Our dock in 1959

Our first brochure 1959

Island paradise at your doorstep

     The original inside wood paneling was hard first-growth Abaco pine, oiled to a soft but dark glow, and some is still to be seen in the bar and lounge area.

     The windows were small, and except for the view from the Harbour Room upstairs and from the outside patio, the scenery was not used to its spectacular advantage.

     Brigadier Thomas Robbins, a retired British Army officer, the first foreigner to move into Hope Town, has his retirement home built about 1948 for himself and his wife, Clare.

     The Brigadier stood about six feet four inches, and when he found Mr. Lewis building a vanity to the standard thirty six inch height, he commanded, "It may be a standard height for pigs, but not for me.  Make it higher."

     Sometime during the construction, the workmen borrowed a long steel chisel from Mr. John Gates, the Hope Town blacksmith, and broke it while using a sledge hammer on it.  A blacksmith was essential to the shipbuilding industry, which flourished early in the century.  An argument ensued as to who was to apologize to Mr. Gates.  The Hope Town crew said Mr. Lewis should because he was in charge of the job.  Mr. Lewis said he wouldn't because he hadn't borrowed it in the first place.  As a result Mr. Gates got neither his apology nor the broken chisel.          

     The pool and beachfront area were occupied by four or five old houses, which Brigadier bought and tore down for landscaping.

     He named his home the Great Harbour House, for at this time, Hope Town Harbour was known as Great Harbour.

     The Brigadier had the only generator in town and one of the two refrigerators.  He and Clare lived there with their little black poodle, Georgie-Boy, until about 1959, when they sold their home to Marcel Maury, 2nd, of Nassau.  He and his wife, Ruth, turned it into a three room hotel, installing for the first year, Dave and Phoebe Gale as managers in their absence.

Our second brochure 1966

Activities available 1966

Beautiful Hope Town 1966

Go Native...

     In 1970, Frank Kenyon, Ruth's brother, became the manager and remained until 1973.

     About 1979 Marcel sold the lodge to Evans and Laddie Wilhoyte, who ran it until 1993 at which time it was sold to Dave and Phoebe Gale, Dick and Bobby Werner, with Frank Kenyon back as General Manager.

     In September of 1999, Hurricane Floyd reaked extensive damage to the Lodge and the rest of Elbow Cay. Since there was a contract in place for the sale of the Lodge to an American entrepreneur and developer, no restoration was started on any of the guest rooms. The main kitchen and dinning room were opened, followed by the pool and pool bar.

     In March 2000, it became apparent that the pending sale was not going to materialize. Raymond and Catherine Ketay, former owners and operators of the Breezy Palms Resort in Islamorada in the Florida Keys, now retired and residing in their oceanfront home at the south end of Elbow Cay agreed to purchase the Lodge.

     Mr. Thomas Hazel, former General Manager of the Breezy Palms Resort, came aboard as General Manager of the Lodge in June. Most fortunately, for all concerned the entire staff elected to stay on under the direction of the new management.

     Restoration and rebuilding was started in April of 2000 including reroofing the main buildings with metal roofing, replacing all wall and window air conditioners with split system units, tile floors, hurricane strength windows and doors, and all new furnishings. Possibly the most well received renovation was the addition of outside balconies on all the rooms in the main building, overlooking either the Atlantic Ocean or the historic Hope Town Harbour.

     The office was expanded and redesigned to include a gift shop. The Upper Terrace dinning room was enlarged and a new wooden ceiling and floor was installed. Ray's Place, the new evening lounge, was created adjacent to the dinning room and an enclosed dinning deck, overlooking the harbour, was built on the extension in front of the lounge.

     The Butterfly House received all new furniture and A/C units. The three double unit cabanas were rebuilt with new metal roofs, new siding, doors, windows, wooden ceilings, tile floors, and new wicker furniture.

     The pool bar and kitchen were enlarged and new tile floors and equipment were installed. A wooden deck was built adjacent to the pool and landscaping was restored and improved. All buildings were repainted inside and out with the new Lodge colors, white, with edging trim a jade mist green with periwinkle accents.

     Permission was granted for the construction of 6 new, 400 square foot indiviual oceanfront cottages, immediately south of the pool and the existing ocean front rooms. At this time, three have been completed, furnished and are receiving rave reviews from our guests. The remaining three cottages are expected to be completed by mid April 2002. Boardwalks and landscaping complete the new tropically decorated area.

     Plans to redesign and renocate the main kitchen, beginning in September, and refinish the interior of the pool are in the immediate future.