A sod turning ceremony held on Thursday May 16th, 2024 signaled the commencement of a multi-million-dollar project set to transform Rodney Bay and add significant value to Saint Lucia’s tourism product.
A’ila Resorts and the TheLifeCo Holistic Wellness Hotel will be situated on the picturesque Mount Pimard, introducing a groundbreaking approach to Saint Lucia resort development.
Comprising resort rooms, private villas, and residences, A’ILA will be uniquely divided into several zones, the first of which, TheLifeCo, is scheduled to be completed in 2025.
Other components of this project will include A’ila Palm, a family friendly resort, A’ila Cove, an exclusively adults only resort, A’ila Sunset residences, the Seven Wonders Luxury Villas set to be completed in 2027, and the Blue Zone Avenue which will consist of a commercial area, retail spaces and long-term residences.
The project represents an initial investment of approximately $870 million USD.
An investment of this scale offers tremendous potential for Saint Lucia’s tourism industry. A’ila resorts will contribute to increasing the island’s room stock with 520 luxury rooms across diverse accommodation concepts. Moreover, The LifeCo Holistic Wellness Hotel itself will represent a first of its kind investment for the region.
The primary goal of this component is to create the Caribbean’s first world-class, contemporary tourism and wellness resort, redefining hospitality by seamlessly blending modern luxury with the inherent beauty of nature.
This creates a world of possibility for the resilient growth and expansion of Saint Lucia’s tourism industry, which continues to fuel the island’s economy.
As an agency, Invest Saint Lucia is committed to the advancement of not just the nation’s economy, but the transformative development of its people and communities. This bold project is one which presents a myriad of opportunity for sustainable investments in Saint Lucia, and most importantly Saint Lucians.
A’ila resorts has placed emphasis on developing skilled local labor, as well as a commitment to supporting the local community and fostering valuable linkages.
Approximately 300 people are expected to be employed by local contractors during the construction phases. Moreover, upon completion, A’ila Resorts will employ 800 staff for high-end tourism resort operations, stimulating significant job creation and opportunities for economic and social advancement. These employees will also benefit from training and development opportunities to increase and improve their experience within the tourism sector, particularly luxury tourism.
Beyond this, the developer has also committed to funding the construction of a public beach park at Reduit, which is intended to provide more comfortable facilities for vendors and public users of the beach.
It will feature public washrooms, parking, barbecue facilities, and upgraded vending booths for local entrepreneurs who currently make a living at Reduit Beach. This park, which will be managed through the collaborative efforts of the Gros Islet Town Council and the National Conservation Authority will be an important aspect of A’ila Resort’s community engagement efforts.
As an agency, Invest Saint Lucia strives to create an enabling environment to attract sustainable investments. A’ila Resorts was introduced to the agency as a referral from one of our trusted partners in international hospitality.
Atlas Group, the parent company, has a global reach and longstanding international presence, making them a choice investor for the development of one of Saint Lucia’s most vibrant tourist hubs. They have established themselves as a preeminent engineering, construction, and project management company with expertise in executing numerous large projects in North Africa, Europe, and the United States.
From the onset, Invest Saint Lucia recognized the potential of this visionary project and committed firm support. Locally, the team has assisted with every phase of this development to date, including initial site selection activities and site familiarisation tours. We have also offered our expertise in the areas of planning, obtaining incentives and approvals, and navigating the local investment landscape.
These services provide critical support to investors which ultimately lead to them placing their trust in Saint Lucia as a home to nurture and sustain their investments.
With robust legislation, equitable and attractive incentives and business friendly processes, Saint Lucia continues to be a location of choice for investors from around the globe.
SOURCE: Invest Saint Lucia
I’m having a little problem contacting these resort companies via email in regards to architectural services. Can i have an email address please?
Thanks
Alexis Felix
Architect
Government is blasting away with building and wasco starving the nation of water while putting up restrictions while the risk for infection will bottle neck at our frail health care institutions.
Yesterday, I saw new drone footage from this site on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAxL7RdzmXs), and the guys are already in the construction phase.
I am unsure whether this was just site prep or pre-work, but seeing earthmovers and men/women on the site was good. I am always happy when brothers and sisters get work.
Now, the minister of tourism made statements about natural resources (water, especially) and historical artifacts. I am monitoring the development. This company must employ practices that capture rainwater and reuse it. They should also be thinking of tapping into aquifers or using sea water to augment some of their water needs. They should also be thinking of tapping into solar energy and putting that energy back into the grid.
I trust they are smart people and have consulted with experts. I am waiting to see what unfolds.
