Regional hotel chain Sandals Resorts International has inked plans to build a 500-room, US$500 million Beaches family resort in St Vincent this week, barely two years after the opening of Sandals Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

This, after Sandals Saint Vincent and the Grenadines shattered industry records for how quickly new properties are expected to stabilise after opening.

Sandals executive chairman Adam Stewart said the property outperformed all expectations after opening in early 2024, “the big hotel world usually gives a hotel somewhere between three or four years to stabilise… Sandals Saint Vincent achieved this within one year. We have been able to outperform what the international world would call ‘stabilisation’ by 300 per cent because of that commitment of working together, and we are just warming up, this is just the beginning of what is possible.”

Built on this solid performance, Sandals this week signed an agreement with the government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to establish a second resort, this time under the Beaches Resorts family brand.

According to the Sandals head, it is the further realisation of a dream shared by both his father, the late Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, along Vincentian Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves.

“We are here today to sign an agreement to build, what looks like at this moment to be a 500-bedroom, US$500 million Beaches Resort. At full capacity, it will employ nearly 2,000 Vincentians.”

Prime Minister Gonsalves welcomed the announcement, noting that Sandals Saint Vincent has already transformed the lives of the people of his country, “according to the Ministry of Finance estimates, Sandals’ direct economic impact is approximately US$40 million or EC$108 million annually, stimulating local businesses, agriculture, transportation and cultural industries. This infusion has contributed significantly to GDP growth, foreign exchange earnings and national development.”

The prime minister went on to say that the ‘Sandals effect’ has also had a major impact on airlift,
“because of the presence of Sandals, the available seats in international flight capacity have risen by 412 per cent; from 612 to 3,162, incredible numbers”.

“This growth is driven primarily by new routes by the major airlines and the gateways, making Saint Vincent and the Grenadines more globally accessible than ever before,” added Gonsalves.
Member of Parliament for Central Leeward Orando Brewster acknowledged the role of Sandals’ executive chairman Adam Stewart, as well as Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves, in realising the vision and the dream set forth by their fathers many years ago.

“I want to say to the executive chairman, I wish that your father was still here today to see this Beaches taking its true shape and form, but I want to remind you that if he is looking down right now, he will say to you, Adam, this is my son in whom I am well pleased,” said Brewster.

Design work on Beaches Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is due to begin in 2026.