Business View Caribbean
3
there occasionally to collect my dividend. But, just as
we were coming up to open, there were all sorts of
glitches going on and I suddenly felt that someone’s
got to get hold of this and make sure we get open. And
then I got swept into it, emotionally, when we started
having guests there.”
After the hotel had been open for a few years, The-
sen ended up buying his partner out. “And not long
after opening in December 2006, my wife and daugh-
ter moved out to Antigua because I was spending so
much time there,” he says. “So, we lived there for two
years and I kind of became a fully-fledged hotelier.
There were some pretty tough periods, but now it’s all
reward. It’s going very well and I have a great team
there, and I’m grateful to the staff for making it a huge
success.”
Calling Hermitage Bay a success is hardly overstating
the case. The resort is a five-time winner of TripAdvi-
sor’s Certificate of Excellence Award, which puts it in
the travel site’s Hall of Fame. In 2014, Hermitage Bay
was listed as one of the Top 10 Caribbean Hotels by
Condé Nast Traveler, and in 2015, it made the Condé
Nast Gold List of the 100 Top Hotels in the World. “And
that’s a pretty impressive accolade for a small hotel in
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
Hermitage Bay
WHAT:
A 5-star, all-inclusive resort
WHERE:
St. Johns, Antigua
WEBSITE
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