It is sad Van, the place has fallen into such bad shape over the last few years. However it stole my heart and you know how that goes.
I hear ya jajewel! It was and still is definitely a possibility financially, but like I said, I wouldn't want the stress of taking on such a large project. Truthfully, I only want a small restaurant/bar by the sea. That's why I said I'd lease it. Send a few touts into Negril to recruit tourists to this awesome hidden beach bar on a secluded beach only 25 minutes away. It needs a draw though, I feel I put out food with the same quality of Jake's so that would be one major draw. Clean up the beach, some pretty people and Bob on the speakers... I've been over their books several times, and you'd be surprised the amount of profit that place can make even at 60% capacity. I don't want to put specific #'s out there, but this summer they had a large group (60%) for 1 week and it covered the overhead for the month plus a few $100 profit. Even with the shape that it's in, a few bandages and the place can make money, the owners just have no interest in running it like a business anymore. The TA rating alone is worth preserving.
I've done some club/bar promoting here in the US and I'm confident that a place like Lost Beach could be really great again with about $50k in renovations and another $10k in aggressive target advertising. Some people don't like to hear it, but ganja tourism is a BIG business and I think Lost Beach has all the logistics for becoming a profitable boutique hotel for that target traveler. Possibly even the world's first Michelin Star gourmet ganja restaurant! Well probably not but you get the idea. Again, all the logistics are there, it just takes the right business plan, a Chef with a dream and one hell of a marketing campaign!
Those were all just little ideas of mine, nothing that I would work on anytime soon. Right now I'm happy being an International Man of Leisure :-)