Harlequin Hotels & Resorts is excited to announce that the Buccament Bay Resort Cricket Academy is set to open in April 2012.

The news follows an agreement with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), which will see Harlequin work in partnership with the Windies for a community initiative in St Vincent & The Grenadines. To reciprocate, the WICB is providing resident and special guest master class coaches for the academy.

Dave Ames, CEO of Harlequin, said of the new academy: "I'm delighted to confirm that the WICB will help Harlequin deliver the Buccament Bay Resort Cricket Academy, providing guests with year-round coaching by WICB-trained coaches and a series of master classes taught by cricketing legends. Importantly, it'll also create more opportunities for Harlequin to engage and work with the local community."

With yet another of the world's most popular sports now available at Buccament Bay Resort, it must surely be crowned the unofficial champion of 5 star activity destinations, proving that luxury needn't be a guilty indulgence. If you spend a few days enjoying a well-earned rest by sunbathing with a cocktail in hand beside the stunning pools and enjoying all that the all inclusive restaurants provide by night, you can soothe the nagging critic in your mind with these excellent sport activities:

Buccament Bay Resort Cricket Academy (of course) in partnership with the West Indies Cricket Board
Liverpool Football Club Academy Soccer School
Pat Cash Tennis Academy
Diving and water sports with Indigo Dive St Vincent
Boot Camps with Fitness 4
Volleyball on the wonderful white sand beach
Fishing (that counts) in the turquouise Caribbean Sea
Golf in the Grenadines

The best part is that many of the above are FREE for guests!

That's how Harlequin Hotels & Resorts is redefining luxury in the Caribbean.

Harlequin's mission is to be a responsible and positive presence in the Caribbean. This aspiration is evident from the many jobs and work created for the people of St Vincent by Buccament Bay Resort, typifying Harlequin's commitment to making a positive impact on the local economy and community. There is also Harlequin's environmental impact to consider, so it insists upon implementing an environmentally responsible approach to sourcing the materials and technologies that create and maintain its hotels and resorts.

But there are some things that cannot be addressed from the confines of a luxury resort, which is why Harlequin is also involved with a number of charities around the Caribbean.

In August of 2011, following the purchase of a hotel in Barbados that will become one of Harlequin's "H" boutique hotels, the company donated 47 rooms' worth of furniture and equipment to the St Philip South Foundation for Education in Barbados. This young charity supports the youth of the St Philip Parish, who may not have access to the basic resources that many take for granted. Numerous items were provided directly to the youths' homes, whilst some items were used for a public sale that raised significant funds for the charity and its work.

In St Lucia this February, Harlequin also made an initial donation of 60 rooms' worth of furniture and equipment from a hotel on the island to two local charities, New Beginnings and Ciceron,  that help homeless and abused children. The charities also work with the children's families in the hope of rehabilitating them and facilitating the child or children's return home.

The company has also been heavily involved with a number of initiatives in the region, including one that will be announced for St Vincent this week… but that's for another blog!

Although Harlequin will always strive to provide paradise escapes for its customers, the company will remember there are always others far less fortunate who also need an escape.

 The Marquis Estate Golf Course Grassing Plan

The Communications Team at Harlequin got in touch with Jon O'Donnell, President of Heritage Links, to ask him a few questions about his work with Gary Player to create the golf course for The Marquis Estate.

Jon O'Donnell has over 25 years of experience in the golf industry, including golf course construction, development services and golf course maintenance.

Heritage Links are experts in the industry: they produce and manage many of today's world-class golf courses, and have completed projects in the United States, Mexico, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, including courses that have won awards and been selected for the US Open.

Gary Player, of course, is the legendary golfer with 165 career Championships to his name and one of only five Grand Slam victors, alongside the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Since the early 80's, his company, Gary Player Design, has been a global leader in golf course design, employing a small team of seasoned and dedicated professionals with a combined 210 years in the golf course development industry. Through the years, Gary Player and Gary Player Design have executed a portfolio of over 300 projects in 35 countries on five continents.

A Part of The Marquis Estate Golf

Course Contour Plan 

Harlequin:

What would you say makes a great golf course?

Jon O'Donnell:

There are a few ways to answer that…

As a playing experience, a golf course that challenges the player's skills is always fun and exciting, but it also has to be playable and fair for all levels of golfers and golf shots. Having played on other Gary Player-designed golf courses, I know he always achieves that balance.

As an investor or resort owner, breath-taking views are always nice to have sitting adjacent to a resort. In the case of Marquis Estate, the views leading into the golf course and actually on the course while playing will really be something special.

There are many great golf courses to play, but I personally feel golf course maintenance also plays a key role in determining a great golf course.

For instance, if a golf course is over-watered or too wet due to poor drainage, or has slow greens or bunker sand that is conducive to balls plugging, it is not as fun to play and seems to always linger in the minds of the golfer after the round.

