It aimed to provide new vacation style meant to “cross social boundaries through activities and sports.” When two-time Olympic medalist and champion Gérard Blitz opened the first Club Méditerranée in Corsica the summer of 1950, it was swamped with customers — 2,300 frolicked in the new resort, while 10,000 were turned away. The second club opened in Tahiti in 1956 and required four months for Europeans — two to journey there and back by boat, and two to bask in the exotic tropical locale.

And a legend of decadence and excitement, spiced by a heavy emphasis on sports, was born.

Since that time, Club Med’s fortunes have waxed and waned; a few years ago, it was rumored to be flirting with bankruptcy. Today, with over 80 resorts across 5 continents, the chain continues its struggle to reinvent itself. Nowhere is that fact clearer than at the newly renovated Les Boucaniers club  in the  French Caribbean island of Martinique.

I first visited Les Boucaniers in 1987, and the club was hopping. The ethos of the ‘80s, combined with a no-holds-barred dress code and the enforced mingling at meals, activities and sports made for an atmosphere crackling with excitement. These were people on the move, and the resort served them perfectly.

Blitz’s original vision was the breaking of social barriers, and the clubs accomplished this in several ways. The formal French “vous” was banned, with all guests addressing each other as if they were already friends. The bedrooms were bare, with narrow twin beds and no balconies — the idea was, you came down and socialized, instead of hanging out in your room. Club Meds were the first to include sports and activities in the price, so you took that windsurfing lesson you’d always wanted, and you met other active people as you did so. And the large, eight-person tables at meals meant you had to meet others, even at breakfast — in the ‘80s and ‘90s, a hostess would even seat you with other like individuals.

Blitz also came up with the idea of GOs — Gracious Organizers — so your bleached-blond windsurfing teacher also ate with you at dinner, then took part in a show mounted for your entertainment (your knowledge of the GO in other contexts added hilarity to the show’s amateur quality), then danced with you at the disco. Jean-Pierre Bécret, who initiated the concept of skiing Club Meds, also cleverly promoted pre-dinner GO interaction at the bar by replacing money with plastic beads. The idea was, you could go swimming wearing your currency. In practice, it helped you forget how much drinks cost, and encouraged you to treat your favorite GO to a rum punch (meals were always included). All worked to increase the feeling of intimacy.

Times have changed. During visits to Les Boucaniers in 2003 and 2004, the ageing facility and tourists’ changing expectations became increasingly obvious, and the temptation increasingly became value for price (for a brief description of the 2004 visit, check my web story for that year).

In 2004, the club seemed increasingly to be searching for an identity. Gone were the beads at the bar, replaced first by tickets, then done away with altogether as the resort became truly all-inclusive. Visitors seemed to have aged, and to spend more time on the beach and less on the courts and playing fields. (Many clubs have begun to include facilities for children, although Les Boucaniers isn’t one of them.) As I reported in the 2004 story, the club was due to close for renovations, which took it out commission for all of 2005.

It seemed like the facelift worked — in January of 2006, I couldn’t get a reservation even for an overnight visit. January 2007 was also booked up until the last minute, when I succeeded in getting a room that proved quite a contrast to the 2004 trip. Coffeemaker, refrigerator (to use for what, in an all-inclusive resort?), hairdryer, TV, iron, telephone — all combined to astonish anyone familiar with the previous facility.  The spiffed-up décor included wood paneling and recessed lighting, although there was still no balcony. I ended up spending an evening on the comfortable queen-sized bed, watching tennis on television.

Along the beach, a gorgeous swimming pool had been added, along with a well-equipped gym with televisions blaring CNN, and a spa. But perhaps most telling was the dining area, where most tables were for four and a number sat only two —  a change that reveals a fundamental shift in the mission of the club. At dinner, there was far less mingling as people broke into predetermined groups. At breakfast, I saw a row of tables for two, each seating a single, elderly person staring out to sea.

What, then, is Club Med’s niche? The price was still right. Although originally I was quoted more, I paid $150 per person per night, with all sports, drinks and meals included. I continue to love the buffets, but where I used to find mounds of healthy vegetables, I now found them scalloped, creamed and fried. On the plus side, thanks to their early arrival in the tropics, Club Meds tend to be located on the most beautiful settings to be found, and Les Boucaniers is no exception, with gorgeous looping beaches, framed by green mountains tumbling down towards the sea.

A big attraction for me lies in the eclectic mix of Europeans — the web site states that G.O.s represent 100 nationalities and speak more than 30 languages. Certainly I met no other Americans at Les Boucaniers. If you enjoy a gorgeous locale, an exotic mix of cultures and bargain prices, then perhaps the newly renovated Les Boucaniers is for you.

Happy Traveling!

Captions: 1. In the original plan for Club Med, rooms were plainly furnished, to encourage you to spend time elsewhere. 2. In the indoor-outdoor bar, drinks are now included in the price of the room. 3. The newly renovated bedroom at Les Boucaniers is luxurious by comparison with its predecessor. 4. Renovations include a new panoramic pool. 5. The setting of Les Boucaniers, like most Club Meds, is striking. (Photography by Thomas Simonet)