Club Med Is Turning This Legendary St. Croix Resort into Its Newest All-Inclusive Resort – And It’s First New US Property in Decades

The all-inclusive pioneer is returning to American soil with a sweeping redevelopment of the historic Carambola Beach Resort — its first property in the U.S. in years.

One of the most storied beachfront properties in the U.S. Virgin Islands is about to begin an entirely new chapter. Club Med, the company that effectively invented the all-inclusive resort, is taking over the legendary Carambola Beach Resort on St. Croix.

The brand announced the acquisition and planned redevelopment alongside VICI Properties, the S&P 500 experiential real estate investment trust, in a deal that marks Club Med’s return to U.S. shores. It is a homecoming that has been decades in the making.

For more than seven decades, Club Med has welcomed North American guests to resorts in some of the most coveted corners of the world. The new Club Med St. Croix will be its reentry onto American soil — and a statement of intent for one of the Caribbean’s most underrated islands.

The numbers behind the company make the moment land with even more weight. Club Med operates nearly 60 resorts across the globe, and it remains the recognized leader in the premium all-inclusive category it pioneered.

The structure of the deal is itself notable. Following VICI’s acquisition of the Carambola Beach Resort, the real estate trust has entered into a long-term triple-net lease with Club Med and will fund the property’s redevelopment.

Club Med, in turn, will run operations at the 150-key resort, transforming it into what the company describes as a model for sustainable, culturally rich, all-inclusive hospitality in the region. The property is set to join Club Med’s Exclusive Collection, the brand’s most refined portfolio of premium resorts.

That collection is defined by elevated design, deeply personalized service and exceptional experiences in extraordinary settings. And on St. Croix, the setting could hardly be more extraordinary.

The resort sits nestled between a crescent beach and a tropical rainforest on the island’s lush northwest coast, one of the most cinematic stretches of shoreline anywhere in the Virgin Islands. It is the kind of location that has drawn admirers for generations.

The history here runs deep. Carambola was originally built in 1986 by Laurance Rockefeller, the philanthropist and conservation pioneer whose vision shaped some of the Caribbean’s most beloved properties.

Rockefeller’s fingerprints are all over the region’s most enduring hotels, from the legendary resorts of the British Virgin Islands to the protected landscapes of St. John. Carambola reflected his enduring belief that hospitality and preservation could exist in balance.

Club Med says its redevelopment will honor exactly that legacy. The plans envision a comprehensive renovation that preserves the property’s natural beauty and historic roots while elevating it to the standards of the Exclusive Collection.

“The U.S. Virgin Islands represent an exciting new chapter for Club Med,” said Carolyne Doyon, President and CEO of Club Med North America and the Caribbean. She pointed to St. Croix’s natural beauty, community spirit and cultural roots as central to the project’s vision.

For VICI, the partnership represents the start of what both companies hope will be a long relationship. John Payne, President and COO of VICI, called Club Med a true pioneer of the premium all-inclusive experience and said Carambola was an ideal asset to launch the relationship.

To understand why the move matters, it helps to understand St. Croix itself. The largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, it is a place that has long flown beneath the radar of the wider Caribbean travel conversation.

That has always been part of its charm. While its sister islands leaned into cruise traffic and tourism volume, St. Croix held onto something rarer — a genuine sense of place, shaped by centuries of culture, agriculture and Danish colonial history.

The island stretches some 28 miles end to end, bracketed by two historic towns that feel worlds apart. On the eastern side sits Christiansted, with its pastel arcades, waterfront boardwalk and a national historic site anchored by the golden-walled Fort Christiansvaern.

On the western end is Frederiksted, a quieter, artsier harbor town famed for its sunsets and its color-soaked streets. Between them lies a landscape that ranges from dry coastal scrub to genuine rainforest, threaded with mahogany trees and winding scenic roads.

St. Croix is also home to Point Udall, the easternmost point in the United States, where the sun first touches American soil each morning. And just offshore lies Buck Island Reef National Monument, one of the finest snorkeling destinations in the entire Caribbean.

