had completely forgotten that. oetker does not screw around, so JB should probably jump to to the top, or near top, of poster's list. that beach is stupendous.

canouan beach pretty darn great. really enjoyed that setting.

most recent poster had mentioned a previous stay at parrot cay. i stayed there shortly after opening (yes, i'm old) and it was a stunning property/location. but i'm not as nuts about the t&c beaches in general as a lot of others seem to be. they are admittedly gorgeous, but even the ones not as secluded/verdant as parrot cay or yara are quite buggy. i hate bugs.

PSV has always been an amazing little gem. it's not luxe 5-star service or anything, but the setting/property and accommodations are really really great. i've stayed there both before (richardson family) and after new ownership took over (maybe a decade ago?) and it's really special. though i can't recommend it highly if fantastic, large sugary beaches are the number one demand, as katieftravels seemed to want. both the larger common beach and some of the private villa beaches are fine, wonderful actually, and very private. it just doesn't seem to be why one would go, 'for the amazing beaches'..
the only PSV downside (for me) was the intense amount of small pleasure boat traffic the island - or at least at the main lodge/restaurant portion of the island - gets. especially during evening/supper hours. this had not really been a problem on first visit under haze richardson ownership, but the second time (post-new ownership) it had become quite amplified. (no pun intended.) it almost ruins what is otherwise an extremely secluded, quiet and private environment. also, you have to watch some jimmy-buffet looking types dock up, down about a billion cocktails, full-tilt drunk, and then get right back in their boat and drive home.

almost full on agreement across the board here. i was going to mention this one drawback to juluca's beach: the water itself is so far from the inland vegetation that there is indeed not a drop of natural vegetation to provide shade. the sand is very hot. while the attendants will of course provide sand slippers and set up umbrellas, etc, there's no hammocks-between-palms or these kinds of things like you find on st barts or along some of the jamaica beaches. feels more like venice (ca) or zuma beach. that kind of width.
one thing i remember differently, even on my most recent (post OE/belmond takeover) of five stays, was the extra beach foot traffic there. i definitely don't remember any kind of larger boat berths or docks. and it def didn't feel like they (cap juluca) were selling day passes or anything. certainly none of the vendor walkby's you get in cancun or jamaica. in fact, my remembrance was often looking down that seemingly endless beach and seeing........ no one.
maybe another couple guests a football field or two away, out in front of their villa (they are spaced quite amply apart).
if they indeed are now letting boats and outside visitors (entering thru the hotel) all over that awesome beach, man, that would really suck.
i'm not sure if you're referring to the new (belmond-built) pool or the previous pool. the new one won't be winning any resort pool awards or even featured on the resort's website much, but it is GALAXIES better than the previous pool. that pool was some kind of truly ramada-esque biology lab. wife and i used to laugh at how comically out of place that pool was, within the fantasy-beautiful architecture that surrounded it.

and yes, caribbean island property/service levels do not touch what's on offer in playa, cabo, DR, miami, hawaii, all sorts of other similar locales. not sure why that's true, but it is. there are places that almost get there - parrot cay, jade mountain, canouan (now, reportedly, that it's MO) - but somehow feel like they juuuust miss the mark in one or another crucial area.
still, there's no question there are some remarkable resorts, at some even more remarkable settings. also, to be fair, none of these places are priced quite like what's on offer at the top of the cabo, hawaii, zijua, etc resort scene, and if you're a lifelong US east coaster like me, the ease of getting there is just too tempting to not go, all the time.