Caneel Bay Resort

CREWNECK 👏
LINK IN BIO!

5% of all sales from our newest product drop will be donated to Our Lady of Charity Shelter on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

LAST CHANCE TO GRAB OUR LIMITED EDITION CAPSULE COLLECTION HAT 🧢 (LINK IN BIO)

LAST CHANCE:
We’re pre-selling our Limited Edition Capsule Collection Hat! LINK IN BIO!!!

The Limited Edition Capsule Collection Hat is NOW LIVE!!! (Link in bio)

Saturday bagel run 🥯
HAT DROPPING SOON! Stay Tuned! Comment Below if you want a hat.

The Legacy Capsule 🧢

👏👏👏👏

Summer is coming! Shop for Caneel Bay Resort T-shirts, featuring the iconic Caneel Bay logo!

https://caneel-bay-resort.myshopify.com/products/short-sleeve-cotton-t-shirt-with-original-caneel-bay-logo

No need to pack your Jeep tomorrow !

We have your loungers and beverages ready and awaiting you !

Caneel Bay Beach Club

Meet DeShawn, our amazing manager overseeing Guest Services at Caneel Bay Beach Club.
Many of you will recognize DeShawn from the Bay Resort days. DeShawn worked at Caneel for several years before the resort was closed down due to hurricanes Irma and Maria.
When first told about the idea behind CBBC, DeShawn jumped at the chance to help get things up and running. He has been instrumental in organizing things from the the very beginning often going above and beyond because he truly understand the vision.
We took the opportunity to ask DeShawn a few questions

Hey DeShawn,
For those that do not know you can you tell us where were you born?
St Thomas USVI
What is your involvement with the Caneel Bay Beach Club?
Guest Services and Bar Manager
What are your favorite things about CBBC we can share with our guests?
The picturesque and tranquil views. It can’t be stated enough the sense of peace and relaxation one can immerse themselves in while here.
What did you study, what is your passion?
When I was younger I wanted to be Captain or a Pilot
Please tell us something interesting about you that may surprise us!
I love traveling to new places. I also love playing basketball and football. I also have a passion for boating and music.
What is your hope for the Caneel Bay Beach Club?
My hope for CBBC is to see a flourishing environment where people are enjoying each other’s company and creating lasting memories similar to what I’ve experienced growing up here on St. John.

Thank you DeShawn!
We are blessed to have DeShawn a part of our amazing team at CBBC. When visiting CBBC stop by and say hello to DeShawn, he is working hard to make sure your day with us is the absolute best day of your vacation!


of Caneel Bay Resort

In stock now - a supply of Caneel Bay T-shirts in 4 summer colors. The unisex Ts feature the original Caneel Bay logo - click on the link below to take you to the on-line retail store:

https://caneel-bay-resort.myshopify.com/products/short-sleeve-cotton-t-shirt-with-original-caneel-bay-logo

Support ancestral St. Johnians calling on federal government to make an exception and donate land on St. John, to build a much-needed facility to serve students from preschool through high school. Comments to be made by Wednesday, March 15th via the National Park Service link noted below.

Excerpt from St. John Tradewinds (A. Roberts, March 12th):
Students at the Julius E. Sprauve School were sent home with work packets for two days on Thursday after students and faculty experienced a variety of symptoms from foul odors and airborne irritants.

The cause of the problem may have been the malfunctioning of the Cruz Bay sewage treatment plant, which has been offline since March 8, or it may have been from mold that has accumulated in the temporary modular units that have served as classrooms since Hurricane Irma struck in 2017.

Modular units at the Sprauve School were intended to last for five years when they were built in 2018.

Whatever the cause, the disruption of education for the 210 K-8 students attending St. John’s only public school highlights the need to find a suitable location and construct a new facility to serve students from preschool through high school.

The demand for constructing a new school has ebbed and flowed for decades. In 2020, officials from the Virgin Islands Government and the National Park Service identified a site and reached an agreement to move forward on an exchange of an 11-acre parcel in Estate Catherineberg (within the V.I. National Park) and Whistling Cay, an 18-acre island owned by the territorial government (surrounded by Park Service waters). Whistling Cay, as seen from the north shore of St. John, is within V.I. National Park waters but is owned by the territory.

Proponents of the exchange celebrated that a viable plan had finally been developed which would allow students to attend a brand-new school built with FEMA disaster funding away from the congestion (and sometimes foul odors) of Cruz Bay.

A screenshot presented at a 2020 online meeting shows the concept for a new school in Estate Catherineberg. As part of the process for the land swap to be finalized, the NPS has held a series of public meetings to get comments from all segments of the community. In recent weeks, the debate has become more heated, leading the NPS to extend the comment period and Del. Stacey Plaskett to hold an online forum for people to air their views.

The final deadline for placing comments is Wednesday, March 15, and as it approaches, members of the community have objected to the exchange for a variety of reasons. Almost everyone agrees that a new school is necessary, but opinions about where to build it and how to compensate the owner of the land varies.

Some National Park conservationists have said that Estate Catherineberg is not an appropriate site; it has too many precious cultural and historic resources that could be jeopardized by the construction of a school and the commercial development that would inevitably follow. A ruin at Catherineberg is one of the many historic resources near the site for the school.

Other conservationists say that when the deed for the Estate Catherineberg site was transferred to the Virgin Islands National Park, its owner explicitly stated the property should be preserved or remain for non-commercial residential purposes only, “except as has been approved in writing by the Secretary of the Interior or his [sic] duly approved representative.” (The current Secretary is a woman, Deb Haaland.)

