The story of Aruba’s all-inclusive resorts begins – but certainly doesn’t with — the Divi brand, founded on the Dutch Caribbean island in 1969 and named after Aruba’s iconic divi divi tree, helped pioneer the all-inclusive concept in Aruba. But a wide variety of hotel companies now operate all-inclusive properties on the island, including Spanish brands like Riu and Barcelo. Here are the top all-inclusive resorts in Aruba — as well as those offering special all-inclusive vacations.
Holiday Inn Aruba It’s always been one of the best values in Aruba, and now the Holiday Inn includes an all-inclusive option. If you enjoy gambling, consider the all-inclusive package at this upscale Holiday Inn resort on Palm Beach. The package includes all meals and drinks plus accommodations, which range from one-bedroom standard rooms with mundane resort views to oceanfront suites. Kids under 18 stay and eat free when sharing a room with the adults.
Part of the $350 million rebuild of the iconic Frenchman’s Reef property in St Thomas will be a new Westin resort, Caribbean Journal has learned.
The new Westin Beach Resort and Spa at Frenchman’s Reef is slated to open in late 2022, according to Aimbridge Hospitality, which is managing the property.
It will be the second Westin-branded resort in the United States Virgin Islands, joining the existing Westin St John Resort Villas in nearby St John.
What the Westin lobby will look like.
The 392-room hotel, which will include 28 suites, is already taking group inquiries, according to the company.
The property will have a total of 72,000 square feet of multipurpose vent space, along with two signature ballrooms and a number of outdoor spaces — including a 20,000-square-foot pool deck.
A new group option? This private catamaran.
Group amenities will also include the Palm Court and a catamaran for private group events called the Flying Frenchman.
The Westin’s happy hour spot.
The broader Frenchman’s Reef project will also include an Autograph Collection hotel called The Seaborn, a transformation of the former Morningstar Beach Resort.
This winter’s return is a major step for a destination that has been the model for tourism success since the onset of the pandemic.
Indeed, the US Virgin Islands continues to set records for tourism arrivals and hotel occupancy, with continued growth in new airlift.
Ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines has been rapidly expanding its Caribbean network in the pandemic, and now the company is adding two more routes to the region.
Frontier has announced plans to launch new flights from Atlanta to both Nassau, The Bahamas and Kingston, Jamaica.
The new service between Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Nassau’s Lynden Pindling International Airport will kick off on Nov. 5.
The new-look Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau.
That route will be operating once weekly.
The new route from Atlanta to Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport will begin two days later on Nov. 7, Frontier said.
Frontier is the second-largest international carrier at Atlanta’s Airport, following Delta Air Lines.
“This international expansion marks an exciting milestone for Frontier at ATL,” said Jake Filene, senior vice president for customers atFrontier Airlines. “We now offer an extensive range of flight options, including an impressive roster of international destinations, providing Atlanta-area consumers even more opportunities to enjoy our ‘Low Fares Done Right.’ With the addition of these new routes, Frontier now serves 36 nonstop destinations in total from ATL.”
The AC Hotel Kingston.
Frontier is also launching Atlanta-Costa Rica flights in November and December, with service to both San Jose and Liberia airports.
“This is a significant moment for Frontier Airlines here at Hartsfield-Jackson,” said Airport Deputy General Manager and Chief Commercial Officer Jai Ferrell. “We are excited that Frontier will expand our travelers’ choice of international connectivity with these five new routes.”
The move comes under the guidance of new St Kitts and Nevis’ new Prime Minister, Dr Terrance Drew, who also serves as Minister of Health.
“The removal of entry testing and vaccination requirements comes at a time when traveler confidence is on the rise. The combination of increasing demand and more seamless travel processes will make St. Kitts even more desirable to visitors abroad,” said Ellison “Tommy” Thompson, CEO of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority. “We are pleased to communicate the removal of restrictions which would improve the destination’s travel experience.”
Pinneys Beach in Nevis, home to the Four Seasons Resort Nevis.
The change comes as St Kitts is holding its Sweet Side of Summer travel program, which includes three nights free at all participating hotels.
In November, the destination launches its annual Grill Fest, a showcase of local grill masters and “exceptional food and drink.”
“We’re excited to be taking this crucial step to fully open Nevis’ borders to the world,” said Devon Liburd, CEO of the Nevis Tourism Authority. “Lifting these protocols will allow us to further share our rich culture and offerings to visitors coming to the island.”
