The vision & creation of Bequia Beach Hotel came from Bengt Mortstedt, blending a passion for travel and an enduring love for the Caribbean. Bengt was drawn to the unspoiled charm and natural beauty of Bequia, captivated by its atmosphere and friendly, laid-back culture, envisioning a luxury boutique resort that would embody the essence of the island while offering luxury hospitality.
He brought his dream to reality with the opening of Bequia Beach Hotel, combining his vision of understated elegance and his commitment to preserving the island’s authentic Caribbean spirit.
The Owner’s Story
"Looking back, I hadn't a clue what I was getting myself into when, aged 56, a lawyer in a previous life and property investor taking on a retirement project of this scale..."
Bengt's History - Part I, ‘Discovering Bequia’
My first taste of Bequia came in the same manner as many before & after me; arriving by sailboat. My brother Sten owned a beautiful ketch yacht which he frequently sailed in the Caribbean during the winter months.
New year’s 1992 my wife and family were invited on a cruise to the Grenadines, embarking from the Pitons in St Lucia south towards Grenada via St Vincent, Mustique, Tobago Cays, Union…
Sea Shuttle anchored in Pitons Bay infront of the then Jalousie Plantation Hotel, now Sugar Beach
We would arrive in Bequia on ‘Sea Shuttle’ New Year’s Eve 1992, or as they say in Bequia "Old Year’s Night" we anchored in Admiralty Bay, Bequia – one of countless yachts back then.
We left 8-year old Jennica & 6-year old Philip happy onboard with the crew and the best pizza delivered from Macs, the atmosphere in the bars along Belmont was electric and unforgettable, we danced through the night in the sand to sounds, sights and smells of this enchanting island.
Bengt & Sten, 1993
At midnight, a steel band played "Auld Lang Syne" - 22 verses at a higher and higher tempo. Whilst watching the constant ongoing fireworks as various yachts sent up their out of date flares celebrating New Year in their respective home countries.
New year’s day we visited the old Friendship Bay Hotel run by fellow Swedes Lars & Margin, spending the day on the beach at Friendship blissfully unaware of what would come in the future.
Sea Shuttle anchored at Tobago Cays, 1993
It wasn’t too long before I once more set foot on Bequia, February 1996, sailing once more with my brother we visited Bequia – the island that had captivated me on our previous visit.
The photo below taken of the old Friendship Bay hotel from Sea Shuttle as she lay anchored in Friendship bay by St. Hilaire.
Departing Friendship Bay, a photo of the old Friendship Bay Hotel, 1996
The site is now occupied by Grenadine Hills & The Sand Bar
A postcard Bengt & Philip sent home from Bequia, February 1996
Several years would pass until Bequia called once more, a few years after the millennium I had started searching for a villa in a warmer climate. I had extensively travelled the Caribbean and also the Indian Ocean but always had an affinity for the West Indies.
In 2004 I was again invited by my brother on a sailing trip in the Grenadines this time in March.
During this visit to Bequia later in the year, I found the island’s character quite different from the ‘party mood’ at New Year’s, yet it had changed very little since my previous visits, charming, sleepy it was still like a postcard from the old Caribbean, reminding me of my first visit to Saint Barthélemy in the late early 1980s.
The sign down the incredibly steep road to the former Bequia Beach Club, ~2004
Within a week I was back!
After realising the airport had been completed since my first visit - connecting Bequia with Barbados via a simple 45 minute island-hop.
I had found the ideal spot, acquired the derelict Bed & Breakfast and as many adjoining properties including the neighbouring German-owned B&B 'Blue Tropic Hotel and as much land as possible as I had a crazy idea in my head; instead of building a holiday villa to build a resort.
I found Bequia had the most wonderful climate, due to the trade winds, never colder than 25 and hardly warmer than 32 and not humid as in many places in Asia. The temperature in the clean turquoise sea ranged from 26 to 30C.
Friendship Bay in the mid 1950s, viewed from the site that is now Grenadine Hills
Looking back, I hadn't a clue what I was getting myself into when aged 56, a lawyer in a previous life and property investor taking on a retirement project of this scale building a resort on a small isolated Caribbean Island.
Bengt explaining plans by drawing them in the sand for his late wife Karin.
On a walk along one of the beautiful deserted beaches; Friendship Bay, I came across an old, closed Bed & Breakfast (Bequia Beach Club) with a "for sale" sign and a telephone number! It had previously been owned by a German couple.
The location was stunning; in the middle of the long crescent-shaped beach with just a few local houses and fishermen as neighbours.
Returning to London I began to wonder - How do I actually get to Bequia?… I can't have a holiday home far away in the middle of the Caribbean which you only can access via a sailing boat.
