guide," developed by the prestigious Zagat Survey, was launched this September in Barbados and New York.

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Are We Really Ready For CWC2007

Seems like everyday lately we are learning that more and more stuff will not be ready for CWC2007. The latest is that prison at Dodds. I can't say that I fully grasp the relationship between Dodds and CWC2007 but at least the delay does impact tourism development as it holds up a mega tourism project slated for Harrison's Point. We also recently learned that the Intimate Hotels Group will fall short of it's goal to add 500 new rooms by 184. As CWC2007 draws near two things are becoming clearer: (1) no way near the original estimates of guests for the event will be coming, and (2) despite all the initiatives we are still not going to be ready to house those who are in fact coming. Consequently, we are hearing more trumpeting about 20 cruiseships that are supposedly going to take up the slack. In my humble opinion, there is a fat chance of seeing 20 cruiseships in the harbour and off Carlisle Bay all at once but even if I am wrong, what does that say about the number of available beds on an island that has been involved in tourism in a serious way since at least the early 1960s. Sure, Sandy Lane is boasting that it is fully booked for CWC2007 but Sandy Lane has only about 100 beds while we are struggling to house thousands.

www.mullinsbay.com

Warleigh Project Outline

Warleigh Golf & Villas
Warleigh, St. Peter (- acres)
Villas -
Golf -
Developers -
Date - Unknown
Price Tag - Unknown
Status - Seeking investors

What Beach Erosion?

An interesting letter to the editor appeared in the Advocate recently commenting on the beach erosion "problem" in Barbados offering a perspective very similar to the one espoused here under the title "Dynamic Mullins Bay:"

Beach erosion not new to Barbados
Web Posted - Wed Sep 27 2006
I read with great interest the various news events impacting Barbados and if permitted I would like to comment on Allison Ramsay's article appearing in this newspaper of September 25, 2006, titled, "The problem of beach erosion."

Beach erosion is not new to Barbados, especially on the South Coast, because I remember as a child 60 years ago, because of it, brick walls had to be constructed to save the old Sandy Beach Guest House owned at that time by the late A.E. Taylor and other guest houses in the immediate area. I am told that a part of the old Sandy Beach brick wall is still there.

In addition, beach erosion also occurred at Accra beach when I lived next door to that facility, which back then was only a small guest house owned by the Brooks family. Take as another example the beaches and reefs at Cattlewash and Bathsheba, they change almost weekly and have done so for decades. There are many things involving the creator's work that we may never get answers to.

Beach erosion, however, were cyclical in nature and in my time no one paid any attention to it, knowing that as mysteriously as the erosion started it was but a temporary situation and would eventually correct itself. Today, our younger generation tend to read too much into these things because of information, much of which is unproven, about global warming, rising water levels etc., being blamed for everything under the sun, including "beach erosion."

In Canada and the USA right now a study is underway to try and determine what is causing water levels in some of the Great Lakes to be mysteriously and rapidly falling while in others the opposite is true. Nature is very complex and does not easily give up its secrets.

I suggest that the beach erosion in Barbados is as it was decades ago "benign" and when nature is ready, the situation will be corrected as mysteriously as it started. It always did!

T.D. Allamby

www.mullinsbay.com