Essentially, a golf course that is well maintained, well-groomed and has green speeds that match the playability of the course will be memorable for the best reasons.

Harlequin:

So what will make the Gary Player course at The Marquis Estate distinct from other top courses?

Jon O'Donnell:

Gary Player - by far - has seen and probably played more golf anywhere in the world than any other player on the planet. This experience is utilised each day when he is presented projects like The Marquis Estate.

There is not a single golf course in the world that is the same and The Marquis Estate course will be very unique. In reviewing the design that Gary and his team have created, I can see he has worked with the naturally gifted land for The Marquis Estate course.

Probably the most unique element is the stream feature that impacts almost half of the course and eventually rolls into the Caribbean Sea, and the way that Gary and his team utilised this stream to lay the course in and amongst this feature. Gary and his team also utilised this relatively horizontal floor in the valley to create a challenging layout.

Golf courses that are ranked in Top 100 lists have architectural elements that offer design rhythm and a variety of terrain and holes that will tests a player's full arsenal of skills. The Marquis Estate's course has all of these qualities.

Harlequin:

Lastly, what work goes into developing a golf course like The Marquis Estate project, from start to finish? What kind of timescale is involved?

Jon O'Donnell:

From the planning, construction, and grow-in side of the golf course, there is a huge amount that goes into it. In these remote parts of the world, such as where Marquis sits, almost all of the materials are being imported into the site to create the course and the infrastructure to support the golf course.

Essentially, the entire infrastructure has to be built, for both the golf course and the resort. The entry road, access to the resort, water, sewer, and electricity all has to be planned, designed, and executed. The development teams will work together when building the resort, clubhouse, and other support structures in conjunction with building the golf course.

Many items will be grouped together so that they serve a number of functions. As an example, the lake will be used as an impressive visual feature, for storing irrigation water, and as a home to wild life and drainage for some areas of the resort. The irrigation system will be sized properly so that not only will it have the capacity to water the golf course, but it will also facilitate watering of the greens and landscaped areas of the resort.

A nursery will be developed at the beginning of the project that will provide resources for the turf grass for the golf course, as well as the landscaping for the resort. The entire construction activity is a process that is eventually covered up with lush turf and landscaped plant material, which allows the maintenance departments to continue to groom these areas to their highest potential.

The process of planning can take months because you have to be exactly sure that all designs, use of space, and the orientations of all items are correctly thought through prior to moving into the construction phase. Once you get to that point, hundreds of thousands of meters of material are moved, many hectares of turf are planted, almost a million linear meters of wire is utilised for the irrigation system, and thousands of meters of drain pipe are installed to assist in draining the site. Then when construction is completed, the grow-in of the golf course will start and take over until it is groomed to a level where it is ready for guests, which can take many months to complete.

Ultimately, all the time and hard work will result in a spectacular playing experience and a stunning feature for the resort.

An aerial view of the stunning Marquis Estate site (taken 2008)

The UK's leading overseas property television series, Channel 4's "A Place in the Sun," is about to screen its first new programmes for four years.

The broadcasts start on Monday 6th February, and run daily for 20 days with a further 60 additional episodes going straight into production immediately after the new series ends.

A Place in the Sun Live managing director Andy Bridge has welcomed the impetus the new programmes should bring to the market.

"It's a huge commission from Channel 4, there are three production teams on the road at the moment in the Caribbean, Florida and Spain to get the new programmes made in time," he told OPP this week.

"This is the first post-recession filming that A Place in the Sun has done and presents an opportunity to present bargain stock to viewers and hopefully get them excited in overseas property once again."

Speaking exclusively to OPP, Bridge added: "It won't transform the UK market overnight, but it is a huge boost."

Established hosts Jonnie and Jasmine are presenting their own programmes, and new presenter Laura Hamilton kicks off the series which will be shown on daytime TV for its first run. Repeat showings in the evening are expected to follow very quickly.

OPP link

Buccament Bay Resort hosts Channel 4's A Place in the Sun (photos)

British network Channel 5 will feature Buccament Bay Resort in its new travel programme Holiday: Heaven on Earth, which airs at 7pm GMT on Thursday 2^nd February 2012.

Channel 5 describe the programme as a new travel show for a new generation, taking viewers across the globe from the comfort of their own homes and showing them how to access the world's best travel experiences without breaking the bank.

Here's a link to the episode's web page with info on Bucc Bay:

http://www.channel5.com/shows/holiday-heaven-on-earth/holidays/episode-1-st-vincent-and-the-grenadines

Don't worry, we promise fame won't change us: as our guests can testify, we're already accustomed to the finer things in life!

We'll leave you with a couple of exclusive photos from the shoot:

 TV presenter Emma Wilson

The cameraman and TV presenter at Bucc Bay