holmestead
hideaway
the
Where exceptional hospitality meets extraordinary purpose.
community development
01
We give directly to Bequia — funding early education, community enhancement, and development projects in partnership with local nonprofits already doing the work on the ground. We don't parachute in with our own programs; we invest in what's already trusted and working.
What your gift funds — today, and once the doors open.
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back
Disaster Relief
02
When a storm hits, we respond three ways: sending Angel Boxes of essentials and hope, organizing recovery and clean-up trips to help directly, and funding established responders like World Central Kitchen and Operation Drop who get help where it's needed fast.
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our focus
The Holmestead Hideaway is not a typical Caribbean property. It's a nonprofit-led bar and retreat designed from the ground up to create real, lasting impact — for guests and for the island community that makes it possible.
Wellness + Retreat — The heart of why we exist beyond the bar. Daily classes led by rotating international instructors, curated retreat programming, and real space to exhale — built for solo travelers resetting on their own terms, small groups working through something harder than a vacation can fix, teams and staff coming together off the clock, and anyone who wants more than a spa day. Yoga, meditation, movement, breathwork, and leadership gatherings, all designed around one idea: rest that actually changes something.
The bar — The heartbeat of The Holmestead. Rotating menus curated quarterly by celebrated sommeliers, mixologists, cicerones, and beverage innovators. A program built on craft, intention, and the belief that a great drink is the beginning of a great conversation.
Intimate oceanview bungalows — Designed for genuine rest and connection. A small number of beautifully appointed accommodations where you wake up somewhere that actually feels special.
A working training center — Once we open, the same world-class bartenders, chefs, and beverage professionals who rotate through won't just work a shift — they'll teach, turning craft into careers for the people of Bequia.
what we're building
Why We're
Doing This
At thirteen, my father sent my sister and me to the Caribbean — a trip I initially resisted. That journey became one of the most formative experiences of my life. I came home transformed, with one clear intention: return as often as possible.
Over the following decades I did exactly that. And with every visit came a quiet longing for something I couldn't quite find — a place with genuine soul, exceptional craft beverages, and the kind of hospitality that makes you want to linger. A place that felt like the islands but drew from the best of what the beverage world had to offer.
After founding Charleston Wine + Food Festival, BevCon, and Chow Chow Asheville, the vision began taking shape. It was a visit to a bar in New York where every dollar went to charity that stopped me in my tracks. Suddenly this wasn't just a place I wanted to visit. It was a place I knew I was meant to build.
When I brought the idea to my husband Brian — an engineer and operations leader who has spent his career building things that last — he didn't hesitate. Together we started asking a bigger question: how do we build something that matters far beyond the guest experience itself?
That question became Holmestead Angels. And it changed everything.
— Angel & Brian Holmes, Founders
Bequia is a seven-square-mile island in St. Vincent and the Grenadines with approximately 5,000 residents and one of the most beloved yacht communities in the Caribbean. Admiralty Bay welcomes over 15,000 yachts annually. There are no mega cruise ports, no large resort corridors, no pressure toward mass tourism. Just a warm, deeply human island where relationships matter and where thoughtful investment is both welcomed and felt immediately.
We chose Bequia because the scale is right, the community is ready, and the impact we can create here is direct and visible. This is not abstraction. You will know the people your dollars reach.
why bequia?
The Holmestead Hideaway isn't open yet. That's the point. We're inviting people to help build the first chapter — before the doors ever open — so that when they do, you can say you were there from the start.
We call the people building it with us Angels. Some give once. Some give monthly. Some give a founding gift that names a piece of the place. Every one of them counts.
There are three ways to step in today:
Become an Angel — Any gift, from $10 up, joins the community building this from the ground up.
Join the Holmestead Hundred — One hundred founding supporters carrying the dream to doors-open, named permanently as founders of the place.
Start a Bar Tab — Give monthly and keep The Holmestead moving, a little at a time, all the way to opening day.
See all the ways to give →
Be a part
Absolutely — and we'd love it. Bars, restaurants, and shops can become Angel Stops by hosting a night or a giving cocktail. You can guest bartend with us, host a fundraiser, introduce us to someone who'd care, or simply follow along and share the story. Reach out at angel@holmesteadangels.org and let's find your way in.