Nevis will celebrate its now-annual Mango & Food Festival July 6 – 9.

This year, celebrity chefs Judy Joo and Seamus Mullen will be headlining the festival, bringing their unique culinary talents to the island.

Chef Judy Joo, UK “Iron Chef,” host of Cooking Channel’s “Korean Foods Made Simple,” cookbook author and restaurateur who also appears on The Food Network, is making her second appearance on Nevis.

She will be joined this year by Chef Seamus Mullen, an award-winning New York chef and restaurateur, who brings an inventive approach to Spanish cuisine.

He appears regularly on Food Network shows “Chopped” and “Beat Bobby Flay.”

The Nevis Mango & Food Festival will feature four days of dining experiences, cooking demonstrations, and cook-along classes by these international chefs as well as local Nevisian chefs and cooks.

The events will take place at restaurants, beach bars and resorts around the island, culminating with Nevisian chefs and mixologists cooking at Oualie Beach on the final day.

Guests can enjoy samples of many mango-inspired dishes, made from the 44 different varieties of Nevis mangoes.

“This is an opportunity for foodies and especially mango-lovers to visit Nevis and get a taste of some incredible cooking by master chefs as well as a taste of our beautiful island, said Greg B. Phillip, CEO of the Nevis Tourism Board. “Now in its third year, this food extravaganza continues to grow in popularity with visitors and locals alike and this year promises to be something very special.”

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One of the Caribbean’s most expensive homes is currently on the market in Antigua and Barbuda.

The impressive 12-bedroom Villa Antiqua is listed with Hilton & Hyland for $49.55 million, according to real estate portal Point2homes.

Villa Antiqua. (All photos by Hilton & Hyland)

Antigua has become a major celebrity hotspot in recent years, with homeonwers including Giorgio Armani and Eric Clapton, among others.

Villa Antiqua’s main estate includes six rooms and 12 bedrooms, along with three single-level guest villas along the waterfront containing 13 rooms and 26 guest suites.

It’s among the most stunning properties in the Caribbean and one of the most expensive homes to ever hit the market in the Caribbean.

The listing is presented by Hilton & Hyland’s Carol Dotson, Adam Lint and Susan Pekich.

See the full listing hereSee the full listing here.

– CJ

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Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has named Allison Reid its new chief development officer for the Americas region, the company announced.

Reid comes to the company after having served most recently as senior vice president of North America development for Starwood Hotels and Resorts, overseeing all of Starwood’s 11 brands in North America, the Caribbean and French Polynesia.

In her role at Kimpton, Reid will lead real estate development and management contracts across the brand.

“With 18 projected openings through 2020, demand for the Kimpton brand is growing around the world,” said Mike DeFrino, CEO of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants. “Allison’s successful track record will further fuel our development pipeline and strengthen our presence in key urban, resort, and gateway markets.”

Kimpton opened its first Caribbean property last year in the Cayman Islands with the Kimpton Seafire and recently launched a new project in Grenada.

“Bringing a pioneering boutique brand like Kimpton to new destinations will continue to challenge and evolve the hospitality industry,” said Allison Reid. “I’ve also been a longtime fan of Kimpton’s empowered company culture, and look forward to working side by side with Mike and the senior leadership team.”

— CJ Staff

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By Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
CJ Travel Editor

It’s hard to imagine a beach more perfect: Sand as white and fine as confectioners’ sugar. Water the same transparent turquoise as a Tanqueray gin bottle. Near constant breezes that straddle the line between blissfully warm and blessedly cool.

But apart from these obvious physical qualities, White Bay, the most popular of seven beaches on the 850-acre private-island resort, Guana Island, has another, less obvious but equally attractive asset.

It’s not the swimming platform that bobs seductively in the distance, offering Guana’s maximum of 40 guests a handy floating tanning table.

Neither is it the little white beach bar on its casuarina tree-shaded sands, where Guana Mojitos (made with organic mint and Key limes from the island’s orchard, naturally), are served with pleasing regularity.

Rather, it’s the lightning-fast WI-FI that extends from that bar almost to the beach’s water line, making envy-inducing Instagram posts and boastful Facebook status updates as easy as pressing “Share.”

Because, trust us: When you’re lucky enough to be on Guana Island, you want everyone to know.

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Southwest Airlines is making moves in the Caribbean.

The carrier officially launched new daily nonstop service to four Caribbean destinations on Sunday, all out of its growing Caribbean-network hub in Fort Lauderdale.

The carrier has launched daily nonstop service from Fort Lauderdale to Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Belize City, Belize; and Cancun, Mexico.

The Half Moon resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Also Sunday, Southwest launched two other new Caribbean routes: one between Cincinnati and Grand Cayman and the other between Chicago-Midway Airport and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

The new flights are the latest part of a major regional expansion for the low-cost carrier, which earlier this year launched service between Denver and Belize.

Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman.

Southwest had already been operating daily flights between Fort Lauderdale and Nassau, Bahamas, along with a number of flights to destinations in Cuba.

Nassau, Bahamas.

The new flights represent the first significant challenge to competitor JetBlue’s fast-growing Caribbean network, as rival American Airlines seems to have slowed its expansion in the Caribbean.

—Alexander Britell

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