About

An entrepreneur who wears a series of straw hats.

 Vanessa Ansell

A destined-to-be authority of resort travel, style and connoisseurship across the islands of The Bahamas, Vanessa is the founder of The 700 Experience, now the elevated, 700 Islands.

A direct descendant of United Empire Loyalists, a family that dates back six generations to landfall in the Bahamas in 1789, she travels through time with all of the strength and determination of those who set out before her, heralding the islands’ beauty, sanctity and progress.

Following her studies abroad Vanessa sought the quintessential New York experience – living and working in the fashion capital of the world. It’s there she accepted an internship turned career at Full Picture, a full-fledged multimedia company at the crossroads of the fashion and lifestyle industries.

Eventually however, she’d find her road to self-discovery was not to take place in a sky-scraping city, rich with sidewalk culture, rather on a more familiar island shore.

The niece to a Bond girl, the great-great-granddaughter to a pineapple farmer, the great-granddaughter to a bootlegger, and the great-granddaughter to a Speaker of the House of Assembly, Vanessa was inspired by those who came before her to leave the corporate world in her wake and live a decidedly different life.

Returning to the string of islands, for years she travelled the archipelago whilst writing for Condé Nast Traveller, Travel + Leisure and Air Canada’s EnRoute Magazine. Off the beaten path and more often than not, challenging her comfort zone, in time she found that this is where life begins and adventure awaits.

Alongside her husband, who doubles as a strong minded business partner, she elevates the experience, launching her lifestyle brand: 700 Islands. Through her website and her partnership with Sotheby’s Realty, a brand that artfully unites extraordinary homes with extraordinary lives, she sells the landscape and lifestyle that continues to capture her senses and awaken her spirit. 

Always one to do things a little differently, Vanessa has made bold life choices that inspire travelers and buyers alike to include a touch of extraordinary in their own lives.

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