Turks and Caicos has been one of the hottest destinations in the Caribbean amid the pandemic, and the buzz has only gotten stronger ahead of the holidays.
For the uninitiated, Turks and Caicos is a beach lover’s dream, anchored by the world-famous Grace Bay Beach and blessed with a surfeit of simply remarkable stretches of sand across the archipelago. But it’s also one of the region’s culinary capitals, with a remarkable array of eateries — and overall emphasis on breezy sophistication.
And that’s also true of its hotel product, which ranges from tucked-away resorts on far-off little islands to the grand luxury resorts of Providenciales.
Planning your next visit? Here are our five favorite places to stay in Turks and Caicos right now, from traditional luxury resorts to tiny hidden gems. Note: Turks and Caicos is requiring proof of vaccination for all visitors 16 and up. You can find more on the destination’s travel protocols here.
The undisputed luxury leader in Turks and Caicos, this property manages to marry grand Caribbean luxury with a healthy dose of South Beach cool, all in a spectacular setting on the turquoise waters of Long Bay Beach. True to Turks and Caicos’ spirit, this is a residential resort, meaning when you’re here you can really live here, with the space and comfort for pure indulgence. Of course, if you really want to splurge, go for the Shore Club’s breathtaking Estate Villas.
Belmond has reopened its signature luxury hotel in St Martin.
After a summer closure, La Samanna, a Belmond Hotel, St Martin, officially relaunched this week.
The hotel, set on 55 acres adjusting St Martin’s renowned Baie Longue beach, has reopened with a host of new experiences and wellness offerings.
That includes a new culinary series called La Cave Under the Stars, which will feature a roster of intentional guest chefs and sommeliers at the resort’s La Cave Wine Cellar.
The series will kick off with a two-day event in partnership with Veuve Clicquot on Nov. 27-29; the next will be Jan. 28-30, 2022, under the stewardship of acclaimed James Beard Award-winning New York City Chef David Waltuck.
In mid-December, the resort will kick off a new artist-in-residence series, with a month-long exhibition of the work of French photographer Francois Castelain — one the will include complimentary portraiture photography classes with Castelain.
On the wellness side, the property’s lush La Samanna Spa is launching a new program called Energetic Re-Mastery, led by resident energy healer and wellness expert Christine Caruso.
La Samanna joins a group of popular resorts open on the French side of St Martin, most notably the celebrated Grand Case Beach Club.
The reopening comes as the island recently updated its travel rules, waiving pre-testing requirements for fully vaccinated travelers. (The resort has also added its own on-site testing facility, with return tests organized by La Samanna and taken in the privacy of guests’ own rooms).
Two years ago in St Barth, a never-before-seen field of the world’s most expensive rums faced off in a rum category for the ages.
And this week in St Barth, history was made again.
For the first time ever, the winners of the Uber Premium Rhum Agricole and Uber Premium Molasses Rum category (both comprised exclusively of rums over $400 per bottle) went head to head, a battle of sugarcane juice and molasses, of two of the most exquisite rums on the planet.
And a world champion was crowned.
Martinique’s Rhum Neisson Armada 88 bested Nicaragua’s Flor de Caña 30 to take home the title as the Caribbean Rum Awards World Champion for 2021 — making it the defending world’s greatest rum.
The festival was hosted by the world’s leading rum bar, the Rhum Room St Barth and the celebrated Quarter Kitchen and Cocktail Lab and their proprietor, global rum expert Christopher Davis, co-founder of the Caribbean Rum Awards St Barth.
It was just one highlight of what was another spectacular edition of the Caribbean Rum Awards, from Davidoff rum and cigar pairing nights to three glamorous festival dinners and a marvelous collection of rum distilleries at the Accutron Rum Expo.
“Our fourth edition of the Caribbean Rum Awards St Barth was our best yet,” said Alexander Britell, editor and publisher of Caribbean Journal and co-founder of the Caribbean Rum Awards St Barth. “The competition field was better than ever, the events were truly memorable, and it’s clear the CRA is now a part of the fabric of St Barth. It’s fitting that our celebration of the world’s finest luxury rums should be set in the Caribbean capital of luxury.”
In other recognition, Nicaragua’s Flor de Cana won honors as Green Distillery of the Year for its “broad sustainability efforts” and Italy’s Velier won Rum Company of the Year for its “sweeping contribution to the standing of rum worldwide.”
The final competition field in St Barth included a total of 52 rums from across the region.
The week included a Davidoff Cigar and Rum Pairing evening.
“Excellence begets Excellence is about the only way to look at this past week, distillers and blenders from around the Caribbean came to show, explore and teach the participants both connoisseur and amateur alike,” said Christopher Davis, proprietor of the Rhum Room and co-founder of the Caribbean Rum Awards St Barth. “We shared passion for rum and tasted our way around a magnificent field of rums.”
“I was very impressed by how the Molasses category is coming along and growing in different ways that give new life to the category — starting to push outside of the US rum requisite of 40 degrees (80-proof) rum,” Davis said. “The agricoles as always have such a refined and different presentation allowing them to show their best regardless of their distiller. The overall killer rum this year was the Neisson Armada 88, and wow — what a refined aged agricole rhum she is, if only I could be that way one day, for the moment I will suffice with spending time and savoring her in my glass. The magic of the future rhum experiences keep me excited daily.”
A patron savors Rhum HSE at the Accutron Rum Expo.
Other top performers included Martinique’s Rhum HSE, which took home a pair of double gold medals, and the new Ron Eminente from Cuba, which took home Double Gold in its first appearance at the Caribbean Rum Awards.
