Great vacation -- Thank you, everyone!
 

Hi, everyone.
I’ve wanted to post for several weeks, and let everyone know that we had a fabulous Turks and Caicos vacation, thanks to all of you. The advice We've read on Fodors has been very helpful.

We flew American Airlines, with a stop in Miami, which was much easier than I thought it would be. The Miami airport looks new, and we had a lot of time between flights. It was nice to find our connecting flight, then eat a late breakfast and do some shopping, since it helped keep our seven year old daughter occupied.

After reading and hearing about the different resorts, we chose Villa del Mar. Our budget wasn’t enormous, but we still wanted to stay somewhere that was nice, clean, and fairly new. My wife and I called Turks and Caicos Reservations (another tip we read) and they were very helpful. We thought we wanted our room to be front beach, but the cost of ocean front rooms were beyond our budget. So, we took a chance with Villa del Mar, based on their advice, and were so glad we did.

Our room at Villa del Mar was as nice as any hotel where we’ve stayed. The deluxe room had a kitchenette (fridge, microwave, sink, eating utensils, coffee maker, etc.). The bathroom was huge, and the king-size bed with pull-out sofa was perfect for the three of us.

I’m an early riser, so most mornings I’d walk down to the pool for the complimentary breakfast, then bring breakfast back for my wife and daughter to eat on our balcony. It was perfect.

Words can’t describe how beautiful Grace Bay is. Definitely the prettiest beach and water we’ve ever seen. Villa del Mar has chairs, umbrellas, and towels, along with staff to bring drinks and water. We never wanted to leave. Our daughter made friends with a family staying next door at Grace Bay Club, so she was happy to have other children to play with.

Most days we made sandwiches for the beach. There’s a large grocery store nearby that we could walk to. We also walked to the Seaside Café a couple of times for lunch. It’s a nice, casual beachfront restaurant, and not too expensive.

We dined out every evening at Caicos Café, Coco Bistro, Garam Masala, Shark Bite (very casual), and Seaside Café. They were all very good, but Coco Bistro was our favorite. The setting with palm trees was like nothing we’d ever seen.

Turks and Caicos Reservations gave us a free rental car for a day, which was nice. I was nervous about driving on the left side, but it was easier than I thought it would be. Other than driving to the marina for dinner at Shark Bite, we didn’t use the car very much. If I had planned better, we might have used the car to see Chalk Sound instead. We also had to take a taxi to Coco Bistro, and the airport. I had read that taxis are expensive, and it’s true. The next time we visit, we’ll probably rent a car for two or three days.

Our five days were the best vacation we’ve taken, and thanks again to blamona, caribzack, and all the Fodors people who answer questions on this website. Your suggestions and advice were very helpful.

I guess it’s time to begin planning our next Turks vacation? LOL

So glad that you had a great time! Thank you for writing your report...Coco Bistro seems to be everyones favorite--glad you liked it! So when are you going back ? LOL

Awesome!

Do you have any pictures to share?

8-)

We took, and had others take several pictures of us. My wife would divorce me if I put pictures of her in a swim suit on the Internet. lol

We're talking about returning this summer, since I have ten days of vacation time remaining.

I failed to report that one morning we walked a long distance on the beach, and saw many of the hotels we had also considered.

The Renaissance and Grand looked very nice, and we liked the locations.

Somerset and Palms were everything we had read about them, and more. It was difficult to pull my wife away from the small shops. Both are outside our budget, but I still plan to ask Turks and Caicos Reservations to check for sales. That might be wishing for too much.

Two others we saw that were closer to our budget were The Sands and Alexander. Both seemed to be nice, and were beach front.

Beaches was as far as we walked. It looks very large, with a lot more people. There would be many more children for our daughter to meet, but I'm not sure it's for us. I've also read that it's very expensive.

Until our next vacation, we'll keep reading Fodors, and probably ask several questions before we decide. Thank you again for all your help. You guys are the greatest.

And yes, I can totally see why so many people recommend Coco Bistro.

Nice! And I see you're already thinking about your next trip, glad to read you had a great experience.

Love reading about Grace Bay. We just returned ourselves and will post a report shortly.

MDH is amused at my return home schedule:

Check mail( E & snail)
Check Fodors
Then unpack & do laundry

Also check on vrbo.com for some great Grace Bay deals.

tt,
Thanks for your report.
So glad you & your family had a wonderful time!

We are planning a T & C vacation & reading your report makes us want to go there even more! ((H))

OB1

Thank you, OB1.

We had such a great vacation in January, that we decided to go back at the end of this month.

This time, we're staying at Le Vele Resort. It's on the beach, and looks perfect for us. My mother-in-law will be with us, so she can help watch our daughter. We rented a large condo with two bedrooms, so there should be room for all of us.

We decided to rent a car for four days, but we might keep it longer. A free rental car is something Turks and Caicos Reservations offers, but we can pay for more days if we need to. TC Reservations has been a big help this time too. You should call them. www.turksandcaicosreservations.tc

After seeing our family pictures from the last vacation, my mother-in-law has had her luggage packed for many days. :-)