Sea Spray's history begins on a small scale: four rooms, a shared bathroom, and a kitchen. The hotel credits Doris and Liston Leslie with building it in 1964. Its early guests included merchant seamen, British soldiers, and visitors finding their way to Placencia. That is the hotel's account of its beginning; some secondary sources give different founding dates.
A village remembered from the water
In July 2012, Roots and Reef published the Bevier family's recollections of arriving on the peninsula in 1971. Their account describes a place where building materials arrived by sea, journeys involved boats and a sand trail, and much everyday travel happened on foot. It also remembers Paul and Max Martinez from Seine Bight, who helped with the family's construction at Rum Point.
This was another family's experience, several years after Sea Spray's recorded beginning. It cannot tell us exactly what the Leslies' opening day looked like. It helps explain why the hotel's story belongs alongside stories of transport, supplies, and the people whose work made life possible on the peninsula.
Miss Doris, beyond the hotel
The same recollection remembers Doris as the village postmistress, responsible for its telephone and a small shop selling basic provisions. It places her within a wider network of shops and the fishing cooperative. A hotel, a shop, the post, and a telephone were different kinds of service. Together, these accounts show how welcoming visitors and serving neighbours could be part of the same working life.
A connection underfoot
Doris also appears in the history of Placencia's sidewalk. A December 2011 Placencia Breeze retrospective identifies her as the Village Council chairperson who organized the 1978–79 extension, with the council purchasing materials and families contributing labour.
The article includes Lydia Villanueva's memories of taking part. It describes work shared among neighbours, with fishers helping after returning from sea and children joining before school. The extension ran north from the old post-office area near Sea Spray. The archived text has not been independently authenticated against an original page scan, so this detail is attributed to that retrospective.
For a visitor, a path can seem like part of the scenery. These accounts give it names, work, and community purpose.
The family business continues
Sea Spray's own history records a later family chapter: Norman, Doris and Liston's son, returned from the United States with his wife Jodie in 1995. They took over the business within the following year. The account records a sale in 2022 to Jose Coye and his wife Yvonne Coye-Leslie, Norman's sister.
These dates trace the business across generations. They do not tell us everything about its beginnings or the founders' everyday work. Liston is named as a founder, but the published accounts reviewed for this feature offer fewer details about his individual work. That gap is a reason to keep looking for documents and attributed accounts that can tell us more.
Keeping the story open
Sea Spray belongs within Placencia's broader history of families making livelihoods, serving neighbours, and receiving visitors. Starting here gives Behind the Beach one doorway into that history, with many more still to follow.
The hotel gives 1964 as its founding year; some secondary accounts give different dates. We retain the hotel's date as its account, pending further evidence. This feature can grow as further records and clearly attributed recollections become available.