It’s the purest expression of sugarcane in spirit form: rhum blanc, or white rhum agricole.
Unaged white rum made from pure pressed sugar cane juice is as close as you can come to the cane: a raw, visceral, complex spirit that has a real terroir.
And it just so happens that this is the primary ingredient in the Caribbean’s ultimate rum cocktail: the ti’ punch.
Ti’ punch, short for petit punch, is the essential drink of the French West Indies, a local, easy-to-prepare drink that’s part of the ritual of daily life in Martinique and Guadeloupe.
It’s ubiquitous, often accompanied by those endlessly delicious codfish fritters called Accras. And it’s a key to immersing yourself in the culture of the French Caribbean.
You cannot begin to understand this enchanting part of the Caribbean without a ti’ punch, a drink whose preparation requires a ceremony on par with tea in Japan.
And it’s deliciously simple to make.
Because while there are myriad dressed-up versions of making the ti’ punch, there’s one truly authentic way to make it — the way people actually drink it at a bar or restaurant in the FWI.
Show up at a beach bar or a cafe (or just about any restaurant at all) in Martinique and Guadeloupe, order a ti’ punch (it’s often cheaper than a bottle of water), and you’ll soon be welcomed with a tray.
A ti’ punch tray at La Playa in Marie Galante.
There you’ll find three things: a bottle of white rhum, some quarter slices of lime, and a ramequin of brown sugar.
Because white rhum is so affordable, the restaurant will leave it to you how much white rhum you decide to put in the rum, joined with just the quarter lime and, ideally, a teaspoon of sugar.
How much rum you add is up to you, but I like to pour enough that the rum levels right above the top of the lime.
Most importantly, there is no ice in this drink. Ice will rob you of the delicacy, the complexity and the nuance of the cocktail.
I wouldn’t even recommend squeezing the sliver of lime; wayward ti’ punches you might find in places (typically in Saint Martin) far overdo the lime, stuffing the glass with multiple, squeezed lime slices and flooding the drink with abundant, obnoxious citrus.
While sugarcane syrup has become popular in lieu of sugar, for me, syrup can be too sweet, and corrupt the balance of the three ingredients.
Indeed, this is a delicate cocktail, a dance of three players. A small amount of patience is required to give the rum (best between 50 and 60 degrees), the sugar and the lime time to harmonize.
And that’s when the drink hits you, when it all makes sense, when you realize just how wonderful a cocktail this is.
A pair of ti’ punch cocktails on Banana Bottom Beach in Martinique.
I call it the moment du punch, that instant when the flavors of the rum and the sugar and the lime come together and become something far greater than the sum of their parts, when a ti’ punch really becomes a ti’ punch.
That’s always when a neophyte taking his or her first ti’ punch becomes a ti’ punch partisan and, soon, begins the journey down the rabbit hole of rhum agricole.
Now, you might have had a daiquiri or a caipirinha, two cocktails with largely identical ingredients. Both are fine cocktails.
But without the dimensionality of the rhum agricole, without the right proportions of lime and sugar (or with unnecessary ice), you have a very different, far less interesting experience.
There’s nothing like this drink in the Caribbean, something so perfect, so simple and, most importantly, so local.
If you drink this in Martinique or Guadeloupe, it’s a drink all of whose ingredients are from Martinique or Guadeloupe — the rum, the limes and the sugar are all made there.
If you’re in the United States, the best rhum blanc options are Rhum JM and Rhum Clement, the most widely available agricoles in America, although you can find HSE, Neisson and La Favorite and certain fine spirits shops in the US).
For this year’s National Rum Day, the ti’ punch I prepared was not quite as local as that (limes and brown sugar from, well, not the French Caribbean), but it was splendid, made with one of the most celebrated white rums of all time, the HSE Parcellaire 2016.
That rum is a great example of what makes the rums of the French Caribbean so different.
Parcellaire means the rum was made exclusively from sugar cane grown from just a tiny corner, or parcel, of the sugarcane plantation in Martinique. It’s the terroir of a single corner of a cane field.
That the kind of thoughtful devotion to rum you find in that part of the Caribbean, where this cocktail is part of the soul of the French West Indies.
And when you reach the moment du punch, it all begins to make sense.
The Ti’ Punch
1/4 lime
1 teaspoon sugar
Rhum Blanc agricole; the amount is up to you; typically pour the rum to just above the top of the lime in the glass).
Best enjoyed on a beach in Martinique, Guadeloupe, St Martin or St Barth.
