Sandy Lane is a luxury five star beach-front resort situated close to Holetown and Paynes Bay, in Saint James on the island-nation of Barbados. Sandy Lane was first opened in 1933 after Ronald Tree, a former British politician, had an idea to build a luxury hotel and golf course on what was an old sugar plantation named 'Sandy Lane'. In 1998, after being put up for sale by Granada plc, a group of five Irish businessmen including J. P. McManus, Dermot Desmond and John Magnier, bought the hotel. The original resort was then demolished and for three years underwent a $450 million upgrade and renovation. The brand new resort, designed by Richmond International was then reopened in March 2001. In 2009 Sandy Lane became a member of The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW).