Traveling by helicopter from one Caribbean island to another for lunch is quite a strange feeling, regardless of your destination. Nobu Barbuda, An outpost of the famous restaurant collapsed on a semi-deserted beach. 81-year-old actor Robert De Niro, dressed in a pair of shorts and a small bucket hat, waiting for you at the back table is a different kind of awkward.
But this is his restaurant, and soon it will be his new resort. Nobu Beach Innis scheduled to open later this year. For high-end travelers willing to part with upwards of $2,500 a night for a one-bedroom bungalow, it’s the latest project in Mr. De Niro’s ever-expanding hospitality empire, which is now open. It happened when he and a colleague opened this bungalow. Tribeca Girl In 1990 in Manhattan
In 1994, Mr. De Niro helped convince the famous Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa, whose Matsuhisa restaurant in Beverly Hills had become a celebrity favorite. to open a branch in Manhattan – and giving him his first name instead of his last name. More Nobu restaurants followed, and in 2013, the first Nobu Hotel Opened at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Now Nobu Hospitality, which includes Mr. De Niro, Mr. Matsuhisa and the film producer Meyer Tapper. An international portfolio Of the 42 hotels already open or in development, as well as 12 residential developments and 56 restaurants. (It is a separate matter that Mr. De Niro is also a partner. The Greenwich Hotel in New York).
But this current project is particularly close to Mr. De Niro’s heart, as it is the only hotel in the Nubu empire in which he has a direct ownership stake, which he co-founded, Paradise Foundation Barbuda LLC. through (The other hotels operate under Nobu’s management and licensing agreements but are individually owned.) Nobu Beach aims to be upscale yet homely, modest yet exclusive, for those who “have it.” don’t want to feel like he’s “surrounded by other people again,” said Daniel Shimon, managing partner of Paradise Fund Barbados.
How did Mr. De Niro find time outside of his day job to do all this?
“Oh, that,” Mr. De Niro said with a laugh, when asked how his acting career fits into that other part of his life. “I’ve done a few things that are going to come out, and I have other projects that haven’t been finalized. And I have that too.” He pointed to the beach. Being a hotel and restaurant mogul is no more fun than being an actor, of course, he said — it’s completely different. Acting is just another job, if you will, Mr. De Niro said.
She answered his phone, confused for a moment. “Sorry,” he said after putting her down. “I was coordinating a helicopter.”
Attracted to Princess Beach.
He has coordinated heavily — helicopters and other things — for Mr. De Niro and his Paradise Fund partners, the Australian billionaire James Packer and Mr. Shimon, an international hotelier who is also a co-owner and director of . Luxury Hotel Partnersto reach this point. The Paradise Foundation acquired the 391-acre property in 2015, paying $5.2 million for a 99-year lease.
Mr. De Niro first visited Barbuda, which is smaller than Brooklyn and lies about 38 miles north of its larger counterpart in the nation of Antigua and Barbuda, on a day trip about 30 years ago. He was impressed by the beauty of its most famous beach, the pink sand and turquoise waters along the southwest coast. (The beach was later renamed Princess Diana Beach in honor of Diana, the former Princess of Wales, who in 1997 Sitting by the pool and taking pictures at the now-defunct K Club Resort).
“I always thought it was something special,” Mr. De Niro said. “And I said, ‘This is the place if we can get it.’
The Nobu Barbuda restaurant, the first step in the development project, opened in 2020, catering almost exclusively to day-trippers from neighboring islands via helicopter or boat. The menu features nobu classics like miso with black cod, as well as local additions like Barbuda lobster. (Prices are New York style.: An order of beef tenderloin with teriyaki, for example, costs $66.)
The Nobu Beach Inn is being built on the site of the club, whose owner, Italian fashion designer Marioquia Mandelli, founded and is credited with the Crezia fashion house. The invention of hot pants. While the old K Club structures were destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017, the swimming pool structure remains, and is slated to be rebuilt for the new hotel.
Mr. De Niro has his own house not far away — it was the architect of the K Club — so he’s often willing to visit projects and consult with his team on design and decor.
Local opposition
The partners stressed that they have the blessing of the government, which has expressed its enthusiasm for the development to outsiders by opening a new one this fall. $14 million international airport Catering to private jets and small charter aircraft. “It’s a great weekend getaway for people on the East Coast or even somewhere like Chicago,” Mr. De Niro said.
Mr. De Niro and his partners say they are working to ensure the resort is built with respect for Barbuda’s ecosystem — as well as future hurricanes. It should be strengthened against.
“We’re taking lessons from Irma in how to build this property,” said Katie Horne, managing director of the Paradise Foundation. Following the design and construction. Miami-Dade Hurricane Building Code Standardswith single-story buildings far away from the floodplain. He said the dunes, along with mangroves and other vegetation, will act as protection from winds and water surges.
Privacy, the ultimate luxury
In his latest role, he is said to be in a Netflix mini-series “Zero Day” Streaming in February, Mr. De Niro plays a former US president racing against the clock to track down the perpetrators of a deadly cyber attack before they strike again.
Here in Barbuda in November, the actor was leading a tour of his hotel’s construction site with Mr Shimon, chief executive of Nobu Hospitality, Ms Horne and Trevor Harwell.
The hotel will have 36 bedrooms in 17 guest bungalows, as well as 25 privately owned beachfront villas that can be rented out to guests at the discretion of the owners.
All of the units will have private swimming pools and be so lushly landscaped that guests will feel as if they are on their own property, Ms. Horne said.
As for the privately owned villas, they should range in size from 4,500 to 6,000 square feet, and will be cocooned by 24 feet of landscaping on either side for total privacy. They will be on the market soon, priced at $12 million or more.
The resort will have all the amenities expected of the luxury class, including a staff member dedicated to each party whose job it is to “oversee every detail of your stay and design tailored experiences,” Ms. Horne said. said
A guest will never have to “run for a waiter’s attention,” Mr. Shimon said. “The idea is that you’re at home, not in a hotel, and that wherever you are, you can do whatever you want.”
When the hotel opens, Mr. De Niro said, visitors can expect to see him around the property, just as they might encounter him at New York’s Greenwich Hotel with its intimate library and enclosed courtyard.
“We want that same cozy feeling, but the island version,” he said. “A place that’s comfortable, where everyone wants to gather.”
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