SM: What brought your family to St Lucia in the first place?
AB: Samuel Barnard Jr moved here from Antigua in 1834 as a missionary with the Lady Mico Charity and set up a school in Vieux Fort. Rendezvous was started by my grandfather who bought 40 acres of beachfront land and 12 cottages which he incorporated into a hotel in 1966. Now it is the longest-running hotel in St Lucia. In 1988, we added another hotel and opened The BodyHoliday, which was the first wellbeing hotel in the world.
SM: What changes have you seen on the island - and in the St Lucia hotel business - over the years?
AB: So many. The world of tourism has changed around us and St Lucia has moved with it. Of all the islands in the Caribbean, St Lucia has seen positive tourism investment in the past 10 years. This has resulted in a really varied and high quality standard of hotels and resorts being available in St. Lucia.
SM: How have the Sunswept hotels changed?
AB: We have just completed a £10 million refurbishment at The BodyHoliday, which included expanding the beach area by adding 4,000 tons of sand, adding a new infinity edge pool and tripling the size of the gym. There is a new penthouse suite with a private hammam and steam room and the Wellness Centre has been upgraded.
We have also refurbished the dining room and main bar and added a library with WiFi. Also new is a cooking school, where live sushi demonstrations are staged during the day. Rendezvous was renovated in 2009/10, but we are doing some more work. It is moving more to a wellness/spa property and we are developing other ideas for it.
SM: Are you introducing any product innovations?
AB: We are constantly trying new things and one of our current focuses is fitness for families with special programmes aimed at parents with children over 12, comprising fitness and exercise. We try to read social trends and how we can respond to them.
SM: What do you feel are the greatest challenges facing St Lucia's tourist industry now?
AB: With the hard economic times ahead St. Lucia is well placed because the island's resort and attractions infrastructure is in good shape. Perhaps airlift to the island, and indeed the region, will become an issue, particularly with the UK Government's adoption of APD.
SM: Where is your favourite place to go on the island?
AB: I love going running right nearby the hotel on the deserted east coast of the island where there is a selection of very picturesque beaches.
SM: What is the next step for Sunswept Resorts?
AB: We are constantly looking at product improvement and so we are working on ensuring that Rendezvous attains a five-star standing and offers an extremely compelling holiday experience based around couples enjoying really quality time together. The lead-in rooms are being renovated and these will finish in the summer, giving Rendezvous beautiful rooms.
