Sandy Lane is a luxury five star beach-front resort situated close to Holetown and Paynes Bay, in Saint James on the island of Barbados.[2] Sandy Lane was first opened in 1933 after Ronald Tree, a former British politician, had an idea to build a luxury hotel and golf course on what was an old sugar plantation named 'Sandy Lane'.[3] In 1998, after the hotel had been put up for sale by Granada plc, a group of five Irish businessmen including J. P. McManus, Dermot Desmond and John Magnier, bought it. The original resort was then demolished and for three years underwent a $450 million upgrade and renovation.[3][4] The brand new resort, designed by Richmond International, was then opened in March 2001.[5][6] In 2009 Sandy Lane became a member of The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW).[7]
Features
The resort features 112 guestrooms and suites as well as a five-bedroom villa, a 47,000 sq ft (4,400 m2) Spa, four restaurants, seven bars and three golf courses. The reef just off the coast from the hotel, Little Sandy Lane, contains Barracuda, Lobster and several other species of small fish.[8]
On 5 October 2004, professional golfer Tiger Woods married his Swedish fiancée Elin Nordegren at the resort. It was reported that Woods booked out the entire hotel for his guests, who included Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates and Michael Jordan.[11] The owners of the hotel, who include Woods' close friend J.P. McManus, reportedly threw the wedding at the hotel as a gift for the couple.
Since the hotel first opened, the Sandy Lane Resort has been known for its golf. The first, The Old Nine, is a nine-hole course and was built along with the hotel in 1961.[12] The other two, The Green Monkey and The Country Club, are both 18-hole championship courses and were designed by the well-known golf course designer Tom Fazio.[13] The Green Monkey has been reported as being the most expensive golf course ever built.[14] In 2006 The Country Club hosted the World Golf Championships World Cup, which was won by Germany.[15]
Awards
"Barbados' Leading Golf Resort" - 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 - by the World Travel Awards[16]
"Barbados' Leading Hotel" - 2007 - by the World Travel Awards[17]
"Barbados' Leading Resort" - 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013 - by the World Travel Awards[18]
"Barbados' Leading Spa Resort" - 2007, 2011, 2012 - by the World Travel Awards[19]
"Caribbean's Leading Golf Resort" - 2002, 2003, 2004 - by the World Travel Awards[20]
"Caribbean's Leading Resort" - 2005 - by the World Travel Awards[21]
^Madden, Marlon (29 December 2010). "Sandy Lane still first with the rich". Nation Newspaper. Retrieved 30 December 2010. Realtors Limited owner Nick Parravicino said the entire West Coast continued to be the first choice among the well-to-do, both locals and foreigners, looking to buy second homes in Barbados. "Sandy Lane still has an outstanding name with outstanding people. I mean, you have Royal Westmoreland, Sugar Hill and Apes Hill, but Sandy Lane still flies the flag in my opinion," he told Barbados Business Authority.
^"Barbados Dive Sites". divebarbadosblue.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2012. ((cite web)): Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)