#233: Rawlins Plantation (pg 888; 2nd Ed pg 1100)

My dad and I in St. Kitts Nov 29, 2018

Overlooking where the Atlantic and the Caribbean come together.

This is NOT Rawlins Plantation.  Why?  Because it no longer exists.  When I arrived in Basseterre, I hired a driver to take me to Rawlins Plantation.  She told me that it no longer exists.  I started asking her questions.  She started telling me all about it, but ultimately told me to "go home and look it up."  So I did and this is what I found.... (written by the daughter of the owner)

....Years later my Father retired from the Army and went back there to run the Estate. I went out there for holidays and we swam in the huge water cistern with the wonderful Lilies growing round it. Every morning we had early morning tea on the virandah watching the sun rise, before walking the dogs up the mountain track and round the cane fields, where my Father would tell me all about growing the sugar cane. The dogs would sometimes chase the Vervet monkeys but they escaped up a tree. But all good things come to an end. Following the Nationalization of the Sugar Plantations by the Government, lands were compulsory taken over initially without any recompense to the owners, who had subsequently lost their Plantations overnight which had been in their ownership for centuries and in some cases for 300 years following which many Plantations were abandoned.

My parents were offered a job by a hotel owner on Nevis to manage their Nisbet Plantation Hotel. It was a famous coconut plantation. On one holiday my Father made a raft for my children, his grandchildren to play pirates upon in the shallows. Members of the Rockerfeller family who were staying at Nisbet, took a day trip to neighbouring St.Kitts and visited my parent’s family home to enjoy the superb views over the Statia channel and St. Barts.  Upon their return they were so spellbound by the location of Rawlins (family home) that they encouraged my parents to turn it into a Plantation Inn, instead of working for others. Saying they would bring their friends from America to stay once it was opened, which they did. They so enjoyed their experience that many of their friends followed in their footsteps.  My parents & brother worked very hard over the years to turn the old sugar buildings into stunning Caribbean style accommodations which gained international following with many guests returning year after year including the legendary Baron Edmund de Rothschild.

My mother worked hard in the hot kitchen to produce delicious meals for the guests and her remarkable homemade soups using local ingredients  became famous! My Mother & Brother created Botanical gardens for the guests to walk around & enjoy. The magnificent Royal Palms, The African Tulip trees, Flamboyants, Hibiscus, Bougainvillea and many others. A virtual garden of Eden together with a mountain spring fed swimming pool and grass tennis courts.  My Father was front man, making guests his famous Rum Punches and telling stories of the history of the island and sugar in the Caribbean.

My brother sold the hotel after 20 years in the business to devote himself to other business interests. Thus the demise of Rawlins Plantation began, with it changing hands and a dramatic murder of one of the staff and the alleged perpetrator, the hotel’s General Manager is currently still in jail on St.Kitts awaiting trial. Following the murder Rawlins closed it’s doors followed by the recent inferno (May 9 2015). A tragic ending to a once loved family home. Doubtless Rawlins Plantation will arise again from the ashes and once again give pleasure to those who seek to enjoy the beauty of the Caribbean.

Written by : Susie Groom

Needless to say.... Verdict: No

Note:  I am writing this on 2/24/19 after reading the 2nd Edition, where the book simply lists "St Kitts" (for obvious reasons as per the above!)  So, now the verdict is not so obvious.  But I think in the end, for me it stays the same.  We had a great day in St. Kitts just a few months ago.  We swam with dolphins, we toured the island, we held monkeys, we had a great time!  But there still wasn't anything that necessarily stood out about this island that you can't see or do on most other caribbean islands.