Abaco's First Hotel

August 2000 Table of Contents

ABACO'S FIRST HOTEL
by Jack Hardy

Abaco has come a long way in the past 50 years. In 1950 the people of the island lived a subsistence life as there few outlets for the sale of fish and farm produce. Many native sons left for Nassau and Florida to lead a more prosperous life. There were few visitors to Abaco and even government officials from Nassau were a rarity. When an overnight stay was required it was done in bed and breakfast style, staying with a local family or renting a cottage.

Now Abaco is the jewel of the Out Islands, deriving most of its income from tourism. Abaco abounds with hotels, guest houses, resorts and rental properties and also caters to a vast boating population. How did all this start?

To find out, I visited Colyn Rees whose charming house overlooks the harbour in Marsh Harbour. Born in Bermuda, Colyn Rees was an RAF officer stationed in Nassau during the Second World War. He piloted transport aircraft across the Atlantic to Africa and India. When the war was over, Colyn stayed in Nassau and became the proud possessor of the very first civilian pilot licence ever issued in The Bahamas.

Colyn flew first for Nassau Aviation Company (which he formed) and then for Bahamas Airways and his travels often took him to Abaco. Back in those days there were no runways and the island was served by amphibious craft. As early as 1947 Colyn realised that Abaco held great potential for tourism. There was great fishing, both deep sea and bonefishing, and the beaches were breathtaking. It seems so obvious now but back then the dream of Abaco as a tourist island was truly visionary.

Colyn Rees formed the Abaco Development Company along with Nassau businessmen Harold Lowe and Andrew McKinney. As president of the company, Colyn chose Green Turtle Cay as the place to make a start, right in the middle of New Plymouth township. A 10 room, 26 bed hotel was built with the aid of two carpenter brothers, Roger and Ashpen Lowe. The building was completed in April of 1954 and named the New Plymouth Inn.

The new hotel provided much needed employment on the island, but Colyn did not stop there. His company brought electricity to New Plymouth, built a 200 foot boat dock, and dredged the entrance to Black Sound so larger yachts could enter. An aircraft ramp was also constructed. Local men were employed to build 10 foot dinghies and 16 foot sailing boats for use by visitors, and also acted as fishing and hog hunting guides.

"New Plymouth Inn attracted quite a wealthy clientele," Colyn told me. "Our main season was from January to April but we had visitors all year round. The first manager was Gilbert Roberts, a local man. Then my mother and father took over the running of the Inn until it was sold in 1967 to the present owners." Colyn also pointed out that the investment money for New Plymouth Inn and the other amenities provided by the Abaco Development Company was one hundred percent Bahamian.

Next time you visit New Plymouth Inn, take time to consider all the tourism amenities Abaco has to offer and then say to yourself: "It all started here."

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