Berry Islands, The Bahamas: Uncommon Envy
Imagine seven uninterrupted miles of this reserved exclusively for you. This is just what you can get at the CarriEarl Boutique Hotel in the Berry Islands.
You may have never heard of the Berry Islands, but if you’re one of those people who actually enjoy the mega cruise ship experience (*shudder*), then it’s entirely likely you’ve already been ashore on a Berry.
Royal Caribbean owns one Berry; Norwegian Cruise Line another. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see more cruise lines snatch up more of these islands in the years to come (there are 30 Berry Islands spread among a good 30 square miles of The Bahamas), turning heretofore perfectly pristine, uninhabited islets with their own names and history into resort-styled private island pleasure paradises, fully reconstituted (down to the very names even!) to fit the common traveler’s dream Caribbean aesthetic.
(*SHUDDER*)
All of the Berry Islands aren’t like this, of course (thankfully). Great Harbour Cay, where you’ll find CarriEarl, is apparently among the better Berries.
Eight miles long and about 1.5 miles wide, the most northern of the Berry Islands has a population of just under 350 people. In its heyday back in the 1960’s, Hollywood elites like Telly Savales, Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks and others frequented the island.
Celebrity promoter Earl Blackwell was the honey that attracted many of these Hollywood bees.
It was Blackwell who originally built CarriEarl as a private residence where he could entertain his rich and famous friends.
Eventually the glittering good times would end, plunging Great Harbour Cay back into near obscurity, and CarriEarl with it. It’s hard to believe, but the property sat vacant for 10 years!
New owners and five years of renovations later, CarriEarl opened its doors once again to guests on New Year’s Day 2012, offering four stylish guestrooms, a 50-foot swimming pool, the best restaurant anywhere in the Berry Islands, and those seven uninterrupted miles of Berry-sweet secluded beach.
Yeah, we’ve just got to check this out soon!
Ever been to the Berry Islands? Ever stay at CarriEarl? If you have tips on the best way to get there and things we absolutely shouldn’t miss, clue us in here…
*Photo credit: Flickr user Venture Minimalists.
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