There’s a new villa rental power in the Caribbean. 

The Caribbean’s premier villa rental companies have merged their teams, following last year’s sale of both WIMCO Villas and St Barth Properties to Nocturne Luxury Villas. 

The newly-rebranded company is now called WIMCO St Barth Properties, effective Oct. 1. 

It creates “an exceptional villa rental and concierge services company.”

The two companies have long been the prime players in the ever-competitive St Barth villa market, while WIMCO has for decades been at the top of the villa rental industry for the wider Caribbean region. 

The combined companies will have a reservations office in New England and concierge services operations in the Caribbean.

“This merger creates an exceptional villa rental and concierge services company,” WIMCO St Barth President Stiles Bennet told Caribbean Journal. “Our parent company has invested not only in augmenting our reservations and concierge teams, but also in migrating us onto best of breed reservations and client services platforms, raising the level of service we can now provide to travelers interested in villa vacations.”

The newly-branded WIMCO St Barth Properties villa rental operation now has a portfolio of 400 private villas in St Barth alone, and over 1,500 across 10 Caribbean islands.

Included in this number are 60 exceptional modern ultra-luxe villas, called The Special Reserve Collection, where the services of a private chef and household staff are included in the nightly rental price.

“With the merger with St Barth Properties our combined villa specialist team is second to none,” WIMCO said. 

What has not changed is the company’s bespoke, tailored concierge service, which handles every request from the moment they pick up guests at the airport. 

“With the merger with St Barth Properties our combined villa portfolio, and villa specialist and concierge teams are second to none,” Bennet said. 

Villa rentals have surged in the Caribbean of late, particularly since the onset of the pandemic. 

That’s particularly true in St Barth, an island that has seen record-breaking arrivals this year, a trend that has broadened the typical “high season” into what had always been more of a shoulder season. 

The island’s tourist season kicks off the first week of November with the Caribbean Rum Awards St Barth rum festival. 

For more, visit WIMCO St Barth Properties. 

The post There’s a New Caribbean Villa Rental Power   appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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The island of Grand Bahama is set for a serious tourism boost next month, with the debut of a pair of new nonstop routes. 

On Nov. 5, American Airlines will be flying nonstop from Charlotte, North Carolina to Freeport, Grand Bahama. 

And on Nov. 17, Bahamian national flag carrier Bahamasair will kick off a significant new route flying nonstop from Raleigh, North Carolina to Grand Bahama. 

The American Airline service will be operating once weekly, with nonstop service on Saturdays. 

Bahamasair will be flying between Raleigh-Durham and Grand Bahama on Thursdays and Sundays on a 138-seat Boeing 737. 

It’s part of a continued recovery for tourism in Grand Bahama, a sector that should also see new energy with the soon-to-close sale of the iconic Grand Lucayan resort. 

The island, about 55 miles east of Florida, has some of the most magnificent beaches in The Bahamas and a strong dive, snorkeling and eco-tourism offering. 

It’s also one of the most popular yachting stops in The Bahamas, with a growing luxury villa portfolio, too. 

For more, visit Grand Bahama Island.

The post American Airlines, Bahamasair Adding New Grand Bahama Flights appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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One of the top adults-only resorts in Barbados has officially reopened, Caribbean Journal has confirmed. 

The Club, Barbados, Elite Island Resorts’ signature all-inclusive on the island, began welcoming back guests this week. 

“The Club Barbados is now open,” the resort’s team told Caribbean Journal in a statement. 

It’s a big boost for the island’s Platinum Coast, with the return of the 161-room resort and spa. 

The resort, set around 20 minutes away from Barbados’ Grantley Adams International Airport, is perched on five acres of tropical gardens and beachfront. 

And it’s an even bigger boost for Barbados, which continues to seek North American travelers in its latest tourism push. 

Amenities at The Club include three swimming pools, a hot tub, a spa, a sauna, tennis and a range of waterspouts, too. 

The Club is part of the Elite Island Resorts portfolio, which includes a collection of eight all-inclusive resorts in destinations including Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Panama and Barbados. 

The resort is open to “couples, friends and family 16 years of age or over,” according to Elite Island Resorts. 

It’s “the perfect Caribbean destination for romantic getaways, group retreats, and unforgettable reunions,” the resort says. 

Barbados recently lifted all of its travel protocols, meaning travelers need not show proof of vaccination or a test result in order to visit the island. 

In other words, getting to Barbados is just like it was before the pandemic. 

For more, visit The Club, Barbados. 

