I decided to to something with Anguilla, St. Martin and perhaps (not ver likely) St. Barth. Most likely will be the 2 Belmonds, even as suites at Four Seasons are much cheaper.
Some places are frankly only crazy. Also Miami seems to have lost every sense for reality.

The difficulty with hurricanes lies not only with avoiding them per se in island � but the damage wreaked which could put resorts out of commission for months and could affect island environment even longer.

QUOTE=FlyerEC;34616480]Fiona is just not letting up .. might be in for another long night there
Right now it ’ s not too bad even though the wind is crazy

So definitely don’ t go in September / October
Outside those hurricane season months it ’ s lovely weather all year round[/QUOTE]

Exactly , we know that , thankfully T & C has been spared with Fiona . Hopefully , Bermuda too & Eastern Provinces , CA
​​​​​​​
“ It was brutal but no major damage to the property
All guests and staff are okay “

For thoso who stayed at Cap Juluca. From the pictures the difference between the Deluxe Beachfront Room and the Beachfront Junior Suite seems to bee not very big. Is it worth the extra charge?
At La Samanna they have One Bedroom Suites with Plunge Pools. It seems to be a round Whirlspool. Any experiences with this suites compared to the "normal" ones?

I�ve stayed only in jr suite and higher. The one perk I like is being on the ground floor where one can just waltz out of the back French doors and stroll 20 yards or so the beach and water. This can �t be done at the FS. Unfamiliar with La Samanna.

My understanding has always been the bathrooms area at Cap Juluca is larger at the Jr Suite level and some come with an outdoor area off bathroom (but no outdoor shower). Those that have a more "normal size bathroom come with an additional outdoor seating area. I believe it is a ground floor vs 2nd level situation where as the ground floor ones all have the outdoor area off bathroom
The plunge pool at La Samana are small yes

Hi All,

My husband and I are looking for a romantic, ultra-private experience for our 15 anniversary. We honeymooned at Parrot Cay back in 2008, but nowadays the reviews are very mixed so Im on the fence about returning even though it has the most beautiful beach. We looked at Amanyara, but that too has polarized reviews. We went to Cap Juluca last year and LOVED IT but would like to go somewhere else this year. We've also done Hermitage Bay in Antigua but didn't like the food or beach.

If any of you are familiar with Blackberry Farm/Mountain we are looking for a Blackberry caliber place. We are open to other tropical oceans if it�s worth the flying time.

Things that are important to us...

- gorgeous beaches which nice beach lounger setups that are spread out from other people and great beach drink service
- good food that is inspired/creative/fresh, good cocktails
- not really a place families with kids flock to
- good spa
- rooms have lots of natural light and wood textures and neutral tones (not cheesy/colorful island vibe)
- ideally with one or all of these: private plunge pool or outdoor shower/tub
- we don�t need nightlife or want to leave the hotel, we love to veg on the beach, snorkel and eat good food

Thank you travel friends!

Hi KatieF and welcome to flyertalk!

There already is a fairly recent thread on this topic so I am going to move your post there, where you should find a good deal of relevant information.

In addition to that thread, here is another one that also looks like it might be helpful:

Best superluxury resorts in Caribbean/Central America?

Please report back if you try someplace new!

RichardInSF, moderator, luxury hotels and travel

You can try the Amanere in DR it�s great and the pools with ocean view are top notch. Another option can be the Rosewood little dix, love that place. Although a bit annoying or get to if you aren�t flying private.


Also, do you have more time. Would you consider the trip to bora bora or the Maldives or needs to be closer ?

I’d go back to Cap Juluca and opt for one of the suites or villas with private pool. These mostly are at the far end of the resort, thus super private.

hi katiefftravels! i'm a bit of carib afficionado. at least, i've certainly traveled that part of the world way more than any other out-of-us locale. i've always been very much a beach person. it's been several years. so i'm not up to date with the latest openings, but here's some thoughts,

what i can tell you is that i have stayed at cap juluca five different times over the past 3 decades, and that particular crescent of maundy's is the possibly the best beach i've ever visited anywhere. (keep in mind, tho, 'beaches anywhere' (for me) does not include maldives, seychelles, thailand, even hawaii or essentially anywhere that's not usa / carribean / mexico.
but if pure heavenly robinson-crusoe caribbean beach is your number one item, cap juluca's gonna be tough to beat.
at least at a resort/hotel and not an island where ya gotta book it all.
the good news is after my last stay (2016? - i think they were still called OE then?) belmond had already seriously rescued the hard product that had gotten pretty worn, tired and outdated. fantastic new pool(s), big refreshes in both accomodations, common spaces and F&B. i

but again, that beach is so good it was worth "toughing it out' at that time (pre-belmond) in once-luxuriously appointed mini-temples and eating in the (old) pimms..

