Posts Tagged ‘review’
It’s not often that you’ll find original works of fine art produced by renowned artists adorning hotels in the Caribbean. Even when you do, the price you’ll pay to stay at properties showcasing such art makes buying the works themselves a better investment.
At La Suite Villa, though, you get the best of both worlds.
I like posh and fancy hotels as much as the next guy, but when I travel to the Caribbean, I much prefer to stay with friends and family. The Caribbean is home for me, after all, so while room service, seaside spa treatments and other fancy bits of pampering are nice, I’m generally happiest when my accommodations more closely match the trappings of my childhood.
That said, The Retreat at Lookout in Grand Cayman is one of the happiest places I’ve stayed in the past couple years.
I found this quaint, family-owned/operated property while driving around the island looking for a place to stay.
Remember a few weeks ago when I set out to discover the soul of St. Thomas, that decidedly well-traveled sister island to my beloved St. Croix? I had high hopes of discovering the types of unique experiences, unexplained attractions and unmitigated “locals-only” fun that would support my theory that the uncommon exists in all Caribbean destinations, no matter how touristy. Over the course of the past year and change I had already successfully proven my theory in such popular ports as Grand Cayman, Aruba, Montego Bay and Grand Bahama Island. Surely St. Thomas would yield similar success, right…?!
Yeah, umm… no.
It was still dark outside when, at 5am, the alarm on my phone sharply shoved me awake. Actually, “awake” may be too generous a term for the state I found myself in. My brain sloshed about in my head. The walls of my room seemed to carelessly slouch against one another. And my stomach, usually a strong ally on long nights, was cowering in my darkest recesses, shell-shocked by the punishment I’d put it through from the early hours of the previous evening all the way up to just an hour or two ago.
Montserratian bush rum. We’d been such good partners in crime the night before.
Stay in special places and you’ll meet special people. It’s a rule I’ve followed over the years that has spawned many great friendships and brushes with fame. Case in point, my last trip to Old San Juan, where no more than 10 minutes after checking into The Gallery Inn, I met Anton Kuerti.
Who’s he? Oh, only one of the most accomplished classical pianists of our time; a master in the works of Beethoven who initially rose to fame after performing with the Boston Pops in 1949… at the tender age of 11. Most of us guys will remember age 11 as a time when we were still riotously amused by games like Pull My Finger.
As anyone who reads this blog knows, I love to take photos… But a funny thing happened while staying at Hotel L’Esplanade in Grande Case on my last trip to St. Martin: I took no photos of the property. It wasn’t because this small hotel is not picturesque. It was actually because I was too busy marveling at the beauty of the property and its surroundings to remember to stop and shoot anything at all! Staying here was that pleasant.
When you visit the website for Hotel L’Esplanade and take a look at the photos of the rooms, you probably won’t think they could possibly look that nice in real life, but they do!
Last weekend while in St. Lucia, I had the pleasure of spending a few nights at Stonefield Estate Villa Resort. Let me start by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed my stay here. It was exactly what I was looking for… That said, if you go there hoping for the immaculate property depicted on their website, you may be a bit disappointed.
What was I looking for? Well, my desire was to thoroughly relax in lush seclusion, and that’s exactly what I got at Stonefield.
My villa, named Hibiscus – 1 of only 17 villas on property – seemed to offer the most secluded accommodations.
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St. Croix Food & Wine Experience Cookbook
Naparima Girls’ High School Cookbook
