By Ray Chickrie Caribbean News Now contributor GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Guyana, the former British Guiana, was a Dutch colony before it became a British possession in 1831 and, as a result, over half of Guyana’s National Archive is in Dutch. After an agreement between Guyana and the Netherlands to preserve and translate the Guyana Dutch […]
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By Alexander Britell and Guy Britton
Long Bay is shallow and calm, and at night the moon hits the obsidian sea as if it were some kind of secret lake.
It’s a moonscape you’ll almost never find in the Caribbean, silver and still, the water beaming and lightly rippling.
But there’s something else here that you won’t find anywhere else in the Caribbean.
Long Bay Beach is a short drive from Turks and Caicos’ famous Grace Bay Beach, but it’s also home to what just might be the most beautiful new hotel in the entire Caribbean, the Shore Club on Long Bay.
Turks and Caicos’ newest luxury resort is, plainly, a stunningly designed place, with 106 suites and a recently-completed collection of spectacular six-bedroom standalone villas.
The pool in one of the standalone six-bedroom villas.
It’s easy to think it hyperbole, but when you arrive here the quality of construction, the attention to detail and the sweeping excellence of the design can immediately overwhelm.
It’s a rare kind of thing, at once a hotel in the grand luxury resort tradition, at the same time a cutting-edge, design-forward property that reminds of the hippest hotels on South Beach.
The sprawling terrace in an executive penthouse.
That’s not a combination you ever find in the region — and the result is something remarkable.
It’s not a hotel in the traditional sense — it’s something more, a kind of a new category.
The spa treatment cabanas are tucked among the mangroves on Long Bay.
Because the rooms, whether junior suites or three-bedroom executive penthouses, are massive.
They are not just hotel rooms — they are fully equipped, fully outfitted, from state-of-the-art kitchens to their own dining rooms.
It all adds up to the experience of living in your own private residential club — with all of the amenities of a five-star luxury hotel.
That means amenities like a world-class spa set among the mangroves; three pools; the outstanding Japanese-Peruvian fusion eatery, Sui-Ren; a kids club.
The main pool.
So if you want to use your kitchen, you can — or you can eat every meal at the hotel, or get out and explore the culinary scene in Providenciales.
And at every corner, the design simply amazes; like the most iconic hotels, it has a kind of timeless look, like it’s been here forever – but, at the same time, construction just finished.
The Shore Club has 106 suites (along with a magnificent collection of spectacular six-bedroom villas that were just completed), but you’ll immediately be convinced you’re staying in a boutique hotel.
What the place has achieved is almost an entirely new level, a new category of luxury hotel: it’s a private club, a resort, a private residence and a boutique, all in one.
Inside the courtyard of a villa.
In other words, it’s the region’s new destination hotel.
For more, visit the Shore Club.
— CJ
The post VIDEO: Turks and Caicos’ Shore Club Is A New Level of Luxury Hotel appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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By the Caribbean Journal staff
W Hotels is set to open its newest hotel in the Caribbean Basin next month: the new W Costa Rica, Reserva Conchal.
The newest W in the region is slated to debut in November, with 151 guest rooms along with W brand including its signature Living Room.
A rendering of the new W Costa Rica.
Other amenities will include several specialty restaurants, a “destination” bar and lounge, an infinity-edge pool, a spa and meeting space.
The 2,300-acre Reserva Conchal development is set in Costa Rica’s popular Guanacaste province, with amenities including a Robert Trent Jones II-designed golf course and a beach club.
It’s already home to a Westin Golf Resort and Spa.
The W Costa Rica is the newest W-branded property in the region since the W Panama opened its doors in Panama City earlier this year.
— CJ
The post W Is Opening a Costa Rica Hotel appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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By Alexander Britell
Moving — or buying a home — on a very tiny island in the Caribbean isn’t always an easy proposition
Sometimes, the things that make a place exotic and beautiful — like remoteness — also make life more difficult, from higher costs on goods to a sometimes daily series of compromises.
But having a place to live on a very small island like this stirs the romantic in all of us, and it’s still the dream for most avid Caribbean travelers.
So here’s one place to think about: South Bimini.
While it’s got all of the elements of the perfect tiny island, it’s also just 50 miles from Miami, with daily ferry service and flights, a casino nearby, an international airport and a mix of locals, expats and weekend-goers that gives the place a particular kind of energy.
And yes, we mean South Bimini. Because Bimini is actually a small chain of islands, with the two populated ones North Bimini and South Bimini.
North Bimini is where the Hilton hotel is, the Resorts World Casino, the Big Game Club and the nightlife.
But over on South Bimini, you find a pristine, totally quiet, throwback island that’s the essence of laid-back Caribbean vibes.
“South Bimini is much quieter, laid back and authentic to the real feel of The Bahamas,” says Paige Waugh of the Bimini Sands, which is the place to go if you’re planning to buy on South Bimini.
The Bimini Sands.
Bimini Sands is a marina and residential community that includes 66 slips and a collection of condominium units right on the harbor or the beach.
But it’s that rare combination of proximity to the U.S. and little-island charm that makes South Bimini such an interesting proposition for a buyer, Waugh tells Caribbean Journal.
“You can have the best of both worlds with Bimini being conveniently located within 50 miles from the US; a 20 minute flight and/or two-hour boat ride,” Waugh says. “The fast pace, stressful lifestyle we live these days can be exhausting, unhealthy, and unproductive. Your body, mind, and spirit sometimes just needs a rest and Bimini gives me that rest and break I need and deserve.”
A unit at the Bimini Sands.
This tiny chain in The Bahamas has long been a magnet for adventurers and famous figures, from Ernest Hemingway, whose Islands in the Stream novel was set here, to Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. who made several trips to the island.
A bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr commemorating his visit to Bimini.
“My Grandfather always said that he felt time stood still in Bimini,” Waugh says.
Most have been drawn to Bimini’s remarkable marine environment, with some of the region’s clearest water, world-class bonefishing and a remarkably diverse eco-system.
The SharkLab.
The latter led to the creation decades ago of the Shark Research Lab, which performs cutting-edge research on sharks at its base in South Bimini.
What it also means is that there’s a funky, vibrant expat community, from SharkLab volunteers to a large number of Floridians who have built second homes here or bought at the Bimini Sands.
“There are a few others from the United States that came and never left,” Waugh says.
That sounds like a good idea.
— CJ
The post How (And Why) to Live on South Bimini in The Bahamas appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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By the Caribbean Journal staff
Antigua’s legendary Jumby Bay Island is open again, following an extensive enhancement project.
The private-island resort has completed a multimillion-dollar renovation that gave Oetker Collection, which took over management of the property last year, a chance to put a bigger imprint on Jumby Bay.
Europe’s Oetker Collection is no stranger to the Caribbean, managing what has always been one of the region’s most legendary places to stay: the Eden Rock in St Barth.
The renovation has been overseen by Brazilian designer Patricia Anastassiadis of Anastassiadis Arquitetos, who has worked with Oetker in the past.
Changes include a new restaurant, a new luxury shop, new furniture and palettes in the rooms and a revamped beach bar, along with an overall new look for the resort.
Jumby Bay Island has a total of 40 rooms and a broad portfolio of luxury villas a short boat ride from the coast of Antigua.
For more, visit Jumby Bay Island.
— CJ
The post Antigua’s Jumby Bay Private Island Resort Reopens appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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