Kerzner’s Paradise Island

It’s a long way from the poor suburbs of Johannesburg to the Atlantic shores of Paradise Island. Sol Kerzner tells his epic tale of a meteoric rise to success and what it means to “blow away the customer.”
By Seth Semilof & Ayesha Khan I Photography by Yann Dandois

[highlight_text] “It has been wonderful to have Sol as a mentor and boss, being able to work by his side from the initial dream and taking each project through to reality. [/highlight_text]

Louis XIV, France’s Roi Soleil, wowed the world with his elaborate manifestations of luxury, inimitable sense of style, dedication to his kingdom, and, most importantly, the largest and most elaborate palace Europe had ever seen. Today, over 300 years later, a new Sun King reigns supreme. His Versailles: a 171-acre mega flagship resort that is, quite simply, second to none. His vast realm reaches from the shores of Mexico to the tranquil waters of the Maldives, and his future is just as packed with pyrotechnics as his illustrious, sometimes controversial past. But the fact that, unlike his famous French namesake, he was not born into royalty makes his meteoric rise to success all the more remarkable. He is Sol Kerzner, the man who convinced the world that building a rainforest replete with one million hand-planted trees, waterfalls, and a man-made beach in the South African Bushveld makes perfect sense, and that a glass encased waterslide plummeting into a shark tank is great fun.

The self-made gaming magnate’s tough as nails reputation always precedes him, but today there is an endearing warmth about him. It must be Heather, the Columbia University-educated 37-year old beauty who became the fourth Mrs. Kerzner in 2000, and promptly convinced Kerzner to quit drinking. “It is an honor to be married to Sol and to be able to spend as much time with him as I do. He is incredible and the thing that I find most inspirational about Sol is his sense of humility and his sense of values, and how his family means everything to him in the world,” she confides to us. Both husband and wife are beaming at an intimate naming ceremony for their two newborn dolphins. The international press will soon be all over the young additions to Dolphin Cay, the 10 million gallon marine habitat that is home to 16 charming creatures rescued from Hurricane Katrina. But, for the moment, there is something almost magical about being with the Kerzners for such an important moment.

Heather recounts how Kerzner, despite his take-no-prisoners business attitude, has a soft side. “He takes time to head to schools to talk to eight-year-olds about following their dreams, which is what is special about Sol. While he is running a billion dollar corporation, he also cares about the little things,” she explains, as we proceed to a chic cabana at the soon-to-be launched Cain at The Cove poolside lounge/bar to talk to the gaming czar and his first lady about his past, present, and future.

“We like to do things on a bigger scale,” asserts Kerzner, whose cohorts and colleagues take his “blow away the customer” mantra very seriously. “Everything we do is based around ‘blowing away the customer,’ and it is lead by Sol. He is a gracious host and he has this incredible way of making every welcome a unique experience, and this is passed down into the hotel staff and through to our guests at the resort. Being able to leave the guest pleasurably astounded at each turn is a real talent,” explains Alan Leibman, Kerzner International president and managing director. Leibman has worked closely with Sol Kerzner for over 12 years. “It has been wonderful to have Sol as a mentor and boss, being able to work by his side from the initial dream and taking each project through to reality. Whilst Sol has to be one of the toughest people to work for, because he genuinely lives and breathes that ‘good enough is never enough,’ he also brings to the table the tools and resources that enable us to deliver exceptional properties like no one else I have ever seen,” admits Leibman.

Kerzner’s story begins in a poor suburb of Johannesburg where his parents ran a café and, later, a modest, 50-room hotel in the resort town of Durban. Kerzner, always small for his age, was regularly taunted by students in school for his small stature and Russian-Jewish roots. What they didn’t realize was that this harassment would play a key factor in shaping Kerzner’s single-minded determination. Although his college years took him into chartered accounting (and the beginnings of a lucrative boxing and wrestling career, which he is very proud of), Kerzner knew that he wanted to revolutionize the way people experienced resorts, both in his country and around the world. His first big gamble was his investment in an underdeveloped site on a stretch of beachfront at Umhlanga Rocks, a tiny fishing village in South Africa. With backing from his former accounting clients, Kerzner proceeded to build South Africa’s first five-star hotel, the Beverly Hills, which featured the novel concept of a complete resort, combining entertainment and sports facilities with a mix of restaurants and bars. Kerzner was only 29. Within one year, the hotel was dubbed the premier resort for local and international tourists, and remains relevant to this day.

After the success of the Beverly Hills, Kerzner launched the Southern Sun chain, which opened some thirty hotels around the country. Always the perfect gambler, Kerzner subsequently sold his shares in Southern Sun to focus on a new company called Sun International, and embarked upon the much talked about Sun City project. Skeptics had bleak forecasts for a resort located on a secluded government-declared “homeland” over two hours away from Johannesburg. “I remember when he came up with the plans we all thought ‘Who is this mad man? This guy is going to flop!’ as it was over two hours away from anything! Little did I know, that when it was built, I personally would drive there after work, and party and have fun almost every weekend,” recalls South African-born George Markantonis, now the general manager of Atlantis. But Kerzner turned a blind eye to naysayers; he saw something that nobody else could imagine. The result was a $267 million African-fantasy themed resort, the most ambitious resort development in South Africa, featuring a 62-acre man-made jungle and the massive ‘Valley of Waves,’ a glorified pool big enough for hundreds of guests to swim, and even surf, its artificial currents.

