Pink Sands Club - Canouan (Grenadines)
May 15, 2019, 5:38 am
#16
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 36
If you are just looking to chill on the beach with pool/beach play, Canouan would be perfect (spa and golf are great as well). Service was excellent all around (since there likely will not be a ton of people there, the staff to guest ratio is very high). Service at the bars, restaurants, boating, spa, airport/immigration service, and general requests with our butler were all excellent. Food and beverage are both excellent however not for the price conscious/sensitive - similar to Amanyara (as everything is imported pretty much). Depending on how long you are planning stay, the hotel is quite 'marble' as you mentioned but the suites are all outfitted in a very sophisticated manner (if you have been to Sandy Lane in the Barbados, it is quite similar), however, there are villas (no longer rented through the hotel but I can give you the contact information if you want) that are not like that and are more in what we would term 'Balinese' style (more Amanyara but not quite as contemporary) with warm wood and stone (we stayed in both and preferred the villas for a longer stay (away from the hotel and with private plunge pool and great view) but for a short stay (i.e. 4-5 days), I would recommend the hotel). Also, for the villas, you can stock them with wine, food (order in advance) which can reduce overall F&B expense (esp. if you are there for over 5 days) and give you more food options as you are really quite limited to just a few places. We went to the Marina for dinner one night and also to the other hotel on the island but we ate all other meals at Pink Sands (they have different restaurants on site). However, we never felt deprived of choices.....
T&C cannot be beat for beaches (in our humble opinion) over all of the destinations that we are talking about (it is def. our fav.). St. Barths beaches are ok, but in the ranking, I would say that people would put Anguilla as most similar to T&C since there are so many options (I think they have over 30 beaches). As for comparison, we like St. Barth's but it is a completely different vibe. We loved staying at Le Toiny (which is out of the main area of Gustavia and amazing) but would not stay at Eden Rock again (too busy and showy for us - we only like that type of vibe for a night or two). I think you would like Cap Juluca (the beach is gorgeous there and we have heard good things) but would find Anguilla busier than what you are used to (more like 50% of Grace Bay level of activity). As mentioned, beaches in St. Barth's are nice (comparable to Canouan and quite frankly, I personally think similar to Anguilla but people would argue that comparison who have been to more of those 30 beaches than we have) but many people spend a fair bit of their time at their villa pools as they do on the beach in St. Barth's (about 50/50).
If you appreciate going places where few have been (and will be much more popular in the future), you should try Canouan (esp, if you only have a couple of days). It seems that you like the remote vibe (i.e. PC and Amanyara) so it would be a good fit. There are two more hotels scheduled to be built there (including Soho House and rumours of an Aman), so it speaks to the level of exclusivity and privacy that you like (but even moreso) and also that it is becoming more popular with the proverbial 'jet-set'. I originally heard about it from one of the c-suite executives at St. Regis who travels around the world (travels over 250 days a year) and raved about the place (and we are so glad that he told us about it) and funny enough, Forbes once referred to it as 'where billionaires go to escape millionaires' and I think that is pretty accurate (although funny, quite true, at least with the clientele we interacted with and with who owns villas there - a very high profile/international clientele with high expectations/refined taste).
T&C cannot be beat for beaches (in our humble opinion) over all of the destinations that we are talking about (it is def. our fav.). St. Barths beaches are ok, but in the ranking, I would say that people would put Anguilla as most similar to T&C since there are so many options (I think they have over 30 beaches). As for comparison, we like St. Barth's but it is a completely different vibe. We loved staying at Le Toiny (which is out of the main area of Gustavia and amazing) but would not stay at Eden Rock again (too busy and showy for us - we only like that type of vibe for a night or two). I think you would like Cap Juluca (the beach is gorgeous there and we have heard good things) but would find Anguilla busier than what you are used to (more like 50% of Grace Bay level of activity). As mentioned, beaches in St. Barth's are nice (comparable to Canouan and quite frankly, I personally think similar to Anguilla but people would argue that comparison who have been to more of those 30 beaches than we have) but many people spend a fair bit of their time at their villa pools as they do on the beach in St. Barth's (about 50/50).
If you appreciate going places where few have been (and will be much more popular in the future), you should try Canouan (esp, if you only have a couple of days). It seems that you like the remote vibe (i.e. PC and Amanyara) so it would be a good fit. There are two more hotels scheduled to be built there (including Soho House and rumours of an Aman), so it speaks to the level of exclusivity and privacy that you like (but even moreso) and also that it is becoming more popular with the proverbial 'jet-set'. I originally heard about it from one of the c-suite executives at St. Regis who travels around the world (travels over 250 days a year) and raved about the place (and we are so glad that he told us about it) and funny enough, Forbes once referred to it as 'where billionaires go to escape millionaires' and I think that is pretty accurate (although funny, quite true, at least with the clientele we interacted with and with who owns villas there - a very high profile/international clientele with high expectations/refined taste).
