The Times Online is featuring this great story about one Antonio Saladino. Never heard of him? Well, if he has his way, you will: he’s in the process of building what he hopes will be the world’s most prestigious Caribbean island — thereby blowing Mustique out of the water. His outpost, Canouan, features “a swanky hotel run by the Singapore-based Raffles group, an 18-hole championship golf course, an airstrip large enough to accommodate private jets, a Balinese-style spa and a casino fronted by the king of bling himself, the man they call Mr Understatement, Donald Trump.”
The reason for this £200m blowout? Well, Mr. Saladino is, to put it mildly, peeved with the committee members who run Mustique, the island widely known as the ultimate Caribbean hideaway for the rich and famous. “I was staying on Mustique, at a friend’s villa, a few years ago,” he explains. “It was beautiful. I thought I would build a house. All my life I have been a trader, and I have never actually created anything, something to pass on to my grandchildren. This was my chance.”
Unfortunately, the committee members rejected his building plans after he bought land. This caused him to look elsewhere, just to show those Mustique fellows what’s what. He’s pretty pleased with his results: “I think we’re now among the top 10 hotels in the Caribbean,” he says. “Canouan has a lot to offer that Mustique doesn’t. They don’t have a golf course or a proper spa, and their airstrip is too short for jets to land.”
Fantastic article, proving money might not buy happiness…but it might buy revenge. Wonderfully luxurious revenge, at that.