The post This Top Barbados Adults-Only Resort Is Open Again  appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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For years it was arguably the signature all-inclusive resort in The Bahamas: the Club Med Columbus, the beach resort on the remote island of San Salvador. 

And now, for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, the property is reopening, welcoming back its first guests on Oct. 22. 

The resort (formerly known as the Club Med Columbus Isle) is set in San Salvador, most famous as the site of Christopher Columbus’ first landfall in the New World in 1492, a pristine, beach-filled island that’s long been one of the best-kept secrets in the Out Islands of The Bahamas. 

The Bahamian Club Med is relaunching with a number of new additions, headlined by newly-refreshed two-story bungalows at the nearly 240-room property. 

The resort is adding new Mediterranean-inspired cuisine with a Bahamian twist at its La Pinta restaurant. 

That’s along with a slate of new plant-based menu options designed by renowned vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli. 

The resort has also implemented Club Med’s new Wellness Fusion program, which ranges from “comprehensive yoga programs” to moonlight massages and new holistic treatment at the property’s Club Med Spa by Sothys. 

San Salvador is one of the top diving destinations in The Bahamas, with more than 35 dive sites; the resort has accordingly expanded its dive offerings. Including sunset dives, private dive boat rides and new PADI courses. 

For snorkelers, there is also a new snorkeling experience in partnership with Only Blue Diving. 

It’s one of seven Club Med resorts in the wider Caribbean, in destinations including Martinique, Guadeloupe, Cancun, Turks and Caicos and the Dominican Republic.

The Bahamas just announced that it had removed all testing and vaccination requirements for travelers, another significant boost for a destination that has been seeing very strong tourism performance in 2022.

For more, visit Club Med Columbus Isle. 

The post Club Med’s Bahamas All-Inclusive Resort Reopens This Week  appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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There is sugarcane growing right next door, waving in the French Caribbean breeze. 

And there was sugarcane along the highway on the way here. 

And there’s sugarcane in my glass. 

This is rhum country, the the island of Basse-Terre in Guadeloupe, a land of lush rainforests, towering volcanoes and some of the best rum on earth. 

Its unique microclimate has produced a terroir in which sugarcane thrives, where Guadeloupe’s Rhum Agricole, the unique French Caribbean rum that distills fermented sugar cane juice instead of molasses, is liquid gold. 

While both Martinique and Guadeloupe produce Rhum Agricole, Martinique’s rums have found more success beyond their shores; the outstanding rums of Guadeloupe, at least outside of France, remain largely a cask of mystery.

And here at the Habitation Saint Charles, next to a field of cane, is the island’s coolest new hotel. 

There are just nine rooms here, along with three villas, a mix of rooms, bungalows and villas, with some of the bungalows and all of the villas boasting their own private plunge pools. 

Inside, the rooms are well-appointed and sleek, some with Smeg appliances and others with both indoor and outdoor showers. 

Mine, for example, had a beautiful stone-walled plunge pool with a waterfall, a welcome soundtrack in the afternoon, swapping places at night for the rhythmic song of Guadeloupe’s tree frogs. 

There’s a lovely main pool that, instead of a fence or glass wall, is built into the shape of a rock garden; a delightful bar with a nice selection of rums from around the Caribbean; and a three-meals-a-day eatery featuring modern Creole cuisine. 

No, it’s not on the beach, and there isn’t a view; the story here is the tranquility and the privacy; you’re here in the fields and the meadows of Basse-Terre,  in an endlessly serene environ that marries an airy, relaxing setting with a prime location for exploring Basse-Terre’s collection of rum distilleries. 

And hotel, which opened at the beginning of this year, is instantly one of the best hotels in all of Guadeloupe.

And if you’re looking for the family heritage of Reimonenq, the rugged artistry of Montebello or the aged wonders of Karukera, every one of them is just a 15 or 20 minute drive. 

And that’s just the beginning of exploring the rum wonders of Basse-Terre — go further and you can explore the legendary Bologne or the innovations of the brand-new Papa Rouyo. 

Even better, the superb beaches of Deshaies (yes, that’s the town from Death in Paradise) and the northwestern coast are less than an hour away, with equally spectacular stretches of sand on the journey there. 

And after a day of exploring, or an afternoon at the beach, you come back to the Habitation, find your hanging chair or descend into your pool, perhaps enjoying the treasures you’ve acquired in the day. 

And you listen to the tree frogs and you raise your glass to the quiet of a country evening. 

Rhum country, that is. 

For more, visit the Habitation Saint Charles.

The post A Lovely New Caribbean Hotel in the Heart of Rhum Country  appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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