here's some other similarly near-perfect caribbean beaches w a resort or hotel right nest to it.
not sure what the upkeep and service levels are since i've visited. but the beaches would be reason enough to visit for seclusion and zen. unless the hard product's crumbled fully.

little dix bay

caneel bay - not sure if this has reopened since irma? if they've even built pup tents there, that beach is just so throughly....thorough.

goldeneye - not the hugest fan of jamaica, even the negril beaches (while picturesque) aren't my idea of paradise, no seclusion factor. but goldeneye - while not ultra luxe - is a fantastic property, extremely well finished and classic. better still, it has several heavenly large beaches (if smallish compared to these others we've been talking about) all incredibly rrelaxing and private with perfect sand. they have really thoughtful furniture/accoutrement/seating places around the beaches too. always way clean and super comfortable. not just your standard thatched roof bar tables w stools.

jumby bay - have not been in 6 or 7 years but the last time i went it felt like it wasn't keeping up with hard product needs at price. really wonderfull plant-yourself-forever worthy beach.
barbuda - i'm not sure if this place has gotten much going again since being pretty much fully demolished by irma. i've read that different investment groups (deniro-based, one of them?) are scrambling to build megaresorts. however you feel about that, one thing they won't be able to change is the bar-none best beaches in the caribbean. i grew up going to a long gone place called 'coco point'. charged my folks crazy rates, and def did not keep up with the luxury times, but again, that beach.... otherworldly.
id part of my honeymoon at a short lived, ridiculously opulent - yet still made some kind of weird sense even within nearly abandoned setting - called 'k club'.
there's now a post-irma place a few or our boating friends have overnighted at and raved about called 'the belle'. not [positive about 'true luxury' 5-star level? both couples told us it's way nice, tho.
but maybe look into new smaller properties on barbuda.
that iisland's beaches are all astounding.
if you transported the terrains/topography/islands of st lucia and domenica and plopped it down in the middle of this flat-as-a-pancake barbuda, that's what i imagine it might begin to feel like being on a beach in hawaii.

edit: newer barbuda place called 'barbuda belle'. just looked it up. looks nice enough.

one other place to consider is canouan? that's been a bit of a haunted hotel property. i stayed there long ago when it was the raffles, and the place was a disaster, especially service wise. the hard product seemed up to par tho, i remember larger layout suite with big bathroom. and the beach, while certainly not 'endless' or gigantic, was a pretty beautiful and secluded place.
it's actually a mandarin now, has been for a second, and while ive found excellence level at MO's widely varied by location (maddeningly so), they tend not to screw up too bad with more remote beachy type places.
and it'd be hard to screw up the beach i saw, unless they've dumped boatloads of fake, blinding white sand on it.

Jumby Bay now is an Oetker venue so it probably is outstanding.

My suggestions based on my research and travels over the years:
Como Parrot Cay (Beach House)
Mandarin Oriental Canouan
Petit St. Vincent
Jumby Bay
Amanera
Paradise Beach (Nevis)

About the beach at Cap Juluca - yes, it is a stunning, graceful arc but there is no shade at all. And in my experience it is accessible by the public. The pool isn't great either. I just like beaches with natural shade from palm trees etc. So Little Dix Bay gets a vote from me. Jamaica Inn has a perfect beach, loads of character, but needed updating when I was there a few years back. I love the beach and the hotel La Samanna on St Martin. I'm sure Caneel Bay has not reopened. Curtain Bluff on Antigua has a lovely beach and so does the new Rosewood Half Moon Bay (when it finally opens . . . .). The thing to always remember about the Caribbean is that Asian standards of luxury hardly exist. Characterful hotels are abundant. I don't know Mexico at all (I hate the food) but I do know the South Pacific and I'd always go there.

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.