What started as one man’s vision in 1947 to look beyond the main village of Codrington and lease his own land on the isolated section of Low Bay, Barbuda, has come full circle with his grandson’s vision to return to that same land and build a resort to share with the world.

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​Barbuda native Edmond Lavann secured a beachfront plot from the government for a nine-mile stretch of beach on the southeast side of the island where pink sand lines the shore of the crystal clear Caribbean. Inspired, rather than deterred, by the natural, unspoiled condition of the land, Lavann at first simply lived in a tent on the property. Later he upgraded his environs, building a cottage replete with running water via a homemade water catchment system and used kerosene to power refrigeration.

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​His grandson, Mike Branker, first visited him there at the age of six. Coming from New York City, the sea breeze and shimmering shores of Barbuda were literally a “breath of fresh air.” Mike’s connection to the island was immediate and visits there became eagerly anticipated events. So when he was 14 and his parents decided it was time to move home to the island, he was overjoyed. Hard work and savings enabled the senior Brankers to open a small restaurant on the bigger island of Antigua and later an intimate inn called The Spanish Inn. The relationship between the islands and hospitality was not lost on Branker, nor was his parents’ entrepreneurial spirit.

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​He returned to the U.S. to attend Notre Dame and afterward began his professional life with Xerox. After a decade of corporate life, Branker opened a General Motors dealership in Lincoln, Nebraska.

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​Meanwhile his grandparents little bit of paradise was falling into disrepair, a fact Branker came face-to-face with when he returned to the island after a long absence. He found his long-held connection to Barbuda was as strong as ever and that it was one he now wanted to share with his own family. Recalling the joy his parents found in running their inn, he set out to build a resort on the sliver of land that had been his grandparents’ home. But, a little older now and having traveled the length and width of the Caribbean, it wasn’t long before he saw that this combination of sand, sun, sea and breeze was like nowhere else on earth, and perfect for what might be the most sought after address in the Caribbean.

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​It took nearly a decade for Branker’s vision to become a reality in 2007, with the completion of the nine-suite luxury hotel with state-of-the-art amenities  The hotel sat where Lavann first settled with his tent over 60 years ago. With Hurricane Irma in 2017, the hotel was leveled.   If there is a silver lining, it is that while the hotel did not survive the hurricane, many of the other structures did survive.  They had been constructed in the years after the hotel was completed.  Based on experience and architectural and engineering advice implement over the years, the developers are confident that permanent structures can be built on the island to survive even level 5 hurricanes.