Robert De Niro is turning two miles of Barbuda's pink-and-white sand into his own private island world. The Beach Club, Barbuda spreads across roughly 400 acres of the island's southwest coast, holds just 57 beachfront lots, and anchors around Nobu Beach Inn, the Caribbean's only Nobu resort, opening to guests in 2027.
De Niro, co-founder of Nobu Hospitality, first spotted the site more than 30 years ago on a boat trip from Antigua. The ground carries history. This is the former K Club, the resort Princess Diana made famous in the 1990s before it closed in 2004.
De Niro acquired the site a decade ago with Australian businessman James Packer and hotelier Daniel Shamoon, co-owner of Luxury Hotel Partners, the group behind Small Luxury Hotels of the World. All three founders are building personal homes on the property.
Nobu Beach Inn sets the tone. Seventeen single-story bungalows holding 36 bedrooms are built from timber, thatch, and island stone, linked by meandering sand pathways rather than roads, so guests step off their terrace and walk barefoot to the shoreline. Nobu Barbuda, the restaurant and beach lounge, has already been drawing guests to Princess Diana Beach since 2020, giving the brand a five-year head start on its own shoreline.
The resort layers in a beach club, an oceanfront pool, and a spa that runs both indoor and outdoor. Tennis and padel courts share the grounds with a kids club, a gym pavilion, and an outdoor cinema.
On the water, the program runs from dinghy sailing and kite surfing to scuba, fishing, and sunset cruises aboard sailboats and motor yachts. Beyond Nobu's kitchen, an oceanfront grill features the local catch and an omakase counter serves sushi steps from the sand.
The residential offering, now selling, breaks into three tiers. Twenty-seven Nobu Beach Inn Residences sit on one-acre beachfront lots, four- and five-bedroom homes of 5,000 to 6,000 square feet, fully serviced by the resort, in-residence dining and housekeeping included, with an option to place each home in a Nobu-managed rental program. Twenty-three Beach Club Villas lots each carry 150 feet of beach frontage on a full acre, open to custom designs with private pools, guest cottages, and indoor-outdoor living. Seven Beach Club Estates stretch across six acres apiece with up to 480 feet of shoreline, sized for full private compounds with multiple residences, tennis courts, and home cinemas.
Interiors across the community come from Ward & Co, the London studio founded by Sarah Ward, shaped by De Niro's own attention to detail.
Homeowners also gain The Clubhouse, a private beachfront space reserved for owners, with a dedicated pool, curated culinary experiences, and year-round lifestyle programming. An on-site farm supplies fresh produce through every season, part of a commitment to renewable energy and ecologically sensitive building that follows Barbuda's tradition of respecting nature.
Getting there is the newest part of the story. Burton Nibbs International Airport opened on Barbuda in October 2024, bringing direct private-jet access to an island 38 miles north of Antigua. A roughly 10-minute helicopter transfer connects from Antigua's V.C. Bird International Airport, with nonstop flights from North America and Europe, about three hours from Miami.
Construction on Nobu Beach Inn is targeted for completion in late 2026, with the first guests checking in the following year. The residences are selling now. The project enters the pipeline as a marker of where Caribbean ultra-luxury demand is heading, with private-island communities and branded residences pushing the segment well beyond the hotel suite, and it adds momentum to De Niro's fast-growing Nobu Hospitality portfolio. Look for the resort to open in 2027.