"If you want to stay ahead of the game,invest in a property on a world-class golf resort, advises Penny Churchill..."
Caribbean Houses To Dive For
Anyone thinking of buying a home at one of the thousands of golf developments scattered around the globe should first take a look at the quality of the golf course, and then decide what kind of property they would like to purchase.
The experience of the past 20 years shows that, whatever happens in the short term, property built around a world-class golf facility will always hold its value in the long term. So here is Country Life International's picks of the world's top golf resorts:
Rose Hall resort, Jamaica
At the fabulous Rose Hall resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the Rollins family from Delaware, USA, has spent hundred of millions of dollars over 40 years,
transforming a run-down 7,000-acre former plantation into one of the world's best golf and leisure resorts.
Over the years, many of the world's best golf course designers have transformed the dramatic contours of the estate into rose Hall's three great courses - the White Witch, Cinnamon Hill and the Half Moon.
But what exactly makes a great golf course? Robert von Hagge, designer of the white witch course - named after Annie Palmer, the plantation's former owner who murdered three husbands and numerous slave lovers before she was killed by a slave in 1831 - judges a golf course by two main criteria: play ability and beauty. ‘Remember that, on the course, while one person is hitting the shot, the other three are soaking up the beauty all around them. There isn't a great golf course that isn't also beautiful,' he says.
Property-owners at Rose hall's new Palmyra Resort & Spa, now being built on a pristine 16-acre waterfront site next to the Ritz Carlton in Montego Bay, will have access to all three courses. The Palmyra offers luxury apartments, penthouses and villas from $500,000 (£255,485) to $3.5 million (£1.78 million).
Contact the Jamaica sales office (001-876-953-9787) or the UK office (0-845-051-9190).
