Business View Caribbean | May 2016

90 May 2016 - Business View Caribbean Business View Caribbean - May 2016 91 Hermitage Bay, Antigua A natural paradise Andy Thesen, the founder and owner of Hermitage Bay, the award-winning, all-inclusive, 5-star resort on Antigua’s western shore, never intended to be in the hotel business, at all. “I was planning to be just an in- vestor,” he says, “rather than getting so involved. But I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. It’s been an extremely rewarding journey – and one that I’m still on.” Thesen, the accidental hotelier, was in the venture capital business in England in 2003, and his initial in- terest in Hermitage Bay was simply to explore the pos- sibility of investing $250,000 to buy a two-bedroom villa on the beach. “That’s why I went to Antigua,” he explains, “to see the beach. There wasn’t anything there; it was a completely virgin beach - the villa was only planned. At the time I went to consider buying, the guy who became my partner, and his son, were trying to raise equity to build the hotel by selling off planned villas.” At some point, though, Thesen decided to join the venture - but only as an investor. Or so he thought. “I thought I’d do the investing bit, and the business plan bit,” he recalls. “Get the money raised and swan out 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 : www.hermitagebay.com