I don’t know if I should jump for joy or worry with anxiety at the news of another big hotel development in Saint Lucia because next thing we will hear is we Saint Lucians can’t bathe on our beach. If this means we lose every square inch of bathing space to big money, then no thank you. The government must make it cast iron clear that citizens should have access to our patrimony and the hat means free and unhindered access to our beach at any time of day. If that can be guaranteed, then carry on sod turning.. .
If these people really do give a phock about St Lucia they will leave as many trees as possible, do very invasive destructions on our fragile reef systems with only a few white sea eggs left…. The Blue zone will never be awarded to this island there is so much diabetes and high blood pressures, alcoholism on this island…. I plus we use so much pesticides and insecticides not as bad as FF Martinique highest prostrate cancer in caricom islands..
I hope you are also very inclusive of the locals on the gros islet side you were gifted and granted!
An how do you plan on obtaining water?
Govt….If you want Lucia to be number 1 destination in the world than represent by starting desalination projects…Saudi Arabia has the most in the world with all yosaudi trips UWP and SLP where’s the desalinization equipment? ….
…..You waiting till we all die of dehydration!…….?Today, First rain in several months and the world is just getting hotter seabeds are being depleted from garbage and interferences into there natural beds like what cabot DID….absolutely desecrated reefs Cas En Bas and covered them with a golf hole! SMPH
You better make plans to import water from Guyana or some where else in South America. It is well known to all that this and coming years, will exceed hottest years the world has ever known; desalination plants is one thing (for the swimming pools) your natural drinking water is another thing, for infants, Hospitals and for Surgery. I pray that the Lord God shows the way.
Why is the government placing so much emphasis on tourism as the mainstay of the island’s economy? This social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes has been going on for years in St Lucia. What has our beautiful island gained from it? Apart from the peanut wages they pay workers at these hotels I would argue nothing. Every government that comes to power seem to think that bringing in tourists into our island is the answer to our economic woes.
Frances Mitchell, a senator back in the day once declared that she detested tourism for transparently obvious reasons which included the manner in which the industry was being run and is still being run. The owners of these big hotels are mainly foreign. They do not give a rat’s nest about St Lucia and it’s people. Most of them find ways to evade taxation which is needed to keep the country afloat. Mitchell was spot on with her loathing of an industry which cares little about the country and one which exploits our people and resources. I am yet to meet with a captain of the tourism industry who has good things to say about St Lucia. These Europeans and North Americans are always bad-mouthing our people and have very little respect for them but yet still they operate business here. Blooming hypocrites!
I remember visiting St Lucia back in the 80s when a certain Englishman who owned hotels in the north decided to put fences around the hotels that he owned much to the annoyance of the locals who rightly stormed the beach to rip out the fences which prevented people from going to the beach for fun and relaxation- something that our folks have been doing from time immemorial and long before these ruthless owners and their hotels existed. St Lucia has to diversify it’s economy to bring in the much needed bacon which our country and every country needs in order to keep it functioning and going. The last time I spoke to a farmer he told me that very little is being done to promote farming and to accord it it’s rightful tribute. He went on to state that very few governments care about agriculture and food security.
How about developing the financial and banking industry? There is tremendous potential there. St Lucia can become the UAE or Hong Kong of the Caribbean if only our indolent and inept politicians only knew how. These apathetic elected officials don’t seem to have a clue about running a country. When you look at a financial oasis like the UAE they don’t depend solely on tourism to bring in income. Apart from the PetroDollars they have invested in banking, real estate and to a certain extent Agriculture. The public servants who run this emirate in the Western part of Asia have the foresight and extraordinary prescience needed to keep it’s people happy and satisfied -unlike our lot in St Lucia, who are devoid of ideas.
This hotel that is being built will do precious little for financial and economic stability in the country. The money that it will be making from rental income will come from overseas and it will remain right there. The vast majority of its workers will be from countries like the UK, Germany and US. Our local folks will only be offered the mundane and menial jobs which offers a pittance. The bosses will shout out abuse at our people with impunity with the support of the bootless and useless tourism department. They will go all out to ensure that these truculent and pugnacious characters get away with shouting and abusing our people. All manner of excuses will be offered about their obstreperous and unpleasant behaviour. I have seen and witnessed it all over the black world where tourism has infested their shores. These rambunctious uproarious and unrestrained White geezers don’t care about the way they treat our workers and with unrelenting support from the tourism department they will almost certainly get away with it. It happens all the time.
