Saint Lucia’s government has revealed a change to one of its core arrival protocols for travelers, Caribbean Journal has learned. 

The island will soon require all incoming visitors to obtain a negative PCR test five days before arrival in the country. 

That is a slight tightening of an earlier policy that had required PCR tests within seven days before arrival. 

The new protocol will take effect on Feb. 10, tourism officials told Caribbean Journal. 

“In order to co-exist with Covid, we must constantly evaluate our safety and travel protocols. In due consideration of all factors affecting the health of Saint Lucian citizens and international visitors, we are tightening testing protocols based on our current conditions,” said Saint Lucia Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee. 

Saint Lucia was one of the first Caribbean destinations to reopen amid the pandemic when it did so in the first week of June. 

Its reopening has been held up as a model for tourism reopenings in the wider region.

The destination’s tourism reopening includes the vast majority of its hotels and resorts. 

It should also be noted that the new CDC mandate requires all travelers returning to the United States to show proof of a negative PCR test taken and received within 72 hours before coming back to the United States. 

Saint Lucia has already expanded its testing capacity island-wide to help travelers comply. 

You can find more on the country’s travel protocols here. 

— CJ

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A major new resort is coming to the island of Aruba this spring, Caribbean Journal has learned. 

The Radisson Blu Aruba is slated to open its doors in April. 

Radisson confirmed that the property is now taking reservations for stays for April 15 and beyond. 

The resort is set in the heart of the popular Palm Beach area of the Dutch Caribbean island, with a total of 133 suites. 

All of the units come with free Wi-Fi, multiple bedrooms, living rooms and dining areas and kitchens, with two and three-bedroom configurations. 

It’s the second Radisson Blu in the Caribbean, following the new Radisson Blu Resort and Residence Punta Cana, which launched in the Dominican Republic late last summer. 

The property will open with Radisson’s new health and safety protocols, which are comprised of a 20-point system covering everything from face coverings to enhanced sanitizing. 

It’s the first new resort in the Palm Beach area in years. 

For more, visit Radisson Blu Aruba. 

— CJ

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La Collection Resorts’ Live Aqua brand has opened its first-ever resort in the Dominican Republic, Caribbean Journal has learned.

The new adults-only Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana officially opened this week, the first new resort to open in the Caribbean so far this year. 

“As our first Live Aqua outside of Mexico, Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana is a milestone property for Posadas,” said Enrique Calderon, COO of parent company Posadas. 

The all-inclusive Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana, set on Punta Cana’s Uvero Alto beach, has a private beach, an infinity pool, a spa and seven eateries led by Mexican Chef Gerardo Rivera. 

The new property has 345 units, all suites, including some with private pools and others with swim-up access. 

The all-inclusive property has opened under Live Aqua’s “Travel with Confidence” health and safety program. 

That program includes free antigen testing for guests, along with full coverage for illnesses including Covid. 

The property is also offering discounted rates for travelers should they need to quarantine. 

The resort has opened with pair of new executives, with Pedro Miguel Parets as managing director and Sarah Agramonte as director of sales. 

The new Live Aqua joins a portfolio of what are now seven resorts across Mexico and the Caribbean, including one in Cancun. 

La Colección Resorts’ regional portfolio includes resorts under the Grand Fiesta Americana, Fiesta Americana and The Explorean brands. 

Parent company Posadas, operates more hotels than any other company in Mexico.

Punta Cana, long the Dominican Republic’s tourism hub, has seen several new resorts open their doors in the last few quarters, including new properties under the Serenade and Radisson Blu brands, among others.

The Dominican Republic is currently open for tourism; you can find more on the country’s entry protocols here.

For more, visit Live Aqua Beach Resort Punta Cana. 

– CJ

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It’s just past five o’clock in the infinity pool, where the view stretches endlessly toward the towering hills of St John. 

And then you turn around for a moment and the view is a different kind of beautiful, up the ridge toward the pastel-green lobby, surrounded by another green: palm trees and peaks. 

It’s another way of saying that you can look at this property at angle and you’ll find something stunning. 

This is the Ritz-Carlton, St Thomas, long the leading place to stay in the US Virgin Islands and now, still celebrating its $100 million renovation, back and better than ever. 

Indeed, at the end of 2019, just a few months before the pandemic, the resort relaunched following a dramatic $100 million transformation, one that saw the complete redesign and updating of the property, an update that was enjoyed for only a few months before the world changed. 

And then in June, the Ritz-Carlton, St Thomas was one of the first luxury resorts in the Caribbean to reopen, quickly showing the region (and the world) that luxury, even amid the current challenges, was possible. 

And that means luxury in every form: the luxury of breezy meals at the Sicilian-accented Alloro; the luxury of great design; the luxury of quiet serenity; and of course, of service, the kind that manages to be impeccable but never overbearing. 

But luxury’s also in the small details, like the wonderfully comfortable rooms, where USB and easy-to-access outlets abound, joined by a hidden-away Nespresso bar and other touches like motion-activated lights in the bathroom. 

It’s a pervasive feeling, something you notice from the moment you walk through the enchanting indoor-outdoor lobby, to the magnificently redesigned poolscape.

And while it’s a spectacular place for the easy beach vacation, the resort is equally inviting for the active traveler, from broad watersports offerings to tennis to the Lady Lynsey II, the resort’s exclusive catamaran, which takes guests on jaunts to St John, including the option of sailing over for dinner at one of several restaurants in St John. 

Of course, St John is a major part of the experience here, even if you never make the trip — its imposing beauty just across the water yet another amenity for the guest; turning a late afternoon in the pool into free admission to a picture gallery, the kind of view you can just watch, endlessly.

It’s just a beautiful place. 

And that’s the greatest luxury of all. 

For more, visit the Ritz-Carlton, St Thomas. 

The US Virgin Islands is currently open for tourism; for more on the destination’s protocols, visit USVI Update. 

— CJ

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