The Family; Jennica, Philip, Bengt & Karin, 2004
A tiny island only 9km long and 2 km wide, English speaking population of around 5,000 with one town, Port Elizabeth and a few charming villages. Lying just north of the better-known island of Mustique famed for it’s royal & celebrity connections.
Bequia in comparison was sleepy and off the beaten track, a sailor’s secret, but without a decent hotel / resort. I saw an opportunity to fulfil this with my new project and at the same time have the perfect excuse to build, creating a home in paradise for myself, my family and many friends.
There is a book written in 1965 called "Don't stop the Carnival", by Herman Wouk. It is about a New Yorker that escapes the rat race to a small Caribbean paradise to reinvent himself building and managing a hotel!
Having read it several times I have come to realise now I have been through virtually every page in the story and could add a few chapters myself!
For a truly holistic experience, I can thoroughly recommend acquiring a copy and reading it during your next visit to Bequia!
Hurricane IVAN
After purchasing the original derelict beachfront B&B in Friendship Bay, the day after I returned to London Hurricane Ivan was heading towards the Caribbean, hardest hit was Grenada.
Shortly after Ivan passed by Bequia I received photos of my newly purchased prime ‘beach’ front property now without a beach!
Hurricane damage to the former ‘Bequia Beach Club’ just prior to construction starting on Bequia Beach Hotel (Photos Wilfred Derderer)
The Hurricane and in particular storm surge afterwards removing all of the sand offshore, locals would reassure me that the sand would return to Friendship Bay, they were right, although it took a couple of years…
Part II, 'Building the Dream'
With Hurricane Ivan now behind us, the real work on Bequia’s first ‘resort’ started around 2005.
As a Swede and very hands on I wanted European quality on everything in this once in a lifetime project. To attain that I decided to start my own construction company after a few early missteps, employing only local workers, with the exception of two Polish workmen to expertly tile my new bathrooms and share their knowledge.
Infront of the first Beachfront building (rooms 40-47)
Organising and delivering furniture and beds to the Junior Suites via telehandler!
I bought my own heavy equipment instead of, waiting for an excavator to become available a week later to dig a foundation. Bequians are music lovers. When my expensive JCB backhoe finally arrived on a banana boat from the UK the operator first put on the music loud in the cabin and somehow managed to dance with it with the help of its support legs at the back and bucket at the front! I rushed to stop him!
The project has kept me reasonably physically fit by constantly walking the construction site and clear in my head dealing with the logistics in bringing all material here. Virtually everything has to be imported, if not from Europe, from US, South America or from nearby islands. But after each busy day in the evening I could swim from one of the most beautiful unspoiled & empty beaches in the Caribbean staring at the cloud formations or sunset skies.
I could tell many stories from the construction times but they are better-suited for the bar!
Construction of the Reception building
Bequia is one of the few true "old style" Caribbean islands left, not commercialised and sparsely developed. It's still a good place to relax and "get away from it all...". Despite its "off the beaten track" location more and more tourists are discovering Bequia and its natural beauty.
Bequia has a strong seafaring history over three hundred years with one of the finest natural harbours in the Caribbean at Admiralty Bay. Since the mid-1800s whaling and boatbuilding became the island’s twin mainstays – in the 1970s ‘Water Pearl’ was built for legendary singer Bob Dylan.
Celebrities seeking an exclusive hideaway in the true Caribbean still retreat to the island of Bequia for a relaxed island vibe and where anyone can slip under the radar!
Has the island changed since I started my project?
Not very much, maybe there are fewer old sailors around in the bars. During the last years many more luxury villas have been built, construction now being the island's largest source of employment after tourism. There are fewer power cuts and we have fast internet, your mobile is working everywhere and the infrastructure has improved but the people have remained as welcoming as ever.
The climate in Bequia is perfect for human beings. The locals are all very friendly and supportive, having contributed to much needed job opportunities. They are also very loyal and our many repeat guests love seeing the same faces on their return.
I believe Bequia’s seafaring heritage plays it’s part here, the locals are very friendly making anyone feel at home.
The reward is when I see hard work paying off, it works. Highlights are chatting to the guests in the Beach Bar over a rum punch or glass of wine and mingle with them at the weekly Owners Cocktail.
I’ve found there are so many interesting life stories to listen to, many appear fascinated what I have done and being introduced to the laid-back atmosphere of Bequia and the high standard of the hotel and are now keep returning year after year to relax and have fun.
I recall every morning chasing away the local's goats from the future resort that fancied my newly planted flowers as well as iguanas and stray dogs and cats that every morning drank water from my newly constructed swimming pool.
Bequia has no piped water supply so I decided to build my hotel the old fashion way with water-tanks located below every building and use the roofs as catchment. It has been working well.
