Magnificent Sandy Lane

The paradise island Barbados in the West Indies has a real treasure in the exclusive Sandy Lane resort. Here  everyday life becomes luxury and the golf is a real treat.

If you were the world's best golfer, decently financially independent and planned to marry a Swedish beauty, where would you go?

Looking back there are few who would lose on that question. When Tiger Woods married his Elin at the magnificent golf resort at Sandy Lane, it was transmitted all over the world and straight away the previously relatively unknown hotel was on everyone’s lips.

The tale of Sandy Lane starts with Englishman Ronald Tree wanting to build a family hideaway where his wealthy and influential friends could check in during their visit to Barbados.

For a long time the hotel was the West Indies' most talked about hotel resort, and when the starry lustre eventually faded, the hotel was sold to new owners with big ambitions.

The facility was still of very high class but the new owners turned a blind eye and plunked down around three billion Euro by tearing everything down and rebuilding it from scratch. Best in the West Indies would become the best in the world!

The result is something beyond the ordinary. What makes it so special is that Sandy Lane, despite all of the extravagance and luxury, still feels personal, intimate and well, actually quite romantic.

It’s probably the low-key British heritage that shines through and makes even a Lutheran disciplined person enjoy unimpeded without guilt.

And then there is the golf. In 1961 The Old Nine was opened that still offers a nice round - if you like easy, old fashioned golf. However it’s the later, Tom Fazio-designed creations that created an echo in the golf world.

The Country Club opened in 2001 and is a stunningly beautiful course with wide inviting fairways, large undulating greens and breathtaking views of the sea.

The Green Monkey is the name of the latest course that winds around in an old quarry. The rest of the course is just as spectacular - and so far from a traditional British course that you can get: challenging ravines, giant bunkers, huge greens and the icing on the cake, a divine finish.

The only snag is well the price. Direct flights to Barbados are available from London.

Text: Mikael Andersson