What truly set Sun City apart was Kerzner’s vision; one that saw black and white South Africans free to eat, drink and gamble in the same resort. “Sun City at the time was very controversial. And it was my belief that we were doing something very significant and meaningful. South Africa was a white South Africa back in those days-it was the 80’s. So, Sun City was very unusual to have the type of environment where everybody was able to have fun together. I thought we were contributing to a change of the color barriers,” explains Kerzner. And when, in 1994, South Africa emerged from the grim days of apartheid, Sun City took center stage for the Miss World pageant, immediately thrusting the young, free country into international acclaim. With a string of successes in his native country to his credit, Kerzner was now ready to take on the world.

The ambitious visionary turned to Britain, where he intended to conceive another mega gaming project. But Kerzner suddenly had a change of heart and withdrew his bid for a gaming license. He had been approached by Lazards, a group of investment bankers, to see whether his company was interested in acquiring a bankrupt little Bahamian property called the Paradise Island Resort. “I had been to Paradise Island in the late 60’s, and I had always said, ‘what if?’ So, I said to Paul (O’Neil, Kerzner International COO) this is fantastic. You have the beach right here with an amazing ocean. So, we spoke with the investment bankers in the early 90’s in hopes to acquire it.” Kerzner had his work cut out for him. Tourism in the Bahamas was seriously lagging and the Paradise Island Resort had fallen into disrepair, despite rehabilitation attempts by the likes of Donald Trump and Merv Griffin.

Kerzner was inspired by Plato’s legendary accounts of a wealthy civilization, presided over by Poseidon’s sons, where arts, sciences, and beauty flourished. Legend has it that a devastating earthquake sank the vast continent. Being the incurable visionary that he is, Kerzner sought to create the sequel, where the Lost Continent would rise once again. The result was Atlantis, home to the world’s largest open-air marine environment, 20 million gallons of salt and freshwater, 100,000 square feet of world class gaming and convention faculties, and over 2,900 rooms. The Bahamas was back on the map thanks to the unfailing efforts of Kerzner, the only man who could take a bankrupt resort and turn it into one of the most sought-after destinations in the Northern Hemisphere. What’s more, the true theatrics of the resort have created the ideal backdrop for countless TV shows and movies, including Brett Ratner’s After the Sunset. “Sol has done for the hospitality industry what Disney did for entertainment: he brought it to life,” Ratner told us. Even today, Atlantis continues to be a massive tourist draw. In the past ten years alone, some five million visitors passed through its colossal gates.
But Kerzner, hardly content to rest on his laurels, set out to plot his next bold move- One&Only Resorts, a complete departure from the overt megalomania of Atlantis. In fact, One&Only was the anti-Atlantis. “We have the opportunity to offer very unique, very high-end hotels in different destinations with One&Only. This is not a destination resort. It is a destination, but not like Atlantis at all,” explains Kerzner. Set in six of the world’s finest seaside localities, these luxury resorts brought an understated sophistication to an emerging luxury lifestyle niche in the hospitality market. Within a matter of years, Kerzner had secured prime sites in Dubai, the Maldives, Mauritius, and Mexico. “We provide choices, while we still are a very private, small, ultra-luxury resort. I see One&Only developing further in interesting resort destinations around the world,” says Kerzner. “We are actively looking for global opportunities. We are looking in Bali, Thailand, and more. With One&Only we definitely have ambitions to continue to create more luxury destinations.” The next One&Only resort is set on the prestigious Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town, and is due to surpass all of its counterparts in luxury and scale.

For the moment, all eyes are on The Cove, Atlantis, the latest addition to Paradise Island. Designed to attract a fresh crop of luxury visitors to the 12-year old resort, The Cove, Atlantis is a hybrid of the intimacy and smart luxury of One&Only resorts and the wow factor of Atlantis. “I think in many ways, that The Cove, Atlantis could be a One&Only resort. But, we didn’t want to sell two brands at the same spot, which is why we decided to call it The Cove, Atlantis. We want to give [the hotel] its own identity, to be a very unusual place that is very sensational,” says Kerzner of the all-suite resort conceptualized by famed designers Jeffrey Beers and David Rockwell. Even after three days of the resort’s launch, he is seen walking the halls at all hours, personally rehashing design elements and every detail that makes his resorts so special. “There were many significant moments in the process that the design rooms were filled with experts all having graduate degrees, yet we were facing challenges that we had no answers for,” recalls the resort’s general manager, John Conway. “At these tense moments it was very inspiring to see Sol Kerzner himself grab the pencil and tracing paper and start drawing. And more times than he would admit, he would come up with the solution.” And if there was one single attribute that made Kerzner so successful, this undying dedication would be it. Even as we speak, he is constantly revaluating the décor of the cabanas at Cain at The Cove, rearranging cushions and peering out the windows to ensure every view from every angle is perfect. At one point, he realizes there are too many plants outside the window, and, within minutes, they are gone. Like a true artist, Kerzner will not rest until everything is perfect.