Other Double Gold medalists included Neisson’s Rhum Blanc; Guadeloupe’s Rhum Bielle for its Rhum Blanc 59; Martinique’s Rhum HSE VSOP; Martinique’s Rhum JM XO; Rhum HSE 2003 and Cuba’s Ron Eminente.
Judges of the blind-tasting competition included Christopher Davis; Alexander Britell; Guy Britton, EVP and Managing Editor of Caribbean Journal; Guy Ferdinand, renowned chef and proprietor of Le Petibonum in Martinique; Peter Berntsen, COO of Miami-based Empire Social Lounge; Simons Chase, co-founder of Cuba Journal; Jose Antonio Hernandez-Solaun, Miami-based rum expert, sommelier and international cigar sommelier; and guest judge Bianca Saloum, a Guadeloupe-based rum connoisseur.
The WIMCO VIP Ti’ Punch party hosted by Les Ilets de la Plage.
This year also included the annual People’s Choice Awards, which crowned The Bahamas’ One Drop Rum, Neisson Armada 88 and Flor de Caña 30 in their respective categories (The People’s Choice Awards included Steven Miller, Eddy Maddox; Benoit Lavigne and Ted Houseknect.)
The Atelier Ti’ Punch by Marie Galante-based Pere Labat.
“We’re thrilled to be a part of the event for the third time now,” said David Zipkin, founding member and vice president of event partner Tradewind Aviation. “It’s a wonderful event for the island and it’s a great kick off for the season in St Barth.”
“Staging the Caribbean Rum Awards and associated public tasting events in St Barts is so in synch with the island’s culture, one that celebrates enjoying good food and wine in a relaxed setting,” said Stiles Bennet, president of WIMCO, one of the event’s presenting sponsors. “We are excited to see how the event grows in years to come.”
The world’s largest airline has returned to the French Caribbean.
In a significant boost for the French Caribbean island of Martinique, American has restarted its service from Miami International Airport to Martinique’s Aime Cesaire International Airport just outside of Fort-de-France.
Initially, the nonstop flights will be operating once weekly on Saturdays.
Anse d’Arlet in Martinique.
That number will increase to three flights per week, with service on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for the Christmas season and the second half of February through March.
“American Airlines, the largest U.S. airline company is a crucial long-time partner of the Island of Flowers” said Martinique Tourism Commissioner Bénédicte di Geronimo in a statement. “That is why we’re thrilled to welcome back our main U.S. carrier and all its passengers with open arms.”
Le Diamant, Martinique.
The flights, which take about three and a half hours, are being operated on American’s Embraer 175 aircraft with 76 seats.
“With over 35 destinations to the islands, American is your airline to the French Caribbean Island of Martinique, said Evette Negron, Channel Sales Manager at American Airlines. “It is a real pleasure to offer to American travelers the opportunity to discover the beauty and rich history of Martinique in all safety, from the very moment of fastening their seatbelt.”
Martinique is home to what’s often dubbed the Napa Valley of Rum.
All travelers to Martinique need to show proof of full vaccination, along with a PCR test taken and received within 72 hours before travel.
That’s in line with the travel requirements for mainland France.
For much of the year, the biggest question facing the travel industry has been the future of meetings, particularly in the Caribbean.
When will groups get together? When will corporate meetings come back?
But even amid the pandemic, the answer is clear: the future is now.
While meetings have certainly changed in the new age of travel, groups are already gathering again, according to research by Marriott International provided to Caribbean Journal.
So what does the meeting landscape look like?
In the Caribbean and Mexico, it’s mostly group and corporate meetings; while group sizes for premium hotels is actually higher than in 2019, luxury group sizes are smaller.
“Group and events have begun their comeback in live and hybrid formats, and we foresee this to continue to accelerate into 2022,” says Louise Bang, regional vice president for sales and distribution at Marriott International.
Indeed, the signs point to a strong 2022: key group hotels are showing a stronger base of group business, with some interesting new trends, most notably an increase in either partial or entire hotel buyouts, the company says.
Group buyers say sustainability and wellness are key driving factors in the destination decision-making process, and outdoor space requests are also on the rise, especially in the Caribbean (including at Marriott’s new portfolio of all-inclusive resorts).
The Costa Rica Marriott Hacienda Belen.
“There is a need to unite employees around a joint vision, a need to onboard new talent and motivate and celebrate milestones achieved and encourage future success,” Bang says.
So who’s actually getting together?
On the larger scale, Marriott says it’s seeing insurance, medical and pharmaceutical as the top segments for luxury properties, while medical, professional services, consulting and manufacturing are tending toward premium properties.
And the world’s largest hotel company is making a strong push for groups right now, led by its new Connect With Confidence program, along with its class-leading Commitment to Clean health and safety protocols.
It’s a multi-layer plan that covers every sector of the meeting experience.
That includes enhanced sanitation guidelines, new operational training for associates and the expanded use of convince technologies to “ensure that customers are able to come together when they are ready.”
“We continue to see an uptick in incentives, smaller conferences, meetings, events and the requests for buyouts of entire hotels also remains. Social and celebratory leisure groups are at an all-time high as we all crave an occasion to celebrate, and many family highlights were missed these past years. Customers are often asking us for guidance on how to host effective events in this new environment, ideas and creative solutions for more innovative experience.”
The overarching point then is that, unlike a year ago, in-person meetings aren’t at the far edge of the horizon — they’re here right now.
“While some meetings may be able to take place virtually, building relationships is most effective when done in person,” Bang says. “While the scale and scope of both groups and events is varied, I believe they will remain the staples of corporate life.”
