Help with Short List - T&C Hotels
 

Have my Turks & Caicos hotel list down to 5 hotels now. Can you tell me what your choice would be:
Coral Gardens, Sands at Grace Bay, Villa Renaissance, Alexandra and Royal West Indies.

Are any of these close to the shopping centers, Saltmills Plaza and Ports of Call?
Any construction/noise going on near those 5 hotels? No children so just looking for something quiet, pretty, convenient. Air conditioning a must. Do these hotels have Tour Desks? If I'm missing something, please let me know.

Hi Dolores - we leave for Provo, T&C on 06/24 and are staying at The Sands. I looked at all of the resorts on your list and kept going back to The Sands for several reasons: because it is close to both The Ports of Call and the Saltmills so we will be able to walk to several restaurants, the screened in porches, they were having a sale; pay for five nights, stay for seven and it gets very good reviews. When were you thinking of going?

MuyLinda:

I wish I had gone in early spring but I could not go then so now I'm thinking of the middle of July. Need to go before serious hurricane time starts. Do you know how bad the heat is there in July?

I noticed the Sands is having a special on their rates, too. I wonder if it's possible that a package deal would be available thru American Airlines, American Express, etc. ?

Glad to hear that the Sands is close to the shopping centers. Now, I'd like to know what tours are available (lot of work finding a new place to visit).

Hi Dolores. Check out www.wherewhenhow.com . It is a wealth of info for planning a trip to Provo.

Happy planning!

We just returned from T & C. We stayed at the Sibonne, which is right next door to the Sands. Of the places you listed, the Sands is the closest to Salt Mills and Ports of Call. The Alexandra is 2 down from the Sibonne and Coral Gardens is about a 20 minute walk down the beach. We walked there one day to snorkel and it was pretty rough walk through the sand and hot sun.

We cut through Hemmingways at the Sands to get to the sidewalk to walk to Salt Mills. The Sands was always crowded with people and children. Looked like a mini-Beaches resort.

The Mandalay construction is between the Sands and Sibonne, but had ceased while we were there. I undersatnd, they will not start up again until Sept. There was construction next door to the Sibonne at the Somerset, but it wasn't loud or a big deal to us.

We liked the Sibonne. 26 rooms, small, quite, adult orteniated, excellant location on Grace Bay. No tour desk, but they gave us a list of all available tour opertors with phone numbers to make your own arrangements. We reserach excursions before going so didn't need it anyway.

For what you want, I would pick Villa Renaissance. Across the street from it is a small shopping center, and down the street from it another one. It's very central, and although it does not have a restaurant, you can easily walk to restaurants at the other resorts. It's very quiet and relaxing, no kids, and a beautiful stretch of beach practacally to yourself.
The Mandalay is on hold, so no construction worries there either. (Next to the Sands) the Sands does get more kids than the other choices.

I would pick Villa Renaissance too.

The taxi/Gecko drivers are pretty crazy so I don't know if I would walk to Ports of Call or Saltmills from the Sands.

Re: the Sands. You specifically mention that you are not going with children and want something quiet. For that reason, I would strongly advise against the Sands. The Sands seems to be the kid place of all of the condo resorts. I would recommend either Royal West Indies or Villa Renaissance. We walked around both properties when we stayed at the Sands last May, and they both were very nice (the latter more luxurious).

The Sands has a strong contingent of fans. It does have its good points, but I found the service to be really lacking. We weren't expecting the 4S level of service, but basic requests were repeatedly ignored. Combine that with the large amount of children there (and we went during the school year before most kids are out for summer) and we wished that we would have picked another hotel.

As for ease of walking, we used the Gecko shuttle system (I think about $30-something for each person for unlimited rides for a week). It wasn't 100% in terms of being there at a certain time, but it was generally reliable. I don't think you need to consider the distance to restaurants as the defining factor in your choice of lodging.

I just read the question about if the hotel specials would be available thru AA or AAVacations. We booked our package thru AAvacations and were able to get the 2 free nights at the Sands.

Another important point for AAdvantage-Citi Card holders. If you go to AAvacations thru your AAdvantage Citicard website you will be able to get a 10% and 5% discount on lodging and airfare. That is above and beyond any specials that the respective hotels are running.

We walked the sidewalk most every evening to the Salt Mills/Ports of Call with no problems. The vehicles coming/going were driving just fine. We saw many people walking.

We should have just rented a car for the conveneince of going to the resturants, but couldn't justify the price in the end. Walking was no problem. We called a taxi a couple of times. $6 to Salt Mills/Ports of Call and $12 to Turtle Cove Marina.

I definitely would not walk along the road at night. To each his own, but that does not seem safe at dusk (when one goes to dinner) IMHO.

We, too, walked from Sibonne to Saltmills on the road. But we walked on the beach and cut thru the Sands to get to the road. The area from the Sibonne to the Sands on the road is very dark but I did not feel unsafe. Cutting thru the Sands was faster and we stopped for a drink at Hemmingways too ;)

I noticed the post said The Sands had a lot of children. When I went, there was only a few children. Maybe this is because I went in the second week of November? In general, the place wasn't really crowded.

I loved The Sands, and the food at Hemingway's was awesome. Then again, I'm not a picky eater, but I did love it.

Another vote for Villa Renaissance. It is right across from the Saltmills, it is quiet and small so not so many children, and it is a pretty property. It does not have a tour desk but you can do that on your own without a problem. There is construction of the Regent Grand next door so that is on the down side. Sands is a bigger property but very nice. Just be aware that there really is not much shopping on Turks and Caicos so you would probably not want to base your decision on that.