KazPost

Kazakhstan News
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

A Designer’s 30-Year Love Story With a Caribbean Hotel Results in This Stylishly Updated Getaway

A Designer’s 30-Year Love Story With a Caribbean Hotel Results in This Stylishly Updated Getaway

The founder of Chris Pardo Design creates a midcentury retreat in St. Croix-nearly three decades after becoming enamored with the coastal property as a young child.

For designer and hotelier Chris Pardo, island life has been a dream since childhood. At 12 years old, he became fascinated with the idea of living on a petite body of land surrounded by waves and tropical vegetation. But even at a young age, "island life" meant more to Pardo than white-sand beaches and aquamarine seas. It represented an alternative lifestyle filled with bustling culture, music, and endless sunshine-the latter of which was a major draw for the vitamin D–deprived sun-lover from the Pacific Northwest.



The interiors are swathed in organic hues to allow the surrounding Caribbean landscape to shine.

To satisfy his interest, Pardo’s father recommended that he subscribe to real estate pamphlets by mail. Soon after, Pardo came across a hotel that caught his eye in St. Croix of the U.S. Virgin Islands. He wrote a three-page business plan with "lots of decorative borders" that included a general description of the U.S. Virgin Islands, an excerpted paragraph from a St. Croix travel book, a cut-and-pasted image of the hotel, and a rudimentary budget. And so began Pardo’s 30-year journey of making the hotel his own.



The hotel bedrooms are outfitted with rustic furnishings and woven decor.

"I was captivated by [’80s] movies like Club Paradise and Water, and the book Don’t Stop the Carnival by Herman Wouk," explains Pardo. "I loved the history, culture, and musical influences of the Caribbean as a whole, and I also had an interest in French Polynesia. The idea of living in a tropical climate, listening to reggae or calypso, and running a little hotel sounded very appealing to me-even at that age," he continues.



Designer and hotelier Chris Pardo was inspired by movies such as Club Paradise (1986) and Water (1985), as well as the book Don’t Stop the Carnival by Herman Wouk (Doubleday, 1964).

Luckily, Pardo had the proper foundation and mindset to accomplish his goal. With a father who worked as a general manager at a lumber and logging company (and had a personal passion for looking at real estate), and two parents who built the home he grew up in, it’s no wonder Pardo developed an eye for design. He went on to receive an undergraduate degree in hotel management and completed an accredited M.Arch program.



Various suites feature remodeled kitchenettes, which were opened up from traditional peninsulas to include floating bars with seating.

Before Pardo turned 30, he established an eponymous architecture and design firm and also launched the U.S.-based Arrive Hotels. All the while, Pardo was "stalking" the St. Croix hotel he wanted, becoming familiar with the property and even staying there as a guest periodically over the last 20 years. In 2018, Pardo was finally able to purchase the hotel along with another property-the Waves at Cane Bay, which was originally built in 1956 on the site of a dynamited grotto.



Oceanside patio seating makes for an ideal space to enjoy a seafood dish or a craft cocktail.

Despite having briefly stayed in the hotel rooms during previous trips, this was the first time Pardo was able to evaluate the structure, which unfolded in what he describes as a "pretty organic" process. Building in paradise, however, came with its challenges, which Pardo says were constant. The construction team would sometimes run out of water, lose power, or not be able to find the material they needed. "It was a quick and harsh learning curve," Pardo says. The property now contains eleven suites, two bars, and a sustainable seafood restaurant. While the Waves at Cane Bay renovation was completed in March 2021, the designer and hotelier says he is "still working on the larger remodel."



The hotel restaurant, Ama, exudes a sensual air with dark walls and wood ceilings.

"I wanted the hotel to be a respite from full days out in the sun," says Pardo, who describes the scenic destination as a place where travelers can spend their days lounging on the beach, or swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving amid coral reefs. The concept was to hone in on the hotel’s surrounding environment, using soft and soothing natural tones to permeate the spaces and accentuate the natural beauty of the landscape. The exterior, too, was designed to fade into the background—but there were elements of the space that Pardo wanted to maintain, paying homage to the previous incarnation.



Natural stone walls create protective barriers around the hotel.

"There was a breathtaking draw from the grotto and natural stone walls," Pardo says. "By choosing black for the building’s body, we were able to really accentuate the stonework." The existing hotel-which was reminiscent of a standard beach house with tiled floors and practical furnishings-included various additions from throughout the years, such as solid louver windows, arches, railings, and trellises.



Outside the restaurant, a neutral palette unfolds from the seating to the stone floors.

"The first course of action was to strip down the buildings and relieve them of these added components, allowing the structure of the building to be perceived," Pardo says. "One of the largest impacts, in my opinion, was the addition of the mahogany windows, which replaced the old solid louvers. For the first time, guests can fully enjoy the beauty and natural light."



A spacious deck with geometric tiles opens up from the guest rooms and overlooks the ocean.

The updated property’s overall style takes on one of Pardo’s favorites-midcentury-with various spaces that incorporate textured walls and mood lighting throughout. "To me, midcentury really illustrates a harmonious balance between form and function," Pardo explains. "The principles of natural light, open spaces, and an indoor/outdoor connection are timeless."

Now, the Waves at Cane Bay takes on a welcoming demeanor with rustic wood furnishings, woven decor, and bamboo and lattice accents. The boutique hotel exudes the air of a place that you’d stumble upon while strolling the beach and be so smitten by the sustainable seafood, craft cocktails, and contemporary decor that you’d decide to stay the night to do it all again.



The guest room kitchenettes previously featured tiled countertops in a semi-enclosed space.



Before the remodel, the dining area exhibited an entirely different feel with arched windows painted in shades of pale yellow and blue.



Chris Pardo Design transformed the Waves at Cane Bay guest rooms for the recent remodel.

Newsletter

Related Articles

KazPost
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
An Ominous Shift in Warfare: Western Powers Risk War Crimes and Violate International Norms with Cluster Bomb Supply to Ukraine
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
Corruption in the European Parliament - Business as usual
UK Crypto and Stablecoin Regulations Become Law as Royal Assent is Granted
Paris Suburb Grapples with Violence as Curfew Imposed: Saint-Denis Residents Express Dismay and Anger
A Delaware city wants to let businesses vote in its elections
Alef Aeronautics Achieves Historic Milestone with Flight Certification for World's First Flying Car
Google Blocked Access to Canadian News in Response to New Legislation
French Politicians Advocate for Pan-European Regulation on Social Media Influencers
×