Jamaican hotelier Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart dies in the United States at 79

Jamaican hotelier Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart  died in the United States on Monday evening. He was 79.

Stewart was the founder of Sandals Resorts, the leading hotel chain in the Caribbean, Beaches Resorts, and their parent company Sandals Resorts International, as well as The ATL Group and The Jamaica Observer.

He was born in Kingston, Jamaica and grew up along the country’s north coast, where he came to be known as “Butch”, a nickname given to him by an American sailor.

In 1981, Stewart ventured into the hospitality business with the acquisition of a few resort properties in Montego Bay, St James, one of which was upgraded and later launched as the precursor to what is now Sandals Montego Bay.

Stewart’s hospitality interests later expanded into Sandals Resorts, which was the first company to widely offer the concept of all-inclusive holidays in the Caribbean region.

Within a decade, he  established a chain of all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica, stretching from Negril to Ocho Rios along the north coast, before venturing overseas with the all-inclusive concept, including to Antigua in 1991, which was his first resort outside of Jamaica.

Over the years since, he has added more resorts in Jamaica and also in Saint Lucia, The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Stewart was reported to have been  ailing for some time.

His son, Adam said his father ” chose to keep a very recent health diagnosis private and we respected that wish.”