The family of Jamaica legend and reggae icon Robert Nesta Marley has put the Marley Resort and Spa, a luxury boutique resort and spa for sale, valued at almost $9.5 million.
The 21-bedroom property located on Cable Beach, Nassau, the Bahamas is now listed on the website of real estate company C.A. Christie and is valued at $9.5 million. Christie said that the Marley family publicly announced the sale of the resort last year so the property was formally brought to the market in December 2019.
Because the property appears on the market at a time when the entire world is busy battling a global pandemic and economic crisis, Christie thinks it will be too early to say if the property will be difficult to sell in this crisis.
“We hope the banks don’t go on the defensive,” he said. “That would be a tragedy for the local economy.” According to Christie, an initial buyer inspected the site and began the process of attaining the funds to purchase the resort last year, but the deal went off.”
He said the property is a great opportunity for a buyer interested in a luxury boutique property with the potential for expanding. “The properties around the Marley Resort are being put on sale, maximizing the opportunity to grow the resort’s acreage”.
Although the family has legal documents which gives them a license agreement across the world for the use of the house as “Marley Resort & Spa”. Though, it remains unknown if they would allow the name to be used when the property is sold.
While the legend was alive, the Marley Resort & Spa was a private vacation home for the Marley family. Bob and Rita Marley found this former governor’s mansion on a visit to Nassau, while they were yet to get over an assassination attempt in Jamaica (1976). “The property’s lush gardens and oceanfront location enabled the Marley children to balance with life in the mountains of Jamaica”.
According to the resort’s history, when Rita first made enquiries about the property, a staff member of the previous owner posits that the owner would never sell the property to a Black person. “Staying true to her strong character, this warning did not alter her decision into making an effort to purchase it” the site reported.
In 1982, Rita acquired the property, and for 16 years Rita and their children spent holidays and summer vacations together in Nassau. However, in 2004, they opted to renovate the house for the extended family, but Rita decided that this retreat should be a home away from home for everyone.
Rita Marley renovated the home into a resort. She created the Natural Mystic Spa and its focus on holistic renewal. “Mrs. Marley’s Afro-Caribbean aesthetic assisted in shaping the interior designs and adherence to feng shui” while the hand-carved furnishings, exotic fabrics, art, and dramatic carpets were all imported from Africa and the Caribbean.