St Lucia’s tourism department is not fit for purpose. They hire mainly Non- Nationals to represent and carry out duties that St Lucians should be doing. They do this deliberately and on purpose. Take a look at the St Lucia tourist board in London where most people who work there have no connection with or to St Lucia. Quite a few of my friends here in Europe have sought information from me in a quest to visit St Lucia, and frankly I have asked them to search on the internet instead of referring to this despairing bunch of bureaucrats in either London or Frankfurt. I have always believed that the natives of a country are the best people to promote that country overseas. They will have extensive knowledge of their own country and that goes without saying. To say that these officials are unavailing and unproductive would be putting it mildly. They seem to operate with the same bellicose mindset like their bigoted and intolerant hotel owners in St Lucia. What should one expect when you have these people in the echelons of power?
The hotels on the island tends to buy most of their produce from abroad while local produce like carrots, cabbages, yams, and a plethora of other local produce are neglected intentionally and on purpose in search foreign inferior products. The governments of the day does not put anything in place to prevent this from happening. Our farmers work hard to ensure that our people eat. Hats off to them! They also have families to feed and to take care of and the money that these big hotels are spending to buy local produce internationally should be spent here on the island. Our farmers need the funds as much as the farmers overseas do. Laws should be put in place to prevent this from happening. It should be a prerequisite condition to anyone wanting to build a hotel in this country. For too long our administrations have been allowing these multi-nationals to get away with things. This needs to be stopped and measures should be put in place to ensure that our people benefit from this disputable industry called tourism.
An old friend of mine in London once told me that out of every dollar that tourism brings only 5 cents is spent in St Lucia – He went on to state that the vast remainder stays in the countries where the tourist and hotel owners come from. This coming from a man who travelled the world and was very sapient, perspicacious and enlightened. He knew the ins and outs of this crabby and morose industry. St Lucia need to rise above this – We can do better than that and we should be doing better than that. Do not allow perverse, fault-finding, bombastic and Good For Nothing people who are nobodies in their lands to become self-style “celebs” in our land. They have done this for far too long and it is now time for us to wake up and smell the cacao tea. These dunderheads have no right to come and tell us what to do in our island. They treat us like dirt in their own lands and we should not allow them lording over us like we are nothing .
If we allow these people to keep buying our lands to build hotels and resorts pretty soon we will be denied access to the beaches and the sea. They will have no compunction in stopping us with the help of the dozy and pathetic department of tourism. Let’s put a stop to this. I remember watching a video about ‘a not so old man’ talking about how he is preserving his property somewhere in the north of the island. In the interview he gave he went on to say that he is preserving his land for his family and future generations to come. He said that someone offered him many millions for the land to build a hotel and he refuses to sell his property. What a wise man! This gentleman has my support and in my opinion he is a genuine bona fide patriot. He is a man of probity, incorruptibility and uprightness. I admire his conviction, principles and moral virtue. His spirit is indomitable. Hats off to him. If only our ineffectual, indolent and morally bankrupt politicians and elected officials were like him. St Lucia need more people like him.
Viva St Lucia the Land Of My Beautiful Mother!
Malcolm L’Overture
Haitian- Lucian
Berlin, Germany
We don’t need more hotels and commercial centers. They get our water first and Lucians suffer through water restrictions. Also, the vendors will have to pay rent for the booths, which they do not pay now. Marie has been cooking food on the beach for 46 years!! Now she will have to pay rent?!?! How is this helping vendors? All those beautiful trees will be lost and we’ll have more soil erosion. Greedy, money hungry politicians think they are helping the people? They are only helping themselves. Very sad state of affairs.
Do you all development but don’t think of using our local Wasco water for your spoiled guests! WASCO eh even have enough water for us locals so far less for more and more and more and more tourists. At some point government needs to stop all those touristic developments….and bring in farming investors, food production investors, sports and recreation investors, education institutions like a renowned university !!
Go on and tell them Malcolm. These politicians we have in St Lucia need educating. All they do is give fancy speeches which amounts to nothing. The people don’t want fancy speeches with nothing to show for it. They need jobs, housing and food to put on the tables for their families. Juke Bois used to say ” Me Car car Tourism lar” The tourist who come to our shores are always critical mean and stingy especially the English ones. They and the hotel owners don’t give a hoot about St Lucia. We need to stop depending on tourism as a way out.
The government need to find other ways to help build and strengthen the economy. They need money that will stay in the country and not be siphoned out. The Hotel owners care about one thing only and that is their vested interests. They pay the workers crap money which can’t hardly help pay rent. How about all the money the Taiwanese, Germans and other countries give to St Lucia? What are the greedy and unscrupulous politicians doing with it? I heard where one of them was going to offer another one one million dollars to do his bidding. Is this where the aid money is going?
