Anguilla. AHHHHHHHHHHHH. I really liked it. I wish I was there now sipping a rum punch.
All in all I think it is a great island. Here’s my take on it.
Food is great but it is super expensive. Lunch = 2 sandwiches was like $35. Dinners were never less than $150. However. Yes the food was good.
Taxis were another shocker. I mean the island is tiny. I think it was something like 30 square miles. Most restaurants were pretty close to our hotel maybe a mile or 2 away. Well roundtrip was usually like $40.
We arrived on Thursday June 9 at 2:30 at the hotel. The hotel was amazing. We stayed at Cuisinart. When you arrive you are immediately greeted with a cool towel and we proceeded to look at the beautiful open air lobby. You could see straight to the beach from the lobby. They checked us in gave us a welcome punch which I will try to replicate at home it was great I kept asking for them while I was there (pineapple juice, orangina, dark rum). Then they gave us a tour of the hotel and lead us to our room. The room was almost the size of my condo. LOL! It was 980 sqft. It had the biggest bed I had ever seen. I think it was the size of like 2 queens together. The bathroom was wonderful all marble, enormous tub and shower, and a balcony that had a view of the ocean. We also could see St. Maarten from our balcony.
The beach has crystal clear water. I would say on the scale of Cayman and some St. John beaches. Clearer than St. Maarten for sure. It rained while we were there one full day but we still went to the ocean we didn’t care.
As for the spa it was not nearly as luxurious as other spas I have been in. It is very small but the actual services are high quality. We decided on the couples massage which was in an open air terrace where we had a view of the water. It was very delicious and relaxing.

Now on to food. The food was very good but I don’t know if I would venture to saying that it is better than other islands. It is better than some islands but not all. Service on the island is slow. I mean beyond ridiculous island time. We went to one restaurant Smokey’s for lunch which was very cute on the beach. I mean sand was right there. My husband has to literally go ask for menus, and then go order at the counter. We had been there already 30 minutes and the waitress did not go by once.
At the hotel the food was very fresh (all veggies and fruits are grown at the hotel they have hydroponic gardens and organic orchards). But again the service at the restaurant did not compare to the service at the rest of the hotel. Service was very slow. Yet bar service was always quick as was towel, sorbet, water service at the pool/ beach.
We had a lovely meal at Trattoria which was on the beach. I loved the fact that about 10 steps away was the water. It was a small intimate restaurant with wonderful lobster raviolis and good service.
However, the three standout meals were at Koal Keel, Tasty’s and Strawhat.
Koal Keel was on the Hot Tables of Conde Nast this year and rightfully so. It is in an old stone building and the food was to die for as were the mixed drinks. I had a lobster bisque and a seared duck and hubby had Tandoori shrimp spring roll and bacon wrapped Tuna. All dishes were excellent. The service here was actually pretty good.
Strwahat. I loved this restaurant! It is right over the water and you have a wonderful view of the fishes below the restaurant. The meal was exquisite. DH had wahoo and crayfish. I had grouper with passion fruit beurre blanc. We started with the conch and shells which was great. Service was absolutely wonderful here.
Tasty’s
What a cute restaurant and the food was so yummy.
The service was pleasant and attentive at this restaurant.
We had lobster quesadillas, seafood salad which is the best salad I have ever had with lobster, shrimp, snapper, calamari, and fresh greens, and the fish (fresh pan fried grouper) and chips.

So all in all it was a lovely trip. However, it was very expensive. I loved it but I don’t think that I would go back for a while. I’m very happy I went and got to see what all the hype was about but I want to try a few more islands before deciding which one is my favorite. I think this is at the top of my list but I don’t think that I would categorize it as my favorite simply because of the expense and lack of service on a whole. The water was standout it was so clear and the beaches have soft powdery sand so if this is what you are looking for then don’t hesitate and go there.
I think that about covers it.....

Thanks for the great trip report. I went to Anguilla in 2002 and it was a very memorable trip. I went before it became the "hot spot"...so it was very quiet. I hope it hasn't changed much. The last time I went, I stayed at Cap Juluca... which was one of the nicest places ever. The only problem is that I tend to get a rash from the Carribean Water so I prefer to stay by the pool. Cap Juluca's pool was very small and not inviting. For most people, this wouldn't be a big deal... but, unfortunately, for me it was. How was the swimming pool at your hotel? Also, which room category did you have?

Thank you.
Jenny

The pool is stunning. I feel that it is the visual centerpiece of the hotel. I chose this hotel b/c of the pool as I had heard that Cap J. pool was laughable. The room was a luxury junior suite or junior suite don't remember now.

Enjoyed reading your report, and glad to hear you liked the island. CuisinArt is a lovely resort, and I agree the pool is simply stunning.

Yes, Anguilla has many expensive restaurants, but also many very good and inexpensive/moderately priced restaurants, like Johnno's, Roy's Bayside Grill, Roy's Place, Zara, Ripples, Bistro Phil, E's Oven, Picantes to name a few.

Also many bakerys where you can pick up delicious fresh sandwiches for less than $5.

We found Anguilla in 1981, and have been coming every year since, staying from 2 weeks to 7 weeks. We love the island, and once the hype has died down it will go quiet again. (Can't wait!)

Did you rent a car while you were there?

I agree totally with OT -- lots & lots of reasonable places to eat. As additions to her fine list, I would add Johnno's the Pumphouse, the Ferryboat Inn and the English Rose (where you can get an entire plate of the most perfectly baked fish pieces for $6 & the 1/2 chicken dinner at E's Oven for $8 is as good as it gets anywhere!).

Unforgiveable of me to forget to mention Ferryboat Inn, the best rum punches on the island too!

I just got back from Cuisinart last nite. It was my second time there and this time I took a charter boat from the St. Maarten airport. It was too windy to bring us directly to the hotel but it picked us up right from Cuisinart's beach to go home which was great. It's very expensive but we split the cost with another couple. I really think Cuisinart is the best all around resort on the island. We had lunch at Cap Juluca and the food and service were mediocre at best. The pool was as uninviting as one could imagine, sitting right by the kitchen. I am a beach person but the pool at Cuisinart is such a great spot with its ocean views and comfortable lounges. We usually spent mornings at the pool and afternoons at the beach. One day it was so windy at the beach that they couldn't open the umbrellas. We spent that day at the pool and were happy to have it as an option.The rooms at Cuisinart are large and gorgeous with fabulous blaconies and ocean views. I thought the service at the resort was top notch this year; better than last year, especially at lunch and breakfast where it was quite slow before.
Our dinners included Altamer, Blanchards, Picante, Mangoes, Straw Hat and the barbeque at Cuisinart. Lunch was usually at the hotel because we didn't want to break away and were discouraged by the slow, poor lunch at Cap. I agree the prices on the island are ridiculous but I knew that going in and resigned myself to overpaying for everything. Having stayed at Cuisinart twice, I have no desire to go anywhere else in the Caribbean. For me it is the perfect resort on the perfect island.