Tourism Legends Awards: Laura Hunte

During its 2025 Annual General Meeting on Friday, March 28th 2025 the SLHTA awarded Laura Hunte with a Tourism Legends Award, in appreciation of her many years of dedicated service, devotion and commitment to the hospitality and tourism industry.

Laura Hunte was born on the 10^thMay 1943. She attended St. Joseph’s Convent where she excelled academically and was selected to play on the Saint Lucia National Netball Team and participated  in the Caribbean Netball Championships receiving the award for the top goal shoot. She attended Queen Elizabeth’s College at London University and pursued a degree in Institutional Management.

Collin Hunte (left) and Errol Hunte (right) receiving the Tourism Legends Award on behalf of Laura Hunte.

On her return to Saint Lucia, she became the Assistant Manager at the Villa Hotel located on Morne Fortune from 1960 to 1962.  It was originally a seven-room guest house which was acquired by her father in 1953 from Harold and Joseph Devaux, Directors of Minvielle & Chastanet . It was renovated and expanded to a 30-room hotel. In 1957 they acquired a beachfront property at Choc Bay  and the Villa Hotel Beach Club was built. There were 4 detached bungalows, a restaurant and a bar bought from the US Government when Beanfield Naval Air Base in Vieux Fort was closed in 1958.

In 1962 Laura married Errol Hunte, a Customs Officer and National Football Player. She then became the General Manager of both the Villa Hotel & Beach Club at the age of 20. She immediately set about changing the way the hotel, which was established in the “Colonial Era,”  was operated. There was a policy that jackets & ties were compulsory at dinner time for dining at the restaurant. The waitresses wore formal uniforms, white aprons & caps. She changed the uniforms to reflect our  creole cultural heritage and introduced the use of madras as part of the uniforms.

Guests were allowed to wear less formal attire for dining . Her husband joined her in 1965 to assist with Operations & Maintenance and together they added a Patio Bar, an informal dining area and an indoor area for games. She created an additional revenue stream by renting out the facilities at the Villa Hotel for social gatherings and conferences . She organized fashion shows, buffet dinners and dances for local patrons.  Popular local bands like Tru Tones, Quavers Orchestra, and Big Six were a staple. Meetings facilities were  also added.

She then turned her attention to the Villa Beach Club which was expanded to include a restaurant and bar on the beach at Choc Bay. The indoor dining area was flanked by a  large open-air terrace with a sunken bar and thatched roof and became a favorite spot for elegant dining and entertainment. Guests could stay either at the bungalows on Choc beach or at the hotel on Morne Fortune. Guests staying at the Villa Hotel were offered transportation to & from the Villa Beach. There were private cabanas and guests had the option of taking along a picnic lunch from the hotel or patronizing the restaurant at the Villa Beach Club.

The Villa Beach Club was operated under different restauranteurs and names like “Surrocco”, “Kings Arms”, “Camelot” and “Chungs” would be familiar.

When the installation of runway lights at Vigie Airport was completed, she extended the Front Office hours at the hotel to 11.00 pm and doubled the staff complement . Many of the team members were employed for over 50 years.

She and her husband hosted many guests in the 1960’, 70’s and 80’s including John Van Geest of Geest Industries, Jay Pritzker the founder of Hyatt Hotels , Marchion & Marchioness of Banford, Sir Garfield Sobers , the West Indies Cricket Team, the Pakistani Cricket Team, many Caribbean Prime Ministers and dignitaries . She was instrumental in in the mid-seventies of  promoting a Dine-Around Program with 7 other hotels in the North of the island in collaboration with the St. Lucia Hotel Association.

The Villa Hotel operated successfully as a hotel until the early 1990’s, when it was converted into an Apartment Complex of 22 fully self-contained one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. This decision proved to be very successful, and she and her husband continued to manage the Villa Apartments for another 15 years.

The Villa Beach Club with its 4 bungalows on the beach hosted many repeat guests like Adelaide Rice from New York who visited 28 times and Sir Derek Walcott when he come home on holidays during is tenure as a Professor of Literature at Botson University. This property was converted into a fully self-contained apartment hotel and now operates as Villa Beach Cottages, with 20 fully self-contained villa suites, two swimming pools and a restaurant and bar.

Hunte and her husband Errol both in their 80’s are now retired but are still actively involved in guiding and mentoring the next generation in the management of the properties to ensure the legacy created by her father a pioneer in the hotel industry here continues.

She is an inspiration and although she remains out of the limelight we celebrate her and recognize her for her invaluable contribution to the island’s tourism industry.