On August 18 a chapter in Anguillian history closed and another opened as the island’s first beachfront resort, Rendezvous Bay Hotel and Villas, bid farewell to its last hotel guest after 45 years in the hospitality business.

Mr. Alan Gumbs

On that same day, Rendezvous symbolically broke ground for a new resort. The new Rendezvous will feature exclusive private residences designed by Peter Marino, the architect famous for designing Armani’s Milan residence, the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and the Penthouses at the Four Seasons New York.

Alan Gumbs spoke to The Anguillian about his family’s plan to transform Rendezvous into a world-class resort experience for Rendezvous’ past guests and future residents. He also talked about the unprecedented steps they’ve taken to ensure that the new development enhances the quality of life for all Anguillians.

Mr. Gumbs, with the help of the 30 consultants employed by the family to design the project, has had a series of successful meetings with the Anguillian Government and planning agencies.

Rendezvous Bay bordering the Resort’s property

“We’ve worked closely with Government on a variety of environmental, labour and planning issues. As Anguillians, it’s important to our family, and to the memory of our parents Jeremiah and Lydia, that we create something that reflects well on all Anguillians. We also want to raise the bar for socially responsible and environmentally friendly development on the island,” he stated.

Mr. Gumbs says that he and his three siblings feel blessed by the unique combination of factors that clearly distinguish Rendezvous from other resort locations.

“We identify as Anguillians who are committed to the island and to our people for the long term. At every step of the development and planning process, our goal has been to act as socially responsible stewards who have been entrusted with this valuable property,” he went on.

This enormous reconstruction and development project will provide jobs and economic growth in Anguilla.

“As Anguillians, we also feel a social responsibility to create jobs, positively impact the local economy and improve the public beach. That’s why we’re creating additional amenities such as new parking spaces and public bathrooms,” he said.

Asked about the composition of the labour force which is expected to approach between 500 and 600 workers – first to construct, and later to operate the resort – Mr. Gumbs replied:

“At this point, we all understand that Anguilla lacks a sufficient work force to construct a project of this magnitude in a reasonable time-frame. We’ve devoted a lot of time and careful attention to labour considerations. I’ve personally traveled around the world to investigate various sources of labour and materials and to select the operator and contractor,” Mr. Gumbs said.

The Gumbs family benefited from the learning curves of other developers on the island. They hired the experienced General Contractor, Dick International, the company that successfully constructed the horizontal work for the Viceroy project. As with other facets of this project, the project teams’ meticulous attention to every detail will enable the Gumbs family to exceed standard practices regarding worker housing and compensation.

“Our approach to sales, marketing, and even the building phase, is that it’s all part of the Rendezvous hospitality experience. So for us, the decision to pay the migrant work force a fair wage, to have comfortable, on-site accommodations, recreational facilities and dining facilities was an easy one.”

The family has also assembled a stellar project team including Gardiner & Theobald, the international construction consulting firm that is performing project and cost management services for the project. The selection of G&T was based on the firm’s experience and successful track record in managing high-end development projects around the world.
“We made a conscious effort to hire the finest environmental scientists, engineering team, project managers, and architects because our objective is to redefine the standard for Caribbean quality, luxury and design while ensuring that the people of Anguilla are much better off when we complete the project than when we began it,” Alan Gumbs told The Anguillian.

Mr. Gumbs remarked that although the Rendezvous Bay salt pond and wetlands had been ignored in the past, the family intended to enhance the area so that it would attract and enhance tourism.

“When we’ve cleaned the pond, instituted the proposed environmental controls and connected it to an endless supply of sea water, wildlife will be able to flourish,” he explained.

Mr. Gumbs commented that the engineering team has taken painstaking measures to enhance the growth of natural wildlife in the wetland areas and to ensure that the pond is properly dredged.

Rather than simply dredging the pond, the engineering team was asked to develop a natural, environmentally friendly way to increase its capacity. They designed an underwater flushing system that will naturally supply sea water to the pond.

The engineering team, assembled at great expense, has also gone to considerable lengths to ensure that the beachfront is protected, both from an environmental and aesthetic standpoint. The engineers have designed the project to be elevated to create a buffer of privacy, to enhance public use of the beach and to better protect the buildings in the area. The residences will be set in lush landscape as if they had been there for many years.

“During construction we’ve made sure that the environment will be protected from any hazardous situations a large construction site may create. We are providing storm water filtering systems which will minimize pollution from storm run-off. We’ll spray down the site to minimize construction dust and we will have spray down locations for delivery trucks so dirt doesn’t end up on the public roadways. In addition, we will have a labor team dedicated to debris removal making sure the site is clean at all times,” Gumbs further explained.

There will be a special programme for Rendezvous’ past guests many of whom have visited the hotel for decades.

“Someone recently asked me, ‘What will you miss most about Rendezvous?’ They were quite surprised when I replied, ‘Nothing,’” he recalled.
Asked to elaborate, Mr. Gumbs said that while there were obvious emotional considerations, the family had no intention of having Rendezvous lose its character of the genuine family experience created by the staff and guests.

“Just as it has been since the Arawaks, Rendezvous remains a place where people feel a profound sense of peace, tranquility and connection to their loved ones. The hotel has always attracted people who are well read, well traveled and well mannered…My siblings and I will continue to be involved to ensure that the essence of Rendezvous remains unchanged, ” Alan Gumbs added.
If members of the community have questions, they can contact Mr. Gumbs directly at 264 – 489 – 6500.

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