Wish you were here? The ‘supersize resort’ for the plus-sized crowd

By: Patrick Sawer From New Zealand Herald

A hotel has opened catering for guests who weigh between 18 and 30 stone (114-190kg) so they can enjoy a holiday without worrying about taunts and insults from fellow travellers.

The Resort, on the Caribbean island of Eleuthera, is custom-built for large sizes, with chairs that are a metre wide, extra-wide room doorways and steel reinforced bedframes and sun loungers. It also features an eat-what-you-want buffet serving comfort food three times a day, reports the Sunday Telegraph.

The resort, which claims to be the world’s only hotel built exclusively for plus-sized people, is designed to help guests not only feel more comfortable on holiday, but re-evaluate their bodies and their self-image.

James King, owner of The Resort, said: “It’s a sanctuary. It’s a place where you can come and have a good holiday without any judgment whatsoever.”

A group of British tourists is now to test his promise as part of a new ITV series, The 18-30 Stone Holiday. The programme makers say the group will undergo a “radical new approach to confronting the prejudice they encounter because of their size.

“They’ll be challenged to face their innermost fears, and inspired to find a new confidence to overcome their inhibitions, in a week that could transform their lives.”

Activities at the resort, which has a private 8km-long beach away from prying eyes, will include group therapy sessions, sharing their worst photographs and receiving counselling on body issues from Mel Cohen, a size-27 model from Glasgow.

In the group of Britons featured are Adam, 32, and his wife Ami, 28, from Stoke-on-Trent, who weigh 142kg and 155kg respectively. They say that going to The Resort is their chance for a second honeymoon.

Ami said: “Our honeymoon was spent arguing. We rowed a lot over me not wanting to go to the pool because I could see that there were people there who looked immaculate.”

She was so mortified by how she looked that she deleted almost every photo of their honeymoon.

IMAGES:
Ami, Steven, Holly and Alice walking together on the beach where the group confronted body confidence issues. Photo / Spungold
Married couple Ami, 155kg, and Adam, 142kg, from stoke On Trent, take a boat trip together in their swimming costumes. Photo / Spungold

For more on this story and video go to: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=11935715