Sandals Resorts International recently detailed plans to pour nearly $1 billion into doubling the footprint of its family-focused Beaches brand over the next five years, and that's good news for travel advisors who say demand is very high for Beaches.
Today there are just three Beaches resorts, with the Turks & Caicos property slated to significantly expand next March with the Treasure Beach Village. Sandals expects to break ground on the long-anticipated Beaches Barbados later this year, concurrent with plans to begin transforming the Sandals Emerald Bay in the Bahamas into the Beaches Exuma. Development of the Beaches Runaway Bay in Jamaica is also in the pipeline.
Meanwhile, there are 18 Sandals resorts. And when Sandals loyalists have children, many make the transition to Beaches, said Reliant Destinations CEO Addison Jaynes, whose company specializes in Sandals and Beaches. It underscores the need for Beaches to expand and to maintain comparable standards with its sister brand.
"As guests experience the new state-of-the-art innovations at Sandals 2.0 properties and then find themselves over at Beaches in future years, then the most important element here is raising the bar, as those Sandals guests [will expect] a similar quality of experience," he said.
Sandals plans to raise the bar at Treasure Beach Village, especially when it comes to accommodations. It will feature expansive two- to four-bedroom units, including three-story, beachfront Treasure Beach CrystalSky Reserve Villas that will accommodate up to 10 guests.
Karen and Jason Cavadas
Jason and Karen Cavadas, co-founders of Ohio-based Twinsburg Travel, said multibedroom accommodations are in especially high demand. In order to snag these rooms, the pair typically have to book their Beaches clients one to two years in advance.
"We do a lot of the multigenerational trips to Beaches Turks & Caicos and have a lot of people that like to book the high-end villas," said Jason Cavadas, adding that "there's a shortage" of four-bedroom villas at the Beaches Turks & Caicos in particular.
Katie Lynn Reynolds
Katie Lynn Reynolds, an Ohio-based travel advisor with Travelmation, also has seen high demand for Beaches villas.
"At least once a week I get a request for a villa, because families want to stay together," Reynolds said. "Many other brands and resorts don't have rooms that can even sleep a family of five. Beaches is meeting that demand."
Treasure Beach Village will join the resort's Caribbean, Seaside, Key West, Italian and French villages and grow the property's total room count to 858. It will also grow the resort's culinary offerings. Treasure Beach Village will have seven restaurants, including the first Beaches-based outpost of Butch's Island Chophouse, a signature dining concept at several Sandals resorts, and the Pinta Food Hall, a new concept serving a diverse menu including tacos, ceviche, dumplings and pizza.
Karen Cavadas would like to see more of these upscale food and beverage options across the Beaches portfolio.
"They're on the right path, and if they up the culinary, it would make Beaches perfect," she said.
The Treasure Beach Walkout Concierge Suite will be a room category at the Treasure Beach Village. Photo Credit: Beaches Resorts
Benefits to Beaches' slow expansion
Beaches' investment represents a major milestone for a brand that has maintained a devoted following despite a limited footprint. The Beaches Negril in Jamaica and Beaches Turks & Caicos both opened in 1997, and the Beaches Ocho Rios originally debuted in Jamaica as the Beaches Boscobel Resort & Golf Club in 2002.
The new resorts are good news for Harmony Skillman, a Long Island-based travel advisor with Paradise Travel. She said her agency gets a lot of Beaches guests who have "been there, done that."
"They want new or off-the-beaten-path destinations," Skillman said, adding that families are increasingly seeking "smaller, exotic islands, but they want waterparks and the restaurants, too." It's a combination Beaches is positioned to deliver as it grows.
Beaches' pace of expansion has been slow, but Karen Cavadas views the brand's measured approach as a competitive advantage.
"They're finding the best beaches, the best locations, and they're not building like conglomerates," she said. "And that is a leg up. They're going to be focused, and they're going to stay true to their name."