By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Castles in Paradise villa resort in St Lucia has expanded with a new wing of apartment units at its Vieux Fort property.

Castles in Paradise, the only villa resort in the south of St Lucia, now has six new units with a range from one to two-bedroom apartments.

A villa at Castles in Paradise.

The apartments overlook Savannes Bay and Honeymoon Bay, with each including a kitchenette, Wi-Fi, maid service six days a week, ground maintenance and pool access.

Castles in Paradise has a total of 14 villas.

The post St Lucia’s Castles in Paradise Expands appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

SBE has debuted its first-ever hotel in the Caribbean with the official launch of the new SLS Baha Mar in Nassau.

SLS is the second brand to debut at the Nassau megaresort, following the launch earlier this summer of the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar.

SLS Baha Mar has a total of 299 rooms on Nassau’s sparkling Cable Beach, along with three bars, including the only rooftop lounge on the island of New Providence.

The opening party this weekend.

SLS Baha Mar’s culinary offerings are headlined by Katsuya by Starck Baha Mar, a Japanese eatery that is the partnership of Chef Uechi and designer Philippe Starck. It also inclues Cleo Medterraneao, and will soon be home to Fi’lia Baha Mar, the second outpost of Chef Michael Schwartz’s Miami-area Italian restaurant.

Guests can access Baha Mar’s wide-ranging amenities, from the Jack Nicklaus-designed Royal Blue Baha Mar golf course to a massive casino to an ESPA Spa.

As is often the case with SBE’s hotels, the pool is the epicenter, and that’s the case at Baha Mar, with the action centered around the Bungalow Pool Bar and Grill and the soon-to-debut Upscale Pool.

It’s the first international hotel, too, for the SLS Brand, which is also planning to open a hotel in Cancun, while sbe’s Mondrian brand is also planning a debut in downtown Playa del Carmen.

For more info on the Baha Mar, see Caribbean Journal’s recent in-depth feature on its debut.

The post SLS Baha Mar Opens in Nassau appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

Low-cost air carrier Norwegian continues to show surging growth, according to the latest traffic numbers released by the company.

The European-based carrier that also flies to the Caribbean reported 3.1 million passengers in October, a 14 percent increase over the same month in 2016.

Total traffic growth increased by 29 percent, while capacity growth increased by 31 percent in the same period.

Norwegian’s Caribbean network significantly expanded last month with the launch of new routes to Martinique from both Fort Lauderdale and Providence, supplementing existing service from New York.

We’re very pleased to see that more passengers are choosing Norwegian for their travels,” said Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos. “The growth is highest on our intercontinental routes and the overall demand is satisfactory and stable. The competition is still strong, so global expansion is important to position ourselves in the market.”

The post Norwegian Continues Traffic Surge appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

The latest Caribbean Photo comes from Caribbean Journal subscriber Mark Douglas, who sent in this very pretty shot of sunset at the Royal Suites Turquesa in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Have you taken a great photo in the Caribbean?

Send it to news@caribjournal.com with CPOTW in the subject line, including your first and last name and the location of the photo.

It could be the next one!

— CJ

The post Caribbean Photo of the Week: Sunset in Punta Cana appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

The island of Bermuda is seeing a boom in tourism spending so far in 2017, according to the latest data from the Bermuda Tourism Authority.

Bermuda, buoyed by its hosting of the America’s Cup sailing race earlier this year, is reporting $222.3 million in spending by stayover tourist arrivals through the first nine months of the year, a 22 percent increase over the same period in 2016.

That represents an additional $40.7 million for the local economy compared to last year.

Indeed, it’s already more than leisure tourists spent in Bermuda all of last year.

Room rates have also seen a 10 percent jump, while revenue per available room is up 19.5 percent. Occupancy has also seen a nine percent increase.

“In the first nine months of the year, leisure air visitor spending has already surpassed the entire year of 2016,” said Bermuda Tourism Authority Chief Executive Kevin Dallas. “Undoubtedly the America’s Cup helped drive spending figures higher this year, and now we see from the latest data: visitor spending has remained strong post-America’s Cup.”

And that’s borne out in the numbers.

Stayover arrivals increased by 8.9 percent and 10.5 percent in July and August, respectively, long after America’s Cup concluded.

The island did struggle in September, largely the result of the storms in the Caribbean that colored the perception of many travelers and did cause the cancellation of a number of flights to Bermuda, too.

The post Bermuda Seeing Boom in Tourism Spending appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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