Grand Bahama: Resorts of Yesteryear

Butlin's Bahamas Vacation Village (1950)

The pioneer (if premature) attempt to develop a modern resort on Grand Bahama was Butlin's Bahamas Vacation Village. Billy Butlin had made his mark in England establishing "luxury" holiday camps, beginning in Skegness in 1936. Unlike the earlier holiday camps which were little more than a bunch of tents, Butlin provides a quality article which greatly appealed to the post-war British tourist:

"Butlin provided really luxurious facilities, with extensive on-site amusements, good-quality food, high-class entertainments and modern sanitation ... Interestingly, when the first camp was opened the visitors appeared bored and Butlin concluded that holiday-makers required some degree of organization. The famous 'Redcoats' were invented — they 'would lead, advise, explain, comfort, help out, and generally make themselves the closest thing to holiday angels on earth." [John Urry. The Tourist Gaze, London: Sage, 1990, p. 36]

Sir Billy's venture on Grand Bahama, which might have evolved into some sort of decorous "Club Med" in the West End if it had survived, was begun in 1948 and cost £ 2 million (about $10 million at the time). It opened in February, 1950, with a modest schedule of expenses*, but didn't attract sufficient custom to pacify nervous creditors, who closed it down that fall. Peter Barratt says it opened again in 1955 on a more modest basis for fishermen, and was bought in 1959 by Jack Tar Hotel chain. The 500-room Grand Bahama Hotel and a new marina (1963) was built on the site, making it a completely self-contained resort. The West End resort flourished until Freeport and Lucaya became the real attractions on the island, and it closed in the 1990s. Today the property has been reborn once again as the luxurious "Old Bahama Bay" development.

* 1950 rates