Inside the hotel made for plus-sized people – with extra-wide doors and reinforced sunbeds
Located on the Caribbean island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas, The Resort caters for holidaymakers above 30st
METRE-wide sun loungers, kingsize beds with rein-forced steel frames and a monster buffet of pasta, curry and pastries – heralded three times a day with a special bell.
Welcome to Club 18-30 STONE.
Tucked away on the Caribbean island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas, The Resort is the world’s only custom-built hotel for plus-sized people.
It even caters for holidaymakers above 30st, providing a haven of relaxation without fear of judgment.
All the rooms have been adapted for the fuller figure, with doorways widened and every chair almost a metre wide and able to withstand more than 40st of bulky sun-seeker.
It was the perfect place where 24st Ami Flaherty and her 22st husband Adam could finally enjoy the paradise break they had dreamed of.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Ami, 28, said: “I could jump in the pool and not worry about how big a splash I made.
“Or I could lie on a sun lounger which was made from strong Brazilian wood, so I didn’t have to worry about breaking it.
“In the past I’ve broken plastic loungers and although I’ve always laughed it off at the time, I was left mortified and wanted the world to swallow me up.
“But when you know a hotel has been specially made for plus-sized people, you don’t have to worry about breaking any furniture or not fitting into anything because you can relax and just go for it.”
With 12million Brits classed as obese and a fifth of the world’s population expected to be obese in the next decade, there is now a big market for friendly plus-sized holidays.
Adam and Ami are among a group of obese Brits who visited The Resort for a new ITV programme, The 18-30 Stone Holiday.
It was a second chance for the couple, whose honeymoon at a five-star Egyptian resort in December 2014 was ruined when Ami’s anxiety about her body caught up with her.
The teaching assistant, from Stoke-on-Trent, said: “It started on the plane. My seatbelt didn’t fit and I needed an extender.
“Before I’d even asked for one, the air hostess looked at me and said, ‘Do you need an extender?’.
“The trip should have been the happiest time of my life but I just hid away in the hotel room for days, too embarrassed to go out in case people laughed at me. I hated every minute of it.”
Ami, who has a four-year-old daughter Olivia, added: “I didn’t want to put myself against gorgeous, thin girls. I didn’t want those girls judging me.”
Adam, 32, a forklift driver, said: “I kept telling Ami how beautiful she was but she didn’t listen.
“Her weight affected everything. It was boiling hot outside but she would wear a long white cardigan to cover herself up.
“The hotel was lovely and everything was perfect but due to Ami’s weight we just ended up arguing non-stop.
“We’d get ready to go to the pool and Ami would be looking over the balcony to see if there were skinny girls around the pool — and of course, there always were, so she’d rather stay in her room.
“After five days hiding away in the room, I told her we might as well just go home.
“She hated every picture I took and deleted all our honeymoon snaps off Instagram.”
But their experience on the programme was totally different.
Ami, who is 5ft 10in, said: “At The Resort everything is tailored for bigger people. We had our own beach and our own pool and I didn’t have to cover up because everyone was the same and no one would be laughing at us.”
Adam added: “I stripped off and dived in the pool. We did what we wanted without feeling judged.
“There is more to us than just our sizes, and the plus-sized holiday made us realise that.”
The Resort, which caters for a maximum of 28 guests, costs from £550 a week, all-inclusive, and encourages its visitors to indulge.
Adam said: “You could order American pancakes for breakfast, which have bacon and syrup on top. They were delicious.
“Every night there was a different-flavoured cake — it was the nicest cake in the world.
“There were only eight other guests at the resort and all of them were plus-sized like us.
“So we didn’t have to worry about people watching and laughing at us as we filled our plate or went back for seconds.
“We’d knock back cocktails and joke with the other guests about our big portion sizes. There was no pressure around our plate sizes.”
Ami added: “After dinner we would sit in a group with a body confidence coach and talk about our past and how to feel better about our size. It was a chance to face our demons and it could get quite emotional at times.”
As for activities, yoga was on offer every morning — yet the couple opted for something a little more unusual. Ami said: “Instead, we chose to go on a boat trip to another island to swim with pigs.
“We also went canoeing and paddle-boarding. I was terrified the canoe was going to sink or capsize. I’d never do these activities on a normal beach in front of onlookers but we had our own private beach so we didn’t need to worry.”
She added: “We loved our time at The Resort with the other guests. I was around women who shared the same fears as me.
“It was still difficult to take off my sarong and get in the pool, and at one point I stormed off as I didn’t want to do it on camera.
“But I asked one of the girls if I looked OK in my swimwear and she told me I looked beautiful and encouraged me to go for a swim.
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“In the end, I did. It was a big moment for me.”
Whereas Ami had deleted her honeymoon pictures from social media, she posted a picture of herself in a swimsuit at The Resort.
She said: “I felt confident for the first time in my life.”
Adam said: “Seeing Ami enjoy herself was emotional. I welled up just watching her.
“The first honeymoon had been a disaster but our time at The Resort made me think that maybe Ami can go on holiday without getting depressed about herself.
“She’s confident now and doesn’t care who is looking. If she’s ever having a moment, I remind her of how strong she was at The Resort.”
The couple — who met when Adam was working as a taxi driver and Ami was one of his fares — now plan to start eating more healthily, with their wedding pictures acting as motivation.
Ami said: “I had a wonderful day and married the love of my life but I hated the pictures.”
Adam said: “Now we are both making an effort to be healthier. But to me, Ami is beautiful, whatever her size.”
- The 18-30 Stone Holiday is on ITV at 9pm tonight.