Then there is the rum. St. Croix is a rum island to its core, home to the historic Cruzan Rum distillery and the sprawling Captain Morgan facility, with a sugar and distilling heritage that stretches back centuries.

All of which is to say that Club Med is not simply planting a flag on a pretty beach. It is entering a destination with one of the richest cultural and historical tapestries in the region.

It is also entering a hotel landscape with real character, anchored by a small but mighty collection of independent properties that locals and repeat visitors hold dear, including some of our favorites.

One is The Fred, the boutique hotel in the heart of Frederiksted that has become something of a cult favorite. With its riot of color, its art-forward design and its laid-back, beachfront sensibility, it captures the unpretentious creativity that runs through the west end of the island.

The Fred is the kind of place that feels like a secret even when it is fully booked. It is beloved precisely because it could not exist anywhere else, perched on the calm Caribbean waters where the island’s celebrated sunsets put on their nightly show.

Another is The Buccaneer, the grande dame of St. Croix hotels and one of the most remarkable properties in the Caribbean. Family-owned and family-run across generations, the resort is approaching a milestone almost no hotel in the region can claim.

Next year, The Buccaneer will celebrate its 80th anniversary, marking eight decades of continuous operation under the same family. Spread across hundreds of acres on the island’s east end, with three beaches, a historic great house and an oceanfront golf course, it remains a benchmark for old-world Caribbean hospitality.

Together, properties like The Fred and The Buccaneer have carried St. Croix’s reputation for years, proof that the island has always punched above its weight. The arrival of a globally recognized brand like Club Med adds a powerful new dimension to that story.

The economic stakes are significant. Once complete, the redevelopment is projected to generate approximately 200 direct jobs, along with at least as many indirect opportunities across the island.

The resort is expected to ripple far beyond its own gates, fueling collaborations with excursion operators, service providers, and local farmers and artisans. The connection between tourism and the broader community sits at the heart of the project’s stated mission.

Discussions with senior government officials have centered on shared ambitions around local employment, education and training, business development and responsible tourism. Club Med says it plans to continue engaging with the community in the coming months to share further details.

Sustainability is built into the plan as well. Aligned with the brand’s Happy to Care commitments, the project will target BREEAM and Green Globe certifications, two of the most respected benchmarks of environmental design and operational responsibility in hospitality.

Those goals dovetail neatly with the conservation ethos that Laurance Rockefeller brought to the property nearly four decades ago. In that sense, Club Med’s vision is less a reinvention than a continuation.

Governor Albert Bryan Jr. called the arrival of the Club Med brand another significant milestone in the continued economic growth and revitalization of the islands, and of St. Croix in particular.

He framed tourism as a key driver of opportunity and investment for the territory, and said the government looked forward to growing the partnership. The message was unmistakable: St. Croix is open, ambitious and ready for its next act.

The project is a flagship moment. Club Med St. Croix is designed to attract guests from the United States, Canada and around the world seeking a high-quality, all-inclusive experience in a singular island setting — as the company tries to reposition itself in the US market. 

It is the rare development that manages to feel both forward-looking and deeply rooted in place. A historic Rockefeller property, reborn for a new era, on an island that has always known exactly who it is.

And it positions St. Croix at the center of one of the most compelling stories in Caribbean travel right now. The largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, long cherished by those in the know, is finally getting the global spotlight its beaches, its rainforest and its rum-soaked history have always deserved.

The transformation of Carambola will take time, and Club Med has been careful to signal patience and partnership over speed. But the destination it is betting on has been here all along, waiting just beyond the cruise crowds and the postcards.

A crescent of sand, a wall of green rainforest, and the warm Caribbean stretching out toward the horizon. On St. Croix, the future of all-inclusive travel is being built on a foundation that is very, very old — and that is precisely the point.

It’s the first US resort for Club Med in decades, and will be the only one in the country. Club Med’s last U.S. property was Club Med Sandpiper Bay in Port St. Lucie, Florida — its only remaining American resort, which operated until it was sold and the brand exited U.S. soil.

So what’s the timeline? Looking like the next year or two. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2026, followed by a targeted reopening in Q4 2027 — which typically means the first or second quarter of 2028 — if you follow hotel opening timelines.