Casting of the Estate Villa Pool, with the gym completed
Anti Clockwise: Bengt's other life as famous Midsummer Disc jockey. Bengt & Hunter Davies. Sir James Mitchell & Bengt. Basil Charles, Bengt & his late wife Karin.
Whilst the hotel is complete, welcoming new and returning guests, the experience and extreme challenges faced by construction on a small Caribbean island continue to keep me busy. A decade ago, acquiring the land of the former Friendship Bay hotel – where I first set foot on New Years day 1993 with my brother, thinking to myself what a beautiful spot. This is now the site of ‘Grenadine Hills’, three high-end luxury villas with stunning views and amenties. Down on the beach we have the recently opened ‘Sand Bar’, a huge success after only it’s first season!
I adore the Caribbean lifestyle and the "Don't stop the Carnival" way of life, the daily challenges soon ebb away when you sink your feet into the warm waters at Friendship…
Bengt - The Owner
Bengt & Friends star in this jovial video! Circa 2012
Bagatelle restaurant in the early stages of construction
The Recent Editions
From larger projects such as the Villas at Grenadine Hills to less glamorous back of house facilities such as warehouses, laundry, staff accommodation, over the years we have tried to improve the property bit by bit with careful attention not to lose it’s appeal and character.
The Bar Lounge and His & Hers…
Through the years the annual summer closure had always allowed heavier property maintenance to happen and after many years building the structures at Grenadine Hills attention turned back to the Hotel.
2016/17 saw the well-received addition of Jack’s Beach Bar into the group, a wonderful compliment for hotel guests giving them signing privileges and beach chairs.
The Summer closure in 2019 allowed us to make a few upgrades around Bagatelle, a much-needed upgrade to the WC facilities down at Bagatelle, pleasingly the whole family was involved in this from my daughter Jennica’s selection of specialty 3D vinyl palm ‘wallpaper’ to drawing how to expand the beach bar lounge area and make it attractive, unique and appealing. The end product an airy almost safari-lodge style lounge area.
Returning guests greeted the additions with much interest, although we did have a few regulars trying to muscle their way into the former toilets, now re-purposed as a wine store! Perhaps they were thirsty!
The Bar Lounge nestled amongst swaying Palm trees
The Seawater Infinity Pool
The history of the Saltwater Infinity Pool starts even prior to the creation of Bequia Beach Hotel. Rewind to 2004 when Bengt originally purchased the former ‘Bequia Beach Club’ in receivership, he was told that this ‘concrete slab’ was a large water tank, given water is a scarce resource in Bequia it was dutifully used as one without much further thought. The area would go on to be used for storing & launching watersports gear. It wasn’t until many years later when discussing the underutilised ‘prime’ spot - sandwiched between the restaurant and Beachfront Suites whether a water tank could feasibly be turned into a gorgeous pool…
Lo & behold upon inspection (sticking one’s head down through the manhole lid with a torch), did we discover that there were steps in one of the corners and the ‘tank’ was bright blue inside! Further investigations yielded that it had indeed once been a pool during the early years of the ‘Bequia Beach Club’ before being concreted over to be used as a water tank. In fact a long term staff member revealed she had learn’t to swim when younger in that pool!
It wasn’t until April 2020 that serious discussions resurfaced; the hotel having enjoyed one of it’s strongest winter seasons went from 90 happy guests in house to zero within a matter of days as the Covid-19 Pandemic swept away all normality. Bengt, a loyal team of staff, foreign chefs ended up being marooned to some extent on little Bequia with all international flights between the Caribbean and Europe suspended and inter-Caribbean travel nigh impossible with quarantine requirements.
Again with family involvement; Bengt measuring on-site in Bequia and daughter-in-law Elinor stuck in London sketching the concepts & son Philip researching the challenges of a seawater infinity pool. The project would take 6+ months from demolition to finishing and not have been possible without the long closure.
The ‘Pandemic Pool’
Gallery
The most efficient form of island transport!
The Desalination Plant out for delivery
A Royal Visit to Bequia! Bengt & Karin meeting Prince Edward & Sophie (2012)
Concept Sketches in London
To reality in Bequia
Bengt's own hand-drawn concept of the Kerne Erickson vintage travel poster
The original Bequia Beach painting by Kerne Erickson & Bengt
Bengt's technical drawing for the main pool with water lines and labels (2010)
The incredibly steep link road running through the property
Reception Building under construction
The second Junior Suite Building under construction
One Bedroom Cottages completed
The Beach Bar version 1.0 before many changes, improvements and alterations! (2007)
Posing infront of Villa ONE under construction at Grenadine Hills
At Grenadine Hills
Time for Solar! (2023)
Solar panels recently installed (2023)
During Covid, the hotel opened a Ministry of Health-approved PCR testing lab on Bequia, with 4,000+ tests performed, assisting entry & exit testing needs.
Bequia Air operations commence (2019)