“The weather is very variable here—one
day sunny, one day windy, one day cold—and
people have less time in some ways than they
used to have. You want to arrive, get to your
check-in, get to your room, get to the spa or
gym for a quick workout, get your meal, hit
the beach, see the ocean, then get back in the
taxi to go to your meeting. It needs to be more
dense for the user and it also needs to be dense
with the labour costs here on the island.”
Along with containing costs, the builders
were also concerned with being environmen-
tally conscious throughout the project. The
rubble from the original Pink Beach property
was used in the building of the hills, and
sand was dug out to use for concrete. The
main hotel was built further up the hill from
where the original cottages were situated and
therefore the oceanic reserve below was able to
be restored as much as possible. Available land
was also used to grow many of the plants now
situated throughout the property. “We didn’t
try to do a LEED certification or anything but
we were extremely conscientious about what
we were doing environmentally,” said King.
Completely involved in the design and
development process throughout, King chose
to surround himself with a team of talented
architects and developers to bring his vision
to life. But it was not an easy road as protectionist ideologies and red tape first needed
to be overcome. And while he had significant
support for the venture, he also faced criticism
from those wanting to protect local jobs in the
process.
“I recognise the need to protect the locals,
but when you are trying to be progressive like
this you want to import some of the skills for
operations, design and construction. Someone
in Canada or the United States or the UK has
done this 50 times. We need that expertise.
“Protectionism slows down progress. If you
capped out that you can only use locals for
the food and beverage or the hotel manage-
ment or the design, then the problem is you
can never upgrade with the rest of the world.
You need a little bit of that to be allowed in
because otherwise you will never develop. That
goes for all industries all over the world.
“You have to allow some import of overseas
expertise so that you upgrade and moder-
nise—but alongside that there is an enormous
amount of capability on the island. The net re-
sult is the place was built by locals…We created
an enormous number of jobs throughout this
process. I would never choose to do a develop-
ment on [other Caribbean islands] because the
infrastructure is terrible, but here you can have
a Category 4 hurricane and be back up and
running in a few days. Last year everyone was
back to work building the next day.”
Along with the main hotel, the owners were
given the right to build seven residential units
for sale or rent on the property. Thus far three
units have been built and as they start to sell,
then the other four will come soon after. Of
course, objections came and the developers
were questioned as to why they didn’t just
build a 200-room hotel instead. “Because it
would lose money and I would not do it,”
King explained. “We’ve got to get to a point
in Bermuda where people view investment in
the island not as passion but as profit. You are
supposed to make money when you invest.
Everyone seems to think that they should do it
because you love the island. I do think the is-
land is great but you do have to make money.”
“The tourists are changing…What are
people coming here for?” asked King. “We
built this for the views, food and business—
come for your meeting and bring your family.
Come and have a cocktail, listen to some
good music, enjoy the beach regardless of the
weather—that is what we were trying to create
at The Loren.”
Top: The roof of the Pink Beach Club restaurant was created to be an ideal function
space. Below, left: The Pink Beach Club
restaurant has open sides and a casual
feel. Below, right: Looking up at the hotel
from the pool.
