The Turks and Caicos Collection has reopened its all-inclusive Alexandra Resort on Grace Bay Beach in Providenciales.
The 90-room, family-friendly property, has reopened with a host of new health and safety protocols “to maintain the safest level of cleanliness and hygiene for guests and staff,” the company said in a statement.
The resort is part of the collection’s four-hotel portfolio in Turks and Caicos, along with the Blue Haven Resort, the adults-only Beach House and the newest addition to its portfolio, the private-island Ambergris Cay resort.
Turks and Caicos has been open for tourism since July.
For more, visit the Alexandra Resort in Turks and Caicos.
Music, art, people, history and of course immense natural beauty help define the magic of Jamaica, and the Caribbean island’s small boutique resorts allow visitors to connect with it all without having to make any concessions to comfort.
Here are seven of Jamaica’s best boutique resorts for immersing in Jamaican culture up close and personal.
Tensing Pen, Negril It’s hard to find a literal definition of a “tensing pen,” but I like the notion that this Negril resort takes your tension, confines it to a little cage, and tosses it off the nearby cliffs into the Caribbean. Often described as “rustic” due to its construction from blocks of local stone and thatched-roofed buildings, Tensing Pen is hardly a place where guests need to rough it. Inside the walls of the hotels’ rooms and cottages you’ll find bamboo and mahogany furniture that blend as well with the garden setting as the hotel walls do with Negril’s famous cliffs. Likewise, trails lined with lush foliage wander from the rooms to a freeform pool, open-air restaurant, a spa, and spots where you can test your courage with a cliff dive into the inviting waters below.
Bermuda has partnered with wholesale chain Costco to provide a new PCR testing option for Bermuda-bound travelers.
The program includes self-administered saliva tests that deliver results within the island’s newly-implemented five-day turnaround period.
Test kits are available online, managed by Costco Pharmacy, in partnership with AZOVA Health, which distributes the FDA-approved tests.
Tests will soon be available at more than 100 Costco locations, centered in New York and Boston.
Costco membership will not be required to obtain a test.
Bermuda is the first destination to partner with Costco on the program.
“We believe this marks a major step forward in facilitating access to pre-travel testing required for Bermuda visitors—it will be offered across the U.S., including major tourism markets with direct air service to the island,” said Bermuda Tourism Authority Interim CEO Glenn Jones. “The prospect for travel is still difficult for many. Everyday we’re working to make it a little easier.”
By the end of the year, travelers will also have the option of buying test kits at select Costco Pharmacies, where an on-site pharmacist will observe customers self-administering the test.
“This is fantastic news for visitors and returning residents alike, and I wish to commend all involved for working to make this happen,” said Bermuda Health Minister Kim Wilson. “Ensuring timely access to pre-arrival testing such as this approved PCR saliva test under observation is a huge gain for Bermuda.”
A hip new boutique hotel has opened its doors in the Condado district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Caribbean Journal has learned.
The hip new 26-room hotel is the product of a $1 million investment by owner Rafal Pagan, who now has a portfolio of three hotels in Condado, including the Wave hotel and the El San Geronimo hotel.
The pool deck.
“Despite the challenges that global tourism is going through as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, in Puerto Rico we confirm the strength and resilience of this economic activity with an aggressive pipeline of new investments in the sector,” said Carla Campos, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.
So what’s it like?
The sleek, crisply-designed Ivy has a a pool and sundeck, free Wi-Fi across the property and little touches like authentic Puerto Rican coffee in every room.
The boutique proposition was an attractive one for Pagan.
“The value I see in the boutique hotel segment is that the properties have a relatively low ceiling and strong operating margins, and as a result are more resilient during economic downturns” he said. “This is a major advantage compared to the larger hotel chains.”
More and more travelers are also seeking out authentic, intimate experiences, Pagan said.
