Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart and his son Adam talk about family, work, and the decades-long success of Sandals Resorts International. By Polly Evans.

Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, founder and chairman of Sandals Resorts International, opened his first hotel in Jamaica’s Montego Bay in 1981 – the same year that his son Adam was born. Today, the Sandals resorts number 12, and Stewart’s hospitality empire has grown to include the Beaches, Royal Plantation Collection and Grand Pineapple brands. As for that other tiny newborn – he’s now the company’s CEO. ‘Adam has lived and breathed the industry his entire life,’ Butch Stewart says. ‘His knowledge and passion for the business have been evident from the very beginning.’ Adam Stewart concurs. ‘Growing up beside Sandals has meant that it has become like a sibling, an integral part of my life,’ he says. ‘It was fantastic to see the brand coming to life and hotels developing from the perspective of a child, it made it even more special and exciting.’ His earliest memories of Sandals begin at the age of about four or five.

‘I remember the construction of Negril well, especially the bonfi res and dinners that we used to have on the beach whilst the hotel was still a construction site. I also remember spending around six weeks in Antigua one summer whilst the Grande was being built. I was aged about nine or 10 and used to drive the workers around the site on a golf buggy! A lot of people who worked there then are still there now and I can reminisce with them about past times. It really is invaluable having such a fantastic insight into each and every one of the resorts and knowing the people, history and stories behind them.’