The Tribune

• Creating four-strong Little Island Hotels brand
• Bahamian entrepreneur eyes Farm in fall ‘24
• With The Current property to follow in 2026

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian resort entrepreneur is aiming to double his total workforce by 60 jobs through the launch of two new boutique properties by year-end 2026.

Ben Simmons, proprietor of the Ocean View and The Other Side properties on Harbour Island and mainland Eleuthera, respectively, told Tribune Business he aims to open his third hotel, The Farm, by November 2024 if “all goes to plan” as construction work moves to completion.

Once this project is finished, the construction workforce will “roll” into The Current, his fourth niche property that will be developed on a recently-acquired 5.5 acre site with 1,000 feet of beachfront at the location that bears the same name.

Mr Simmons told this newspaper that the two new resorts, which will double his hotel portfolio, will enable him to place all four properties into the newly-created Little Island Hotels brand that he is creating. And, with his existing properties employing workforces up to 30-strong, he added that The Farm and The Current will likely take total payroll to 120 when fully open by each creating a similar number of jobs.

“We’re becoming Little Island Hotels,” the Bahamian resort proprietor explained, adding that the “last structure” at The Farm will likely be completed within the next three weeks. Located on mainland North Eleuthera, near The Other Side, he said the third property will be centred around an existing farm and cater to the agri-tourism niche.

Arguing that such a market, with its emphasis on sustainable practices and healthy eating and living, is “not really catered to in The Bahamas”, Mr Simmons said The Farm will also likely be targeted at “half” the price point charged to guests at the Ocean View, his Harbour Island-based property. However, visitors at The Farm will still be able to enjoy Briland hospitality due to the close proximity.

“That will be another 12-room property completely off the grid,” Mr Simmons told Tribune Business of The Farm. “The focus will be agri-tourism. The Farm will be centred a large vegetable garden. We’re going to be doing an orchard of Bahamian fruits and agri-voltaics, which just means agriculture under solar panels. I forget the exact amount, but I think it’s a 120 kilowatt (KW) system.”

He added that the use of solar energy will enable The Farm to practice “all levels of farming” and offer these to its guests, including hydroponic and aquaponic techniques. And the installation of solar panels will help to better protect the fruits and vegetables from the elements, thus extending the growing cycle.

“Because there are hundreds of panels it becomes protected from heavy rains and the heat and abuse of the sun, so it increases your growing period,” Mr Simmons said. Asked how long this will extend the fruit growing cycle, he replied: “It’s going to be a great experiment, so I will tell you in a year.

“We’re hoping to launch that [The Farm] in November, so we’ll see how that all pans out. We’ll get it done in time.” Mr Simmons pointed out that The Farm, which already has 143 raised garden beds, has already “been functioning for five years” and supplies much of the salad products, as well as vegetables such as egg plants, beets and carrots, which are all grown organically to his two existing hotels.

An on-site restaurant is also set to be developed, and the Bahamian entrepreneur says he has drawn much of the inspiration for The Farm from BabylonsToren, a South African farm that features a garden, wine shop, farm store and restaurants as part of its agri-tourism offering.

“The inspiration is The Bahamas needs to get back to and embrace that movement,” Mr Simmons told Tribune Business. “That’s definitely a niche market not really catered to in The Bahamas.” Besides wedding groups seeking a farm and garden setting, he added that The Farm will also be targeted at yoga retreats, business retreats and leisure travellers “looking for a quaint retreat”.

“It’s going to be at a lower price point than the other beach side niche facilities,” he explained. “It adds a way to enjoy our product at a lower price point. We started construction and got approval, and we’re hoping to launch this year. We’ve been going for a year-and-a-half, two years.

“The Harbour Island market has become so, so expensive that I think our positioning to have it at a lower price point allows people to dip in and experience Harbour Island but retreat back [to The Farm]..... Ocean View starts in the $700, $800, $900 mark for POS (point of sale); it’s $1,000 a night when you factor in VAT, so we will probably bring it in at half that.

“Each property will have a variety of rooms at different price points, but we want to offer something to lighten the load and it makes sense for our overall clients as well. This feeds into our long-term strategy as Little Island Hotels, which is to create a network of small properties that are in close proximity to one another and build on the success of existing properties.”

Mr Simmons said the variety of properties under the Little Island Hotels brand will also enable him to “cross-sell” to visitors, and offer a three-night stay at The Farm mixed with four nights at Ocean View or vice versa. The properties will each offer something different, with The Farm, for example, located inland while The Other Side is on the waterfront.

“That leads into what we want to do with The Current,” he told Tribune Business of the fourth property. “We’ve acquired a 5.5 acre lot in The Current with 1,000 feet of beach that’s 15-20 minutes away from the existing property at The Other Side. Once we finish the facility here at The Farm, we’ll roll the construction team over to The Current.

“Again, it will be a similar model with a slightly different experience. The Current cuts there, the sandbanks are there for kite boarding, and it’s a very beautiful and pristine beach with the old settlement there in need of regeneration. There’s one house on it, which we will renovate and turn into a villa of sorts, and the rest is a build-out. That’s our model; 12 units.

“It’s really next door to what was the Current Club in the day, which was a hot spot for people coming over to Nassau. We’re still in the design phase, getting plans drawn up, but hopefully we will hit the ground running by the end of the year and have another two-year build-out process and open in fall 2026.”

Confirming that between 25-30 persons are employed at his existing resorts, Mr Simmons said “the hope” is the two new resorts will employ a similar-sized workforce. “That’s the hope; that we’ll keep on generating these jobs and, what’s really important for us is that, for existing team members it creates opportunities for them to grow in the company,” he added.

“We can have a concierge become a manager at one of the new hotels. It’s creating those promotion opportunities along the way. It’s easier said than done. The Farm, I’m very excited about it. I’m passionate about it. As soon as I got out of school I was at The Farm. It was my first creative opportunity and I loved it.”