You could not have written it any better Malcolm. Well said. I remember Frances Mitchel who was from Dennery. She was a firebrand and no nonsense politician. Kudos to her if she is still around. Your brilliantly written essay has brought in some home truths. I hope these hard head Politicos are reading and observing. Big Up To You St Lucian- Haitian brother in Europe.
Malcolm, my man you’ve brought back a lot of memories; one was ‘Sister Frances’ as she was fervently known as, a bit of a fire-brand after leaving London UK, and joining (naturally) the ‘Labour Party’ of the time with its leader Bro George, an old school friend. Its a long time but I remember Frances’ daughter beautiful Sandra as a child who was frequently at our and our friends homes after School. Bro George is long gone and so has most of the team of the time. The good LORD has reserved me for a time such as this for many untold purposes – ‘call on the Lord daily, the time is short, be filled with the HOLY SPIRIT even if its the last thing you do, do not be left behind’ pray now.
Right on Malcom@Ori ginal.
The Fox – I too was fascinated with Frances Mitchell. I remember her in the 1979 election which was just after independence. I have not heard about her for a long time now. Where is she these days? Is she still alive? Please tell us as I would like to know. The old man that Malcolm is referring to lives in my neck of the Woods. He leaves off the beaten track in the vicinity of Cas En bas Gros Islet.
He is so right in not wanting to sell his property to these oily foreigners who come here and abuse our hospitality after we have extended a helpful hand to them. You should see the way in which our workers are being treated in the hotel industry especially in the North. I can reveal endless examples but time will not permit me to do so.
The tourism industry does not benefit the Caribbean at all. A lot of these tourists go to places like the Dominican Republic and Cuba and carry out abuse of our impressionable young ladies. These paedophiles will pursue these underage kids at any cost. Tourism had made our islands poorer and it will continue to make it ever poorer in time to come if we are not careful. These fat belly bald-headed white creeps in their 60s and 70s come over to carry out their filthy practices in the name of bringing in income via tourism. The hotel owners are very abusive to the workers and don’t like our beautiful island. They are ready to milk our resources and don’t think twice about doing that. They don’t like St Lucia and they will always let you know that thru their corrosive talk. It’s like eating chickens eggs yet hating the chicken that lays the eggs. Can you make any sense out of this ambivalence? St Lucia needs to rethink its tourism industry and strategy.
There is an unfinished hotel which was being built in Praslin. What has become of this? I hope this new hotel does not end up being abandoned. This will be just another waste of resources. Wake up my people. We are living in 2024 and not 1824.
Sorry guys, I saw through the whole thing long before it begun to smell bad. The Caribbean Islands on a whole were electing leaders, then begun to fight among themselves, mainly for the ‘filthy lucre’ then retire fat and jolly. I ‘ve been in and out over the years, loving the Castries Market At Jeremy Street but hating the Side Walk Tents at the Boulevard, spoiling the City of Castries. I have many untold stories about the ‘ROCK’ but now I rather concentrate on the ultimate ROCK, praise His holy name, and so should you. Please do not light the flames of hate: The Lord only can fix it.
Hollis Urban Lester Liverpool, better known as Chalkdust or Chalkie, in his song Seawater and sand summed it up well when he sang ‘You can’t depend on tourism John Compton to carry St Lucians into heaven’ . This verse is still relevant today even after Sir John’s passing. Our leaders have placed all their eggs in one basket. They have placed a heavy emphasis on tourism and ignored the other industries out there like banking, agriculture and the service industry. The tourists and hoteliers behave like they are doing us a favour. We need to stop allowing people to burp or belch all over us(Otay See)
A lot of these hotels set up shop and exploit our workers by paying them very low wages. They then go on abusing our people without impunity. They pay little or no tax and every now and then they change the hotels names claiming that they need to renovate just to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. A lot of that is happening in the North in the Rodney Bay area. Despite all the evidence of this going on our government is doing very little to stop these bully boys in their tracks. St Lucia is too heavily invested in tourism. We need to diversify our economy. The ministers are clueless and don’t seem to care. They put the interests of the hoteliers before that of the country and that cannot be right. It is about time St Lucia revisits it close relationship with the unstable tourism industry. What is happening to our banana industry? How about fishing and aquaculture? We need to acquaint ourselves with the other industries if we are going to move forward in this wobbly world. That is all I am saying.