The Bitter End Yacht Club was founded in 1969. The Hokin family, which owns it today, bought it in 1973. They paid in gold boullion and turned the Virgin Gorda destination into a waypoint that countless boaters have visited throughout the decades. Then, in 2017, Hurricane Irma demolished the Bitter End’s 64 aces and 100 buildings, along with the lives of countless people across the British Virgin Islands. The Hokins—while trying to figure out how to clear their own debris and rebuild—created the nonprofit Bitter End Foundation. It has since raised and distributed more than $900,000. As reconstruction began, the Hokins turned a 1973 Holiday Rambler camper into a rum bar and pop-up shop that attended boat shows and sailing events along the US East Coast. They also launched Bitter End Provisions online, for gear and nautical gifts that helped fund the foundation. The resort started reopening in 2021, with reconstruction continuing today.
What the Sailors Say
In March, regatta racing returned to the Bitter End Yacht Club for the first time since the hurricane’s destruction. Crews from the maxi regatta—some who sail all over the globe—were among the first people who had a chance to check out all the newly rebuilt accommodations and guest areas. “We had several hundred sailors, support staff—this place had to be done and look phenomenal,” Lauren Hokin says. “I’m very proud to say we really pulled it off. It was such great validation from all these people who have very high expectations and live in this rarefied world. Bitter End hosted several nights of sundowner cocktails, and the big end-of-event party was with us. I was so jazzed to see people genuinely loving the place—the feel, the style, just feeling really at home and having a blast. It validated the path that we chose. It was creating a modern interpretation of this place that has been in our family for 50 years, and really staying true to it.”
Rebuilt With Nature in Mind
Lauren Hokin says her father, Richard Hokin, designed the accommodations, while she and Bitter End’s president, Kerri Quinn Jaffe, handled the interiors. “They are so fitting to the place and beautiful,” Hokin says. “The finishes and everything are very elevated, but they’re right for the place. They feel like a very elegant, beautiful beach shack.” The new beach bungalows are on a bluff overlooking the water, so guests can walk out the door and have their bare feet in the sand. “It’s 10 steps to the ocean. That’s pretty amazing,” she says. “And they’re oriented west, so you get to watch the sunset and overlook the whole anchorage. For somebody who loves the water but doesn’t want to sleep on the boat for the night, it’s as close as you can get to being at sea.” The idea, she adds, was to rebuild with nature all around: “We tried to tuck in a lot of landscaping, the trees and flowers, so they feel like these gems tucked into their own lush, tropical landscape.”
