Anguilla Looking for info and help
 

My wife and I are a middle aged couple who like laying on the beach. We will be vacationing late July for 9 days. Is Anguilla the best island for us? Any suggestions on hotel accomdations which are close to the beach as possible? Should we look for an all inclusive package or venture out to sample various island resturants? Looking for simple night life. Should we rent a car or take the taxi being we are use to driving on the right hand side of the road. I hear taking a taxi is expensive. Any other suggestions as far as a day trip to another island? All help will be greatly appreciated.

Anguilla is not an island for all inclusive - too many good restaurants.They can be pretty pricey though. There are several great beaches to choose from. I stayed on Rendezvous Bay but took a couple of trips to other beaches. Everyone will recommend Scilly Cay and I guess I am the only person in the world who thought it was just an expensive restaurant on a rock. Driving was not a problem for us on Anguilla and it was nice having a car. Be prepared for Anguilla's "look." It has gorgeous beaches but it is not a beautiful island in that it is not lush and green but brown and scrubby. The people are very nice and the night life is simple.

Nearly all of Anguilla's resorts are right on the beaches. They range from very expensive (Cap Juluca, CuisinArt, Cove Castles) to mid-range & down(Frangipani, Rendezvous Bay Hotel, Blue Waters, Shoal Bay Villas, Carimar) to name a few. What other criteria did you have in mind? There are 33 beaches & they are GLORIOUS (We go to a different one each day) and nearly 80 restaurants so I think a car is mandatory. (Driving on the left is easy & there is very little traffic on the island.) You can also day trip to St. Martin -- it's a 20 minute ferry ride.

I agree with the other two posters. Anguilla is just what you are looking for. We have been going there once or twice a year for the past 14 years. Stay at Frangipani which is on Meads Bay beach which is our favorite beach. Units are condo type suites. The Sun Sea and Sand package is a very good deal in the off season. If you go to www.debbiescaribbeanresortreviews.com and click on Anguilla and reviews I have a detailed review on that site. The Frangipani web site is wwwfrangipani.ai. Another reason we stay there is that most of the better restaurants on the island are on the west end. No problem driving on Anguilla. Carib Rent a Car is located at Frangipani

Has anyone out there talked about Rendezvous Bay Hotels & Villas? Every single review I have read on other sites from those that have stayed there are STELLAR! The beach is one of the best...The villas (up to 5 BR) are RIGHT on the beach...extremely good service...great dining...and one of the most affordable of all the places with LOTS of loyal repeaters. Maybe some people keep going back to the same place (like Frangipani) and never discover anyplace else. I guess the same could be said if they stayed at Rendezvous, they'd keep going back and never try Frangipani! Any comments?
I'm curious since Rendezvous meets ALL my criteria for an extended family of 10.

Have stayed at both & they are both lovley -- definitely RBH is the better choice for a large group; Frangi is very small & intimate. We love both Rendezvous Bay & Meads Bay & have a tough time deciding between the 2. The restaurant at RBH is one of our favorites but Frangi has that great pool when you just get too much salt! Something for everyone.

Interesting comment, about the comparison between RBH and Frangipani! We stayed at Frangipani twice and liked it a lot, but decided to try something else for a change, and chose Rendezvous for this summer. One reason is that we really like the restaurant there. We looked at the rooms in the villas and chose a top-floor 'studio' with fulll kitchen. The hotel, while simple, seems to have everything we need (we are not looking for lots of activities such as (God forbid) motorized watersports!) And management at RBH seems excellent. So we just decided to give it a try - will be able to tell you more about it (obviously) after our vacation there!