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Yousef Nazall

Yousef arrived on island to attend the re-opening of the Cane Bay Hotel in 1979. The morning after the gala event, he walked down the road from Cane Bay to North Star. He was intrigued with the property and walked up the driveway where we met and discussed the property. Within a month he became the new owner (purchase price of $700,000 for 70 acres - 5 houses/pool/grounds). I continued to manage the property. Yousef would come down to St. Croix each year for about a week or so. When he first came down we spent a fair bit of time together. Many a night we would talk until the wee hours of the morning. His stories were always interesting. He would have a chuckle when I talked about the history of North Star being over 300 years ago. This man from the Middle East talks about history in terms of thousands of years. I enjoyed my time with him and his family.

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I left St. Croix in June of 1982, leaving the management responsibilities with Pierre Champoux (AAB/Coral Air).

A frenchman with a parrot in the lob
The front desk staff of the Commodor
During rocket attacks on West Beirut
Civilians sleep in the basement of t
Hotel guests sleep in the hallway of
Two CNN camerawomen sleep on the flo

Commodore Hotel

photos by Eli Reed

I met Mary when she was just an infant on one of the Nazzal's visits to North Star in 1981.  After spending a brief time with Yousef and his wife, I am not surprised with Mary's success. A wonderful family.

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