FINAL help with trip to Anguilla
 

HI Everyone,
You have all been most helpful in the planning of our trip to Anguilla. (ist time) We were all set to book CJ for five nights, I even found non stop flights on AA from JFK....amazing! But last night my husband decided to read some trip reports and is worried about all the negative reviews about CJ...not to mention that the prices doubled from our original plans to go in Nov. to now going in January.
HE does not want to drop almost $1000 a night to be dissapointed. We are not CA type of people, we love high end for sure, but don't want a hotel feel. He now wants me to look into Villas, and the other hotels on the island. KU, Frangipani, Mali's, and the CoveCastles (is that correct)?
Anyway, can I get a breakdown of these places (or any other that I missed).....
We want luxury, but not a stiff hotel, but most importantly a great beach steps away from our room.
Will a Villa provide that?
I need to book this by tomorrow or I loose the great flights.
Thanks once again, you are all amazing experts!

We stayed at CJ a year ago. I don't think you could be disappointed if what you're looking for is a great beach steps from the room. The beach in front of CJ is absolutely amazing, one of the best IMHO. The rooms were beautiful but a little dated/worn around the edges. The staff was great we arranged for them to meet us at the airport in sxm for a QUICK boat ride to the resort and felt the pampering was worth the money. Had a couple's massage in the room...great. Anguilla has wonderful restaurants and beautiful beaches. We also walked around CA and decided it was much more like a hotel than CJ and were glad we chose the latter. I must say when we return we will probably look in to a different resort...but that stretch of beach (in front of CJ) may be hard to beat...good luck, I'm sure you'll have a terrific time whatever you decide.:)

I don't find Cuisinart to have a hotel feel in the least, but that is only my opinion. The grounds are beautiful, the rooms are very nice with beautiful marble bathrooms, and the beach is gorgeous. If you are looking for luxury I don't think you would be happy with KU or Frangi. The big three on the island are Cap, Cuisi and Mali. I think you should stick with Cap.

I would look into Turtles Nest www.turtlesnestbeachresort.com. It is on Meads Bay by Frangipani. They just finished the second phase of construction. The suites are very nice with Bedroom/ bath living/dining area and kitchen. pool but no restaurant on site but many in the area

Frangipani is very nice -- all re-done suites, beautiful pool, restaurant on the premises, directly on the beach. You're not going to get "Cap-type" service as in people bringing you water, drinks, whatever while you laze about on your lounges. It is, however, like Cap, directly on the beach (Meads Bay which is nice but not as nice as the Cap beach, IMHO).

Malli is gorgeous & perched on a dramatic cliff but my spouse's knees won't take that hill down (up actually) to the beach.

CoveCastle is gorgeous with breathtaking views of St. Martin (like Cap -- Frangi, Malli & Ku are on the Atlantic where you see lots & lots of turqoise water). If you can get that for less than Cap, I'd say go for it.

For the most part, villas in Anguilla are allowed to be on the water but not on the beach so you can't just walk out onto the powdery white sand like you can from the resorts. You could look at www.beachcourtvilla.com which is at Shoal Bay East.

Ku is nice but not a "luxury" property -- we love the bar there & the beach, as well but it's not special like Cap.

P.S. Cuisi has a lot of admirers -- I get a hotel-like vibe there, as well.

I would not rule out CA all together. I did not find that they had a hotel vibe at all....and it's anything but stiff....but that's my opinion. I have stayed in quite a few "boutique" hotels as well. The oceanfront junior suites are great....the rooms are not dated or worn. I would at least do a cost comparison. You can get a couples massage in the room there as well. The staff was wonderful as well. Met the "Conair" executives while we were there.....very nice.....and the manager went out of his way to speak to us daily....just general conversation.

I don't think if I were paying $1000 a night I would want worn or dated rooms.

I was last at Cap Juluca this June. I've been there 6 times in the past 7 yrs. Every yr, some reviews say dated, worn, poor service. Every time I go, it is beautiful with a fantastic staff. The rooms are lovely, and I have VERY high standards. Don't do breakfast at George's though, have it brought to your terrace. The in-room massage is fantastic too. Ignore the bad reviews, you won't be disappointed by CJ.

We are also in the process of planning our first trip to Anguilla. We were also concerned about the negative reviews. There was also mention that it is for sale or has been sold. Does anyone know anything about that? There are direct flights from JFK? We were also concerned about the ferry ride from St Maarten to Anguilla. We wanted a romantic relaxing vacation and CJ sounds ideal.

I don't know about the nonstop from JFK but I think Continental still runs a nonstop to SXM from Newark. The ferry ride is a piece of cake -- cab to Marigot; hop on a ferry (they run every 1/2 hour during daylight hours); you're there in 20-25 minutes ($12/pp plus departure tax). There are other alternatives from the airport (private charter and a regularly-scheduled boat that runs several times a day). You can get info at www.anguillaguide.com.

Thank you Mary. I got a direct flight from Newark. We will figure out how to get to Anguilla from there. I have noticed more positive comments on
Capjuluca since the negative ones. It looks awesome. Thanks for your help.

Cap Juluca is still a wonderful place to stay. We have stayed there many times and if I can get reservations we
will do so again this Febuary. We have
always flown Continental out of Newark-
over 25 trips I think. We have done the ferry out of Marigot but now we
prefer a private charter or sea shuttle
from SXM. Cap has the info for their
shuttle on their website. You will
enjoy!

Thank you Penny, We can't wait. I hope you all have a wonderful time on your vacation. Thank you beachlover for the initial post. You asked the same questions we needed answers to.

I have been to Anguilla 4 times and I absolutely love Shoal Bay. It is the best beach and the small restaurants along the water are great. I stayed at the Ku and, although it isn't Cap Jaluca, we had a nice room right on the water. The food there is great and around the bend is Gwen's Reggae Bar with the best rum punches on the island, not to mention her food and friendly staff. One of the bet reatuarnats on the island is Zara's, which is behind Gwen's The lobster is to die for. There are enough restaruants along that strip of beach to keep you "walking " for a few nights. The rates at Ku are very reasonable. I have also stayed at the Allamanda which is next to Zara's. It is a very low key, small property which suits the needs of many travelers who just need a room to stay . The beach next to Gwen's, by the way, has some great snorkeling, and Jr or Nature Boy will pick you up to take you on prearranged boat trip for snorkeling, fishing or whatever.