Having led the charge with luxe beach clubs, Nikki Beach has now turned its attention to one-of-a-kind residences on the sun-drenched shores of Antigua. The Sybarite recently sat down with Joseph Valentino (Head of Sales) and Nicholas Ferrer (Sales Executive) to get the low-down on this exciting project.
Nikki Beach is a family-run business helmed by Lucia Penrod. Following the success of their ritzy beach clubs in Miami, St. Tropez, Ibiza and beyond, the brand has now pivoted to branded residences in Dubai, Ras Al-Khaimah, and Marrakech. New to their portfolio is Nikki Beach Residences Antigua - a collection with The Ayre Group, where luxury living meets Nikki Beach lifestyle.
Joseph: If we look at both the destination and the market… an increasing number of buyers are looking for branded residences as a way to purchase a second or a third home - places that allow them to have a bit more comfort in how the property is being managed. The experiences are also [more elevated] compared to a non-branded residence.
Antigua is a really authentic island compared to some of the other Caribbean islands… If we look at the other end of the spectrum, there are a lot of islands that have been commercialised to a high extent, places like The Cayman Islands or Turks and Caicos where there’s a lot of development. They’re wonderful places, but in terms of the whole experience, it’s becoming more commercialised, whereas Antigua maintains that Caribbean feel. The island is very well located with close proximity to islands like St. Barts (a helicopter ride takes half an hour).
With the island itself, there’s the Caribbean side and the Atlantic side. The West side of the island is the best side to be on. The sea is as clear as a glass of water, the currents are always super calm, and there’s no sargassum. That's where Nikki Beach Residences Antigua is located.
Antigua doesn’t have any branded residences. There are many beautiful resorts, but they’re not branded. Nikki Beach Residences Antigua are the first branded residences on the island. There are Nobu residences in Barbuda - Antigua’s sister island. It’s also the first Nikki Beach Resort in the Western Hemisphere… Nikki Beach was born in Miami, but it was raised in Europe.
Joseph: In Jumby Bay, for example, people have been reselling and reselling, and prices are climbing higher and higher, which means they’re maintaining their value, and in some cases, increasing. Jumby Bay is a very exclusive island, it’s a HNW island and a lot of tech guys have been very successful purchasing on this island. But for us, what’s important when we look at that is price validation… Nobu in Barbuda is doing the same thing - they’re starting to sell.
Nicholas: A lot of those who enquire are in finance. There’s also the mix of self-employed individuals looking to secure a place for a family vacation.
Nicholas: It seems that the buyer demographic has already experienced Antigua on some level. It’s a place they keep coming back to. You don’t hear a lot of people saying they’ve been to Antigua like they’ve been to St. Barts.
Joseph: Nikki Beach is known for its beach clubs. That was the biggest stepping stone in their success. They were the founders of this beach club concept. Since then, there have been so many other companies creating beach clubs all over the world - they’re even looking at places like Courchevel.
Hotels would ask Nikki Beach to join them… They noticed that whenever Nikki Beach was at a hotel, the hotel occupancy levels went higher. The metrics were much more favourable for the hotels. It also validated the notion that buyers are looking for more than just a regular experience. They explored this idea five years ago, and since then, they’ve created five resorts. These are in Greece, Montenegro, and Dubai. There are other ones coming out in Oman. When we speak about Nikki Beach, most people automatically say, ‘Oh, it’s a beach club,’ but now the brand’s ship is being steered in a different direction towards more elevated experiences and resorts.
It’s high-level in the sense that the kitchens are from Spain, all the faucets and the plumbing fixtures are European... We’ve got really high-end materials on an island in the Caribbean, which makes it very unique. So it's important that we make the market understand that it's not the Nikki Beach that you know of. We’re expanding a lot right now.
Joseph: I think it's about lifestyle. That's the entry point. Very successful people are done with just owning nice real estate or owning a beautiful place with nice chandeliers and nice furniture. But the problem is there’s nothing else to do… What Nikki Beach wants to do is bring that level. There's an 11,000 square foot spa. I think it's going to be the best spa in the Caribbean. It has hyperbaric chambers, IV therapy, red light therapy, snow rooms, a hot and cold circuit programme.
It’s not just getting a massage. It's about physically feeling better and emotionally feeling better. Guests can go to the beach club at night or during the day. There’s Champagne, oysters… You’re by the beautiful ocean, there’s a Kids Club and a Teen Club. You can go to the spa, then head back to your home or condo and you have this prestigious five-star setup with high-quality materials. It’s about checking all of those boxes. That’s the product that we’re selling.
Nicholas: There are 127 branded residences in total, in addition to seven beachfront villas. The residences include studios, one bedrooms, two bedrooms, and three bedrooms. The beachfront villas feature four bedrooms and two powder bathrooms.
Joseph: A lot of the luxury branded residences have big units, starting at 200 square metres. They’re massive. And because they’re so big, their price tags are around $10-12 million. At Nikki Beach, we brought down the sizing. There’s no big barrier to entry; you can own a five-star residence that’s 80 square metres, and it will cost you $1.2 million. We made it more accessible to all the different markets.
Joseph: The studio units are the entry point, and they’ll start at $870,000. One bedrooms start at just over $1 million. Two bedrooms just under $2 million, three bedrooms just over $3 million. The beachfront villas are starting at $7.8 million going to $9.2 million.
For more information, visit nikkibeachresidencesantigua.com
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