Sandals Resorts

Sandals Resorts is an operator of all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean and part of Sandals Resorts International (SRI), parent company of Sandals Resorts, Beaches Resorts, Grand Pineapple Beach Resorts, Fowl Cay Resort and several private villas. Founded by Jamaican-born Gordon “Butch” Stewart in 1981, SRI is based in Montego Bay, Jamaica and is responsible for resort development, service standards, training and day-to-day operations. Sandals Resorts International has properties throughout the Caribbean islands of Jamaica, The Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Antigua, Turks & Caicos and Cuba with 14 Sandals Resorts, four Beaches Resorts, two Grand Pineapple Beach Resorts, one Fowl Cay private island resort and four villa properties in Jamaica.

In July 2009, SRI partnered with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to bring customizable Martha Stewart Weddings to brides and grooms having a destination wedding at any of the 16 Sandals Resorts and Beaches Resorts beginning January 1, 2010. The companies also announced that they will introduce Martha Stewart Crafts classes for adults at Sandals Resorts and craft camps for families at Beaches Resorts in 2010.

In August 2009, SRI announced the purchase of the former Four Season Great Exuma, which will debut as Sandals Emerald Bay, Great Exuma, Bahamas on January 22, 2010.

Leadership

Gordon “Butch” Stewart, Chairman and Founder: Born in Kingston, Jamaica, on July 6, 1941, he grew up along Jamaica’s north coast.

After rising to the position of sales manager for the Dutch-owned Curacao Trading Company, Stewart left in 1968 to start Appliance Traders, Ltd. (ATL). Founded as an air-conditioner service and distribution company, ATL soon grew, adding refrigerators, freezers and other appliances. Today, ATL makes or sells everything from water pumps and electrical generators to cars and auto parts.

The first government-owned, “all-inclusive” resort opened in Ocho Rios and ATL was contracted to supply kitchen appliances and air conditioners. Stewart then purchased an old hotel on one of Montego Bay’s largest beaches, despite having no hotel experience.

Today he controls what analysts estimate to be a billion dollar, privately-owned Jamaican-based Empire that includes 25 Caribbean resorts, Appliance Traders Ltd., and The Observer newspaper.

Gay rights controversy

The company had a long-standing policy, dating from 1981, which banned gays from their "couples-only" resorts. The policy was variously stated by characterizing the accommodations as "resort for couples (heterosexual) only", or "Couples only. A couple is defined as one female adult and one male adult", "policies require male/female couples only", or "couples of the same gender are not accepted." Sandals' anti-gay policy received a great deal of publicity when stays at their resorts were offered as prizes in various promotions by companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo!, and US Airways in 1999. Later reports indicated that some resorts also made no accommodations for the handicapped, prompting the ACLU to opine that companies offering Sandals stays as prizes, or otherwise doing business with Sandals resorts, might be the targets of lawsuits. The companies involved promptly severed their relationships with Sandals, stating they were unaware of its discriminatory practices. Adverts for the company were banned from the London Underground in 2003 after public objections were raised. Sandals ended its policy of refusing service to gay couples in August 2004 after further gay rights protests.

External links

• Sandals.com