Paradise Island
A view of Paradise Island from above. This image does not show the new development of
Atlantis which is in the centre of the island.
The Royal Towers joined by the Bridge. The Bridge Suite, located in the span, is among the most expensive accommodations in the world at $25,000 a night.
- For the DC Comics island formerly known as Paradise Island, see Themyscira.
- For the islet in the US Minor Islands, see Palmyra Atoll.
Paradise Island is an island in the
Bahamas, located just off the shore of the city of
Nassau, which is itself located on the northern edge of the island of
New Providence. It is best known for the sprawling 'Vegas-by-the-sea resort'
Atlantis.
Paradise Island is connected to the island of New Providence by two bridges that cross Nassau Harbour. The first was built in 1966 by
Resorts International, and the second in the late 1990s.
Hog Island Lighthouse, constructed 1817 at the western tip of the island
Paradise Island was formerly known as Hog Island.
Huntington Hartford, the
A&P supermarket heir, arrived on Hog Island in 1959 because his sister Josephine Hartford Bryce lived in Xanadu near Lyford Cay. Josephine was married to Ivar Bryce,
Ian Fleming's best friend from
Eton and Janet Milford Haven's uncle.
Ivar Bryce's niece
Janet Bryce married
Prince Charles's Uncle
David Milford Haven and Janet is the mother of
Ivar Mountbatten and
George Milford Haven. Hartford bought Hog Island from
Axel Wenner-Gren and changed the name to Paradise Island. He hired the
Palm Beach architect John Volk and built the Ocean Club, Cafe Martinique, Hurricane Hole, the Golf Course, among other island landmarks. He also acquired and installed the Cloisters, a 14th-century French
Augustinian monastery originally purchased and dismantled by
William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s. He hired
Gary Player to be the Golf Pro and
Pancho Gonzales to be the Tennis Pro. His opening of Paradise Island in 1962 was covered in
Newsweek and
Time magazines. He hired the staff from Eden Roc at Hotel Du Cap to work off season at the Ocean Club. He had the fireworks for the opening party flown in from the South of France. He had a flag and Paradise Beach was featured on a Bahamian three-dollar bill in 1966 (introduced as a close equivalent to the Bahamian Pound, which was replaced at the rate of $1=7/-,
so $3=21/-).
Map depicting New Providence Island which is connected to Paradise Island via two bridges. Both smaller islands are within capital city Nassau's harbour.
Huntington Hartford met Jim Crosby through Huntington's Bodyguard Sy Alter. Sy Alter met Jim Crosby at the Colony Club in Palm Beach. Huntington Hartford got the gambling License for Paradise Island and included Jim Crosby as an Extra Investor. Jim Crosby and Jack Davis then formed a company, Resorts International, to continue developing Paradise Island.
[1][2] Recognizing the business potential of the Bahamas, they were the first to establish major resort development, and introduce fair salaries to the Bahamas.
[citation needed] Jack Davis, continued to develop Paradise Island. They built the bridge to Nassau, and the first large-scale resorts. He subsequently parlayed these profits to secure and pass a referendum on legalizing gambling in Atlantic City, funding and creating the successful statewide advertising campaign to singlehandedly achieve this city's rebirth from its ashes. Resorts built the first casino, and with no competition for the first year, due to their incredible gamble, made over $300 million profit
[citation needed]. Resorts stock went from between $1–3 to over $200, and was the only stock to ever make the front page of the LA Times
[citation needed].
[edit] In film
- The Beatles' film Help! was partially filmed on Paradise Island.
- The James Bond film Thunderball was partially filmed on Paradise Island.
- On the TV series Friends Monica and Chandler's honeymoon is spent at the Atlantis.
- Casino Royale was filmed at the Ocean Club on Paradise Island and Diane Hartford had a small speaking part.
- The Mary-Kate and Ashley movie Holiday in the Sun was filmed on the island. The group stayed in the Atlantis Hotel.
- Woody Harrelson's character stayed in the Bridge Suite at the Atlantis hotel throughout the film After the Sunset.
- In the TV show My Wife and Kids, Michael and his family went to Paradise Island for a family vacation.
- The movie Into The Blue, starring Paul Walker and Jessica Alba, takes place on Paradise Island and in the surrounding ocean. The Atlantis Hotel is seen in the beginning when Jessica Alba's character is doing her job of showing the visitors the many sea animals in the aquarium by the hotel's pool.
- In the US TV show Ugly Betty, the season 4 episode "The Bahamas Triangle" was filmed in Atlantis and in and around Paradise Island. The episode also features celebrity Shakira who makes an guest appearance in the episode and also lives in the Bahamas.
[edit] Paradise Island's early resort development
View towards Nassau from the 14th French monastery cloisters on Paradise Island
Hartford also acquired and installed the Cloisters, a French 14th-century
Augustinian monastery, originally purchased and dismantled in the 1920s by
William Randolph Hearst.
Paradise Island was purchased in the 1980s by
Donald Trump for $79 million, then sold to
Merv Griffin for $400 million. It was last sold for $125 million to the current owner,
Sol Kerzner. The current estimated value of the island is about $2 billion USD.
Coordinates: 
25°05′N 77°20′W / 25.083°N 77.333°W / 25.083; -77.333
Source;www.wikipedia.com
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