Albany Exclusive Resort Bahamas: A Luxurious Haven for the Affluent and Famous
It’s clear from the sign on the wall of the patisserie Bisou Bisous at Albany Bahamas, the luxury resort community, that the guests and residents there are often different than most: it warns to not take photos of anyone not at your table. That no photos/no autographs rule applies to other places on the 600 acre property as well whether it relates to Tiger Woods, one of the shareholders and members, on the golf course or Alicia Keys and Mick Jagger, two recent occupants of the new recording studio apart from Justin Timberlake, another shareholder.
Since it opened in 2010 on the southwest part of the Bahamas’ main island of New Providence, Albany has been an exclusive, under the radar hideaway in a beachy, turquoise water setting composed of multimillion dollar homes and pro level sports facilities. More recently, the property has added other facilities and become self-contained with shops, a market, a hair salon, even the Windsor School for middle and upper school students, drawing various shareholders to take up full time residence in what was normally a second or third home. Adding a state-of-the-art financial center with property, not island, run high level electricity and WiFi allowed them to run their businesses from here as well.
To stay here, though, guests don’t have to be owners; they can be renters. And they have a number of choices. Lining the marina are Marina Residences in nine buildings, each different, striking and mostly geometric in shape with one modeled after the architecture in New Orleans’ French Quarter, all designed by major international architects. The newest building, the curved Coral designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, houses 24 residences on eight floors ranging from 4,925 to over 22,000 square feet. Separate villas located near or fronting the beach range from three to seven bedrooms spanning up to 6,000 square feet and have private pools and gardens. The largest residences are the highly individual custom homes ranging from 12,500 to 41,000 square feet in three locations: overlooking the golf course, near the beach and one directly on the beach. All guests have access to a 24 hour concierge who can organize anything they need from stocking refrigerators to organizing day sails to other islands.
Once on property, guests have access to all of the facilities including the original 18 hole golf course designed by Ernie Els, another shareholder, that is the home of the PGA Tour Hero World Challenge, the 71 slip mega yacht marina, the 15,000 square foot, top of the line fitness center staffed by relentless trainers, Har-Tru tennis courts, padel courts, indoor and outdoor. Plus the facilities recently added: an NBA regulation basketball court; the Arena and Sports Pavilion which includes pickleball courts, a baseball batting cage, a kids ‘playground, indoor trampolines and other games of interest to teenagers. Also new are an Equestrian Club with 20 stalls, wood paneling and chandeliers that is so horse country chic that it looks like it was designed by Ralph Lauren and an expanded Spa &Wellness Center with services ranging from massages to smooth out the aftereffects of tough physical exertion, IV therapy and nutrition counseling to a doctor-staffed Elite Care Clinic that can run diagnostics and handle medical needs.
“You have to keep reinventing,” says Peter Charrington, Senior Executive Partner of the resort’s ownership and management company, NEXUS Luxury Collection. “When most developers build something, they put in the amenities and then they leave. We don’t operate like that. And we know that in order to keep all of the members of the different family generations happy, we need to give all of them activities to do their own thing. Otherwise, they won’t come to visit.”
The property’s restaurants have also been upgraded recently after the import of a food and beverage director from Aman to oversee all. The results include high quality sushi and steaks at Vesper located on the second floor of the pink colonial mansion Albany House that gives the property its name, a lunchtime menu of local seafood, salads and burgers at the beach restaurant and poolside restaurants Footprints and Azul and an ambitious menu of smoothies and juices at Revive Clubhouse & Shop in the tennis center. As Charrington points out, the 12 restaurants at Baha Mar including two by master chefs Daniel Boulud and Marcus Samuelsson are also a 25 minute drive away in case guests want to venture out for other choices.
All of these elements add up to a create a varied, cossetting place for a vacation but another aspect seems to be just as important. Even in the presence of such high-powered residents, the overall feeling here is decidedly low-key, even familial, and you sense it immediately. It’s commonplace to see homeowners or repeat guests hugging longtime staff members and inquiring about their families by name. Even though my last visit had been eight years before, one of the restaurant servers remembered me and mentioned enough details to prove he really did. No matter how well equipped another resort might be, that sense of warmth and community isn’t an experience you’re likely to get somewhere else.
How to get in: To rent, guests pay a $6000 fee for a year which also includes entry to the other private members clubs in the NEXUS Luxury Collection which include NEXUS Club New York, T-Squared Social, a premium sports and entertainment bar in New York, NEXUS Club London opening later this year and a location in St. Andrews, Scotland scheduled for next year plus complimentary tickets to special events such as the PGA Tour tournament Hero World Challenge hosted by Tiger Woods. Nightly rates for rental range from $1,700-$44,950 plus taxes depending upon time of year and residence type. Read Full Reference Article.
Get in touch with Boujee Bahamas to arrange a jet-to-yacht adventure, including a lavish layover at Albany's Exclusive Resort.
