The Tribune

By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

A well-known Abaco resort will enjoy increased accommodations, services and staff following the closing of its purchase by VIP Marinas late last year.

The Bluff House Beach Resort will become the 15th marina in the buyer’s portfolio following its end-November 2025 sale by BHH Ltd, representing “a group of investors who owned the property for 14 years prior. It is now co-owned by Austin and Jenny Cameron, together with Dan and Felecia Ongley, who have pledged not to “lose the charm and the authenticity of what we fell in love with here” as they plan the resort’s new and improved future.

And, to help address Abaco’s housing shortage, Mr Cameron said another structure dedicated to staff housing may be built if needed. It will accompany the most recently-built staff quarters, which were completed around May last year under the resort’s prior ownership. Mr Cameron said a ferry and a resort boat will be used to transport persons to and from mainland Abaco. 

Currently employing 24 persons, and with Molly McIntosh staying as general manager, Ms Ongley, the resort's chief operating officer, said staffing levels at Bluff House will eventually grow as the existing workforce is strengthened through training and development.

“We really want to be good stewards of what's happening here on the island,” she said. “Our hope is to be one of the best employers on the island so people love to come here and work, and as we grow, grow that where people have opportunities not only to come to work but have career opportunities here.

“And then, as our expansion happens and our team development happens, we want to establish a culture here at Bluff House where we are also enhancing the skill sets and the capabilities of people on the island so they really grow. So that's our goal.

“The team will grow as the facility grows. But the biggest thing is to make sure that when we do that, we are setting people up for huge success, and we want to be a very good employer for people and they love working here. So the team will grow, and the property will grow, and all of those things will hopefully happen in conjunction.”

To address concerns about the lack of skilled workers on Abaco, Mr Cameron said these can be taught and all that is needed is “people that are willing to work and are excited about it”.

“We have a thing we talk about in our company all the time,” he added. “It's called servant leadership. You know, our job is to serve our team, and then our team can serve our customers...

“If we've got people that are willing to work and are excited about it, we can bring in bartender trainers, we can bring in chef trainers. We can bring in skilled labourers, handymen, housekeeping, where we bring people in and teach the skills. In the US you're always within five minutes of some training facility or some training spot.

“So our thought, whether we send people to different training opportunities or we bring in trainers to then train the team, we would much rather find somebody that's grown up on Green Turtle Cay that's done it,” Mr Cameron continued.

“So our job is to come in and create procedures and processes. So, you know, the three pieces of success is you have got to have a product, you got to have people, you got to have process...

“We've got a fantastic product. Green Turtle Beach is gorgeous. Views are great. We have fantastic people. So some of the expertise we hope to bring is the processes - streamlining processes, with software, training and support. And that's really our job; support the team. Bring in maybe some updated new software and training. The skills can easily be trained, and some of those skills we're learning together with the team.”

The Bluff House will also see the addition of more hotel rooms, swimming pools, another restaurant and other features, according to Mr Cameron. One of the most important renovations includes placing a house back on the Bluff, which is where the resort’s name came from, he said.

“There's a beach restaurant, and there's the boathouse restaurant,” he said. “There's the marina. So you have the marina, two restaurants, a pickle ball court, nine villas we manage and eight hotel rooms. The initial property is a 12-acre parcel that goes sea to sea. It goes from White Sound to the sea of Abaco.

“We're going to be building and selling two, three and four-bedroom villas. We're going to be expanding the resort... We're going to be building more hotel rooms. We're going to be adding additional swimming pools, additional amenities, and putting a restaurant back on top of the hill.

“We're putting the house back on top of the Bluff. We're bringing the Bluff House back to its original name, because that's what was there that really made the place so special. There was an original house there.”

Ms Ongley added: “In all of our investments we want to not lose the charm and the authenticity of what we fell in love with here. So the grand scheme of things is we want to invest in the future, but our goal is to never lose the charm and the authenticity of the Bluff House.”

Having created meaningful relationships with the community on Green Turtle Cay, Mr and Mrs Cameron said they also "fell in love with the team” at the Bluff House. They said their investment in the resort is born from their love for The Bahamas. 

“This is a lifestyle dream for us,” Mr Cameron said. “It's a dream come true. We're not doing it only for investment. We're doing it for lifestyle. We're really passionate about the community. We love The Bahamas, but specifically we love Green Turtle. We fully envision ourselves, all four of the partners, being integrated, really being part of this community.

“We have gotten to know so many people already, but there are so many more people, and we're excited to get to know everyone [and] be a part of the community. Molly has been a huge resource because, of course, she knows everybody but we have just fallen in love with the community. We envision our kids growing up there, spending their summers there, and we're excited to bring that tradition to be part of our families...

“It's like a gem of a property that we see so much potential. It just needs a little capital and a little momentum to get it moving. So we're excited. It fits well into our portfolio. Our core competency has been more in the marina space, but we're really excited about learning the world of the resort and villa rental aspect as well.”