Barbados TravelAdvisor

[SueW]

From http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/paradise-found-then-lost-for-big-earners-1773252.html



TULLOW Oil chief Aidan Heavey is one of several multi-millionaires who have been caught up in a delayed luxury villa development scheme on the Caribbean island of Barbados.

Along with Eddie Jordan, Simon Cowell and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Heavey has bought a villa at Clearwater Bay, on the west coast of the balmy island.

Cowell and Lloyd-Webber each bought two of the exclusive homes off-plan, while the two Irishmen each bought just one. Heavey declined to reveal any further information about his purchase, or how much he paid upfront.

However, prices for the villas are understood to be as high as €34m for the biggest -- a palatial 18,000 sq ft property, with interior design features such as wood from coconut trees on the island shaped by local craftsmen, a gym, cinema, bar and swimming pool.

British hotel entrepreneurs Michael Pemberton and Robin Paterson's firm Cinnamon 88 and joint venture partners the Four Seasons hotel group are behind the delayed development, which is pitched as a rival to the Sandy Lane Resort that is something of a hideaway for Irish owners Dermot Desmond and John Magnier.

According to reports doing the rounds, they arranged a $250m banking facility with HBOS to help finance the development.

The total cost of the Barbados project is said to be €330m, but when combined with a second luxury development they planned for the neighbouring island of Grenada, the projected costs spiral to €1bn.

If Heavey and his celebrity neighbours do eventually take up residence in the tropical paradise, they'll be able to avail themselves of the private plane to ferry guests between the two islands that is apparently included in that billion-euro budget.

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