May 15, 2019, 9:48 pm
#17
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 181
If you are just looking to chill on the beach with pool/beach play, Canouan would be perfect (spa and golf are great as well). Service was excellent all around (since there likely will not be a ton of people there, the staff to guest ratio is very high). Service at the bars, restaurants, boating, spa, airport/immigration service, and general requests with our butler were all excellent. Food and beverage are both excellent however not for the price conscious/sensitive - similar to Amanyara (as everything is imported pretty much). Depending on how long you are planning stay, the hotel is quite 'marble' as you mentioned but the suites are all outfitted in a very sophisticated manner (if you have been to Sandy Lane in the Barbados, it is quite similar), however, there are villas (no longer rented through the hotel but I can give you the contact information if you want) that are not like that and are more in what we would term 'Balinese' style (more Amanyara but not quite as contemporary) with warm wood and stone (we stayed in both and preferred the villas for a longer stay (away from the hotel and with private plunge pool and great view) but for a short stay (i.e. 4-5 days), I would recommend the hotel). Also, for the villas, you can stock them with wine, food (order in advance) which can reduce overall F&B expense (esp. if you are there for over 5 days) and give you more food options as you are really quite limited to just a few places. We went to the Marina for dinner one night and also to the other hotel on the island but we ate all other meals at Pink Sands (they have different restaurants on site). However, we never felt deprived of choices.....
T&C cannot be beat for beaches (in our humble opinion) over all of the destinations that we are talking about (it is def. our fav.). St. Barths beaches are ok, but in the ranking, I would say that people would put Anguilla as most similar to T&C since there are so many options (I think they have over 30 beaches). As for comparison, we like St. Barth's but it is a completely different vibe. We loved staying at Le Toiny (which is out of the main area of Gustavia and amazing) but would not stay at Eden Rock again (too busy and showy for us - we only like that type of vibe for a night or two). I think you would like Cap Juluca (the beach is gorgeous there and we have heard good things) but would find Anguilla busier than what you are used to (more like 50% of Grace Bay level of activity). As mentioned, beaches in St. Barth's are nice (comparable to Canouan and quite frankly, I personally think similar to Anguilla but people would argue that comparison who have been to more of those 30 beaches than we have) but many people spend a fair bit of their time at their villa pools as they do on the beach in St. Barth's (about 50/50).
If you appreciate going places where few have been (and will be much more popular in the future), you should try Canouan (esp, if you only have a couple of days). It seems that you like the remote vibe (i.e. PC and Amanyara) so it would be a good fit. There are two more hotels scheduled to be built there (including Soho House and rumours of an Aman), so it speaks to the level of exclusivity and privacy that you like (but even moreso) and also that it is becoming more popular with the proverbial 'jet-set'. I originally heard about it from one of the c-suite executives at St. Regis who travels around the world (travels over 250 days a year) and raved about the place (and we are so glad that he told us about it) and funny enough, Forbes once referred to it as 'where billionaires go to escape millionaires' and I think that is pretty accurate (although funny, quite true, at least with the clientele we interacted with and with who owns villas there - a very high profile/international clientele with high expectations/refined taste).
T&C cannot be beat for beaches (in our humble opinion) over all of the destinations that we are talking about (it is def. our fav.). St. Barths beaches are ok, but in the ranking, I would say that people would put Anguilla as most similar to T&C since there are so many options (I think they have over 30 beaches). As for comparison, we like St. Barth's but it is a completely different vibe. We loved staying at Le Toiny (which is out of the main area of Gustavia and amazing) but would not stay at Eden Rock again (too busy and showy for us - we only like that type of vibe for a night or two). I think you would like Cap Juluca (the beach is gorgeous there and we have heard good things) but would find Anguilla busier than what you are used to (more like 50% of Grace Bay level of activity). As mentioned, beaches in St. Barth's are nice (comparable to Canouan and quite frankly, I personally think similar to Anguilla but people would argue that comparison who have been to more of those 30 beaches than we have) but many people spend a fair bit of their time at their villa pools as they do on the beach in St. Barth's (about 50/50).
If you appreciate going places where few have been (and will be much more popular in the future), you should try Canouan (esp, if you only have a couple of days). It seems that you like the remote vibe (i.e. PC and Amanyara) so it would be a good fit. There are two more hotels scheduled to be built there (including Soho House and rumours of an Aman), so it speaks to the level of exclusivity and privacy that you like (but even moreso) and also that it is becoming more popular with the proverbial 'jet-set'. I originally heard about it from one of the c-suite executives at St. Regis who travels around the world (travels over 250 days a year) and raved about the place (and we are so glad that he told us about it) and funny enough, Forbes once referred to it as 'where billionaires go to escape millionaires' and I think that is pretty accurate (although funny, quite true, at least with the clientele we interacted with and with who owns villas there - a very high profile/international clientele with high expectations/refined taste).
May 18, 2019, 5:37 am
#18
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 36
Private jet was not in service yet as Mandarin Orientel had just taken over and they were not flying it again yet (was on the tarmac) so we chartered from Barbados.....we stayed at Sandy Lane for a couple of nights before leaving for Canouan so airport transfers were really seamless as Sandy Lane staff directly transferred us to the Pink Sands staff at the airport and we had VIP service through the airport, customs, etc. The only caution was don't pack any trendy camo clothing as it was confiscated at Canouan airport.....we did not have any but some other people did and got it taken away as only the army (or something like that) can wear it.....lol....funny but something to remember since it is in-style right now......let me know whether you end up booking and I will share some more detailed tips.....