However, the most vocal group against the land swap is largely made up of ancestral St. Johnians who have said essentially that their families had already sold or donated land when the Virgin Islands National Park was established, and it’s time for the federal government to give something back.

A FAQ sheet on the park’s land exchange website explains, “The National Park Service has no legal authority to donate land. Federal law prohibits conveyance of property from National Parks. The same law authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to exchange lands within National Parks. In general, only Congress can change the boundary of a National Park.”

St. Johnians, however, have called for the federal government to make an exception and donate the Estate Catherineberg site.......
.... While some members of the St. John community call for continuing the search for alternatives to the proposed land swap, others now look at the current conditions at the Sprauve School, the political climate in Washington (including possible loss of federal funding if the process is delayed) and conclude it’s time to seal the deal on the land exchange.

You can make your opinion known through March 15. Click here
https://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?documentID=118616to to view a newsletter with background information, questions to consider, and a link on the left to submit comments.

Dear Facebook Friends, thank you for supporting us in our commitment to:

- Give the Land to the People of St. John Now.
- Rebuild Caneel Bay Resort Now.

EHI will immediately rebuild a luxury eco-resort, hire local employees and support education, health, and environment on St. John. Please help us rebuild Caneel Bay by adding your name to the on-line petition: change.org/supportEHI - or scan the QR code:

Dear Friends, St. John is addressing two important matters – the immediate rebuilding of Caneel Bay Resort and the ultimate gift of the resort land to the people of St. John. EHI Acquisition LLC (EHI) is the only party that can commence rebuilding Caneel Bay Resort now and complete it years faster than anyone else, and EHI is the only one that can gift the land to the people of St. John. Let the National Park know – the NPS and EHI should partner to begin rebuilding the resort now for the benefit of Virgin Islanders.

Copy the following statement to the National Park Service and then click on https://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?documentID=125733 to post the statement to the National Park Service comments page :

We urge the parties to quickly negotiate a resolution to the lawsuit so that rebuilding Caneel Bay Resort may begin. And we support EHI’s commitments to the people of St. John:

1. EHI will return the resort land to the people of St. John. After EHI secures title to the land, it will donate the land to a charitable entity established for the benefit of the people of St. John and managed by USVI residents.

2. EHI will rebuild Caneel Bay Resort as a 5-star resort. EHI can rebuild more quickly than any other company, while it preserves the natural environment and incorporates more hurricane-resistant design and construction methods.

3. EHI will give a portion of Resort revenues to the charitable entity, which will be used to continue EHI’s long term support of the Julius E. Sprauve School and environmental preservation initiatives, and be expanded to support other entities, such as the Myra-Keating Clinic.

4. EHI’s resort will recruit from the local community. EHI will appoint senior managers who know and respect the Virgin Islands people and culture. EHI will further support hotel management education for local residents to provide the opportunity for more rapid employment advancement.

5. EHI will build a community space on the land to honor the site’s cultural heritage. Working with the Virgin Islands National Park and local historical societies, EHI will ensure that historical buildings and artifacts continue to be preserved.

6. EHI will remediate all environmental contamination and continue to preserve the land’s pristine natural environment.

Lawsuit Seeks to Return Caneel Bay to the People of the Virgin Islands. (June 30, 2022, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands)

EHI Acquisitions, LLC (“EHI”) and CBI Acquisitions, LLC, the operators of Caneel Bay Resort on St. John, Virgin Islands, filed a lawsuit against the United States today to settle ownership of the Resort. Caneel Bay Resort was forced to close after the 2017 hurricanes, and ownership disputes since then have prevented its rebuilding. In its lawsuit, EHI announced plans to settle its ownership of the land, rebuild the resort, and transfer ownership of the Resort to a trust for the benefit of the people of St. John and the Virgin Islands community.

As the complaint describes, EHI’s efforts to rebuild the resort since 2017 have been frustrated by failed negotiations with the United States. Meanwhile, “the resort’s closure eliminated jobs, income for residents, and revenue for the entire Virgin Islands community.” In 2019, the resort land reverted to EHI, but the United States has not recognized EHI’s ownership, leaving Caneel Bay Resort in limbo. EHI’s lawsuit seeks to eliminate the cloud over its ownership of the land. Resolving EHI’s ownership is essential to its ability to raise the funds necessary to quickly rebuild the resort.

EHI also announced in the complaint that it is “creating a charitable trust for the benefit of the people of St. John and the Virgin Islands community,” and plans to donate the Resort property to the trust. Once EHI gets the resort reopened, lease payments from the Resort operator will provide funds to the trust for local schools, affordable and work-force housing, and environmental preservation. At the end of the lease term, the Resort will be owned and controlled by the trust for the benefit of the people of St. John and the Virgin Islands community.

EHI made these further commitments in rebuilding Caneel Bay Resort:
• Open a cultural heritage center on the resort;
• Appoint senior managers who know and respect the Virgin
Islands people and culture;
• Invest in education including high school and university-level
courses in hotel management for local residents;
• Protect and preserve the natural environment, and conduct a
cleanup of the resort land; and
• Incorporate more hurricane-resistant design and construction.

“The people of St. John ultimately want to see the resort open again, and to know that its owner is committed to supporting the Virgin Islands,” said EHI’s spokesperson Patrick Kidd. “EHI goes a step further with its commitment to rebuild the resort and return the land to the Virgin Islands people.”

The suit is filed in the District Court of the Virgin Islands, Division of St. Thomas and St. John. Read the complaint at www.caneelbay.com