And the results are the closest to perfect that we have seen. Designed as an all-encompassing experience, the resort unfurls in a series of indoor/outdoor spaces. The temple-like lobby rises to 35 feet and is filled with sleek mood lighting effects, which alternate between blues, oranges, and magentas as the day progresses. Ranging in size from 650 to 4,000 square feet, the generous suites feature sleek, clean lines and neutral color palettes. Rounding out the luxury offerings at The Cove is an impressive series of firsts from the likes of Bobby Flay (opening his first Mesa Grill outside the United States), Cain nightclub owner Jamie Mulholland (launching his first beach club, Cain at The Cove), and style maven Eva Jeanbart-Lorenzotti, (who chose to launch her first luxury boutique, Escape, at The Cove). “The Cove is a wonderful place, it is unique, it is special in the way that it was designed, and the feelings that you have here. The idea of not starting in New York, or London or Paris, which is where you are expected to start, the idea of discovery, the idea of travelling- it all made sense,” said Jeanbart-Lorenzotti when asked why she chose to launch her flagship boutique at The Cove Atlantis. “Having the opportunity to work with someone like Sol Kerzner is an honor, and it is interesting because everyone here has that inspiration from him, which is being creative, thinking out of the box. It was a risk, and I think it was a fantastic one, and I am happy that I did it. I just think that he is an incredible businessman. He has managed to create his own Paradise Island, which is something that is completely unique,” she added.

South African-born Jamie Mulholland saw it differently. He confided to us that Kerzner was always one of his idols, and so he always strove to emulate his success. “To me, since I started my first club Cain in New York, I always thought ‘What would Sol do?’ I always looked up to him, and for me to open this beach club is a huge honor, but I also realize that I must deliver a great experience for his guests. I am confident that we have one of the finest beach club environments in the world, and we are going to build a great attraction for his hotel.”
So what does the future hold for a man who has single-handedly boosted the economies of entire nations and was recently dubbed “the greatest entrepreneur in the tourism industry” by Nelson Mandela- the ultimate prize of Las Vegas, perhaps? “You can never rule anything out,” says Kerzner. “I don’t do it to do it. I would go to Las Vegas if it made sense. I would only go if there was the opportunity to make it happen.”

The next few years will see Kerzner making it happen in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where a new chapter in the Atlantis saga is befittingly set in the burgeoning Persian Gulf state, a modern-day Atlantis story. The 112.5-acre site will crown The Palm, Jumeirah, one of three ambitious man-made islands, and will feature the region’s largest water park, a marine habitat housing 65,000 sea animals, 1,539 rooms, and an entertainment village, featuring over 80,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Like its Paradise Island predecessor, Atlantis, The Palm will feature an arsenal of well-known names including Nobu (in his Middle East debut), Michel Rostang, and Ministry of Sound.

“The whole journey has been carefully designed as a sensory and emotional experience. From the first glimpse of the arch, visitors will be delighted by every detail. One of the most striking features has to be the Dig Lobby called Poseidon’s Court with its 40-foot wide window into the deep where Poseidon’s throne is located. It is surrounded by water and still sunken in the ocean,” said Kerzner Development’s VP of Development Gil Oveido, giving us a sneak peak into the wonders that are soon to unfold. “Without question, the most striking design element of the project is the Arabian arch beneath the bridge suite. This signature element, in a different form from the bridge suite in the Bahamas, gives the project the distinct cultural identity apart from all other resort projects in the world,” he added.

All these marvels aside, the gaming aspect will be noticeably absent from the Middle Eastern installment. “Dubai is an amazing destination. It is very unusual. From that standpoint, we think this is a place where we will succeed. The fact is that we don’t have gaming there. But, our food, beverage, and entertainment factor is still the biggest for Atlantis. If we could, we would like to have a casino in Dubai. But, I feel Atlantis will be successful in Dubai as a destination hotel.” says Kerzner. But Kerzner is not one to jump on the bandwagon. In fact, it was Kerzner’s One&Only Royal Mirage that headed a pioneering crop of hotels that have made Dubai the tourist haven it is today. But what made him invest in Dubai? “You have a government that is very interested in bringing in visitors to the city; you have an airline that is the most dynamic airline in the world. Dubai markets itself sensationally. And Dubai, by world standards, is pretty phenomenal. That is the reason why we are building Atlantis in Dubai.”

Also set in the Middle East, Mazagan, located 50 miles southwest of Casablanca, is set along a pristine stretch of Morocco’s Atlantic Coast. Named for the 16th century Portuguese fortification in modern day El Jadida, Mazagan will feature 500 guest rooms and suites, 20,000 square feet of spa space, and, of course, the ever-important state-of-the-art casino. An 18-hole Gary Player golf course will round out the luxury facilities offered at this $230 million development.

And so, as the sun sets over Paradise Island, and lights go up on Cain at the Cove, Sol Kerzner leaves us with a warm smile and these enduring thoughts: “It is all about the people. I just always want to make my customers happy, and I never stop thinking of new ideas.” Timeless words from a living legend.