Paradise Island

A view of Paradise Island from above. This image does not show the new development of Atlantis which is in the centre of the island.

The Royal Towers joined by the Bridge. The Bridge Suite, located in the span, is among the most expensive accommodations in the world at $25,000 a night.

For the DC Comics fictional island formerly known as Paradise Island, see Themyscira

For the islet in the US Minor Islands, see Palmyra Atoll

Paradise Island is an island in the Bahamas, located just off the shore of the city of Nassau, which is itself located on the northern edge of the island of New Providence. It is best known for the sprawling 'Vegas-by-the-sea resort' Atlantis.

Paradise Island is connected to the island of New Providence by two bridges that cross Nassau Harbour. The first was built in 1966 by Resorts International, and the second in the late 1990s.

Hog Island Lighthouse, constructed 1817 at the western tip of the island

Paradise Island was formerly known as Hog Island. Huntington Hartford, the A&P supermarket heir, arrived on Hog Island in 1959 because his sister Josephine Hartford Bryce lived in Xanadu near Lyford Cay. Josephine was married to Ivar Bryce, Ian Fleming's best friend from Eton and Janet Milford Haven's uncle. Ivar Bryce's niece Janet Bryce married Prince Charles's Uncle David Milford Haven and Janet is the mother of Ivar Mountbatten and George Milford Haven. Hartford bought Hog Island from Axel Wenner-Gren and changed the name to Paradise Island. He hired the Palm Beach architect John Volk and built the Ocean Club, Cafe Martinique, Hurricane Hole, the Golf Course, among other island landmarks. He also acquired and installed the Cloisters, a 14th-century French Augustinian monastery originally purchased and dismantled by William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s. He hired Gary Player to be the Golf Pro and Pancho Gonzales to be the Tennis Pro. His opening of Paradise Island in 1962 was covered in Newsweek and Time magazines. He hired the staff from Eden Roc at Hotel Du Cap to work off season at the Ocean Club. He had the fireworks for the opening party flown in from the South of France. He had a flag and Paradise Beach was featured on a Bahamian three-dollar bill in 1966 (introduced as a close equivalent to the Bahamian Pound, which was replaced at the rate of $1=7/-, so $3=21/-).

Map depicting New Providence Island which is connected to Paradise Island via two bridges. Both smaller islands are within capital city Nassau's harbour.

Huntington Hartford met Jim Crosby through Huntington's Bodyguard Sy Alter. Sy Alter met Jim Crosby at the Colony Club in Palm Beach. Huntington Hartford got the gambling License for Paradise Island and included Jim Crosby as a Extra Investor. Jim Crosby and Jack Davis then formed a company, Resorts International,to continue developing Paradise Island. ^[1][2]. Recognizing the business potential of the Bahamas, they were the first to establish major resort development, and introduce fair salaries to the Bahamas.^{[citation needed]} Jack Davis, educated in Harvard's class of 1949, continued to develop Paradise Island. They built the bridge to Nassau, and the first large-scale resorts. He subsequently parlayed these profits to secure and pass a referendum on legalizing gambling in Atlantic City, funding and creating the successful statewide advertising campaign to singlehandedly achieve this city's rebirth from its ashes. Resorts built the first casino, and with no competition for the first year, due to their incredible gamble, made over $300 million profit^{[citation needed]}. Resorts stock went from between $1–3 to over $200, and was the only stock to ever make the front page of the LA Times^{[citation needed]}.

In film

• The Beatles' film Help! was partially filmed on Paradise Island
• The James Bond film Thunderball was partially filmed on Paradise Island
• On the TV series Friends Monica and Chandler's honeymoon is spent at the Atlantis.
• Casino Royale was filmed at the Ocean Club on Paradise Island and Diane Hartford had a small speaking part.
• The Mary-Kate and Ashley movie Holiday in the Sun was filmed on the island. The group stayed in the Atlantis Hotel.
• Woody Harrelson's character stayed in the Bridge Suite at the Atlantis hotel throughout the film After the Sunset
• In the TV show My Wife and Kids, Michael and his family went to Paradise Island for a family vacation.
• The movie Into The Blue, starring Paul Walker and Jessica Alba, takes place on Paradise Island and in the surrounding ocean. The Atlantis Hotel is seen in the beginning when Jessica Alba's character is doing her job of showing the visitors the many sea animals in the aquarium by the hotel's pool.

Paradise Island's early resort development

View towards Nassau from the 14th French monastery cloisters on Paradise Island

Hartford also acquired and installed the Cloisters, a French 14th-century Augustinian monastery, originally purchased and dismantled in the 1920s by William Randolph Hearst.

Paradise Island was purchased in the 1980s by Donald Trump for $79 million, then sold to Merv Griffin for $400 million. It was last sold for $125 million to the current owner, Sol Kerzner. The current estimated value of the island is about $2 billion USD.

Coordinates: 25°05′N 77°20′W / 25.083°N 77.333°W / 25.083; -77.333

Bibliography

Alan A. Block, Masters of Paradise, New Brunswick and London, Transaction Publishers, 1998, ISBN 1-56000-971-3

References

External links

• Paradise Island hotels and travel guide
• GoParadiseIsland.com - Paradise Island Travel Guide
• Official Nassau Paradise Island Travel Guide
• Practical Information on travel to Paradise Island