Just Back last week from Provo, Grace Bay Club Villas, Turks & Caicos
Jun 30th, 2009, 03:21 PM
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Just Back last week from Provo, Grace Bay Club Villas, Turks & Caicos
Hi All, after all the assistance I received here, I wanted to contribute what I found last week at TCI. My husband, son & I arrived Sat. late afternoon into Provo with no problems. We chose to stay at Grace Bay Club, we rented a 1 bedroom villa. We were greeted at the taxi stand by our representative with GBC that got our taxi for us. We shared it with another couple, it was a large van, no problem, and they remembered the car seat that I had requested. Taxi driver on the other hand was irritable with tourist drivers and had some attitude with us overall.
Grace Bay Club Villa
Upon our arrival, we were greeted by two lovely women who offered us cool towels and a rum punch. It wasn’t the usual front desk. It was more like a salon feel with sitting areas, each family was seated in their area while the ladies delivered our packets to us with details of our room reservation and said our concierge would be with us shortly.
We had two concierges, Franklin & Godfrey. Franklin was assigned to us at first, he showed us around the property and then to our room. They gave us a two bedroom villa instead of one which was a nice surprise. The room was well furnished, nice kitchen, comfortable furnishings in the living room. The only problem was our view from the balcony. It was smack dab in the middle looking right at the Rouge Grill. I could hear the staff and dishes clanking all day and night long. I complained to Franklin who talked to his manger and could arrange a move, however, it wasn’t until the next last afternoon. Once that was taken care of we settled into our room, and it was fine.
The service overall was good, however, the beach service was very disappointing, as there was none! When I booked I was told we would have cold towels, water and sorbet delivered around the beach. We didn’t see any of this the entire week…..others on the beach commented on this as well. Heck, I had to battle daily with the guys to put up an extra umbrella for my son to play under. And had to flag them down when I wanted a drink and food or water. Extremely disappointing as this was a huge deciding factor of which resort I selected to stay.
Food—The food was average. Nothing stood out except for the price. Everything IMO was overpriced, especially for mediocre cuisine. We ordered room service for dinner one evening and it was supposed to be from Anacona, nothing special about that meal either.
The other problem we had; I was told that my son would eat free, we were charged the entire time for his food and I was told by the concierge not to worry it would be taken off at the end. It didn’t and I had to bring this to their attention, but it was taken care of.
Spa—I did enjoy a massage at the spa. I was surprised at how tiny the spa was, however, it was comfortable and more importantly my masseuse was wonderful. She had a great attitude, wonderful hands and full of pride and healing that you felt her share. Her name is Zenicka.
Overall, the resort was beautiful, service was good, everyone was very friendly (except for the beach staff) and they all treated my son so sweet, however, I will not return to this property. It was priced like a 5 star, of course with all the service charges on food and spa services, however, IMO it did not live up to a 5 star rating. The Four Season’s I had just stayed at in Phoenix was far superior.
Sailing on the Beluga
We booked a morning sail with Sail Beluga. Captain Tim was very nice, and made every effort to give us what we wanted. He sailed shallow waters due to our young son (17 months) and safety was his primary concern, which I appreciated. His boat is older, but she works just fine. It’s a smaller vessel and perfect for a small group. It was $500/4 hours, pricey, but I would sail with him again.
Restaurants
I was very surprised that every restaurant we went to required a reservation, even though each one was almost empty. I have to admit that irritated me, as we were on vacation and I wanted to just go when I wanted to.
Coyoba—I have to comment on this, our concierge arranged for us to eat at Coyoba, his recommendation. I told him that I had heard that it wasn’t for children, he said normally they ask that we go early, however, Derek slept late and we couldn’t make the 6:00pm reservation. So Godfrey got w/Coyoba and they said no problem come on over at 7:00. We walked down and were to be seated outside in their front door patio (while their indoor seating and outdoor deck was completely empty). Well our seating area smelled of trash, when we commented, the owner told us that children weren’t allowed inside, so we told him okay we will go elsewhere, where he would be welcomed. Honestly, he made me feel like I was asking to bring my dog to his restaurant. When they saw us back at GBC, and we asked them to take us to Hemmingway’s, the manager was so upset he came to check on us at Hemingway’s to make sure we had been taken care of.
Hemingway’s-- As we showed up without a reservation, the greeter had a bit of an attitude. Service was very slow, food was good.
Mango Reef—Casual, good service and good food. This was one of my favorites, lots of choices and everything looked really good.
O’Solei—This was the only “nice” place that welcomed my son at any time, which I really appreciated! Carib Zack you were right! The dining room was beautiful, but it was all white and I feared the mess my son would make, so I opted to eat outside on the patio. Our appetizers were delish, however, our main course was overcooked. We both ordered fish, and both were over cooked, I was very disappointed. But our server was very accommodating and replaced our dishes promptly. This was by far the best service we experienced. The music was really nice as well, like all of you said it would be.
Da Conch Shack—Ate lunch here and it was what everyone has said, it was the best conch I have ever had. It was very hot that day and my son was becoming cranky so we didn’t get to enjoy it as much as we probably could have on a cooler day. I think it’s worth the ride there, but when reading others talk about driving there I thought it was really far, it only took about 15 minutes to get there from GBC.
Photographer-- For some of you who would require a photographer, we did hire Tropical Imaging for family photos at our resort and they did a fantastic job. Anita Marcus was our photographer, she was very accommodating (as our son and the weather didn’t cooperate and we had to try it 3 times before we got the photo shoot to happen). I loved all the pictures she took; it’s going to be difficult to decide on which ones to purchase!
Overall
Provo is such a small island, I didn’t think it was worth it for us to rent the car for the day, really not much to see or shop. We tried to find Sopadillo Bay, never did but enjoyed driving around anyway. We did enjoy ourselves and I would go back, there are so many resorts to choose from which is great. I felt safe and most of the locals were very friendly. The weather was perfect, but hot in the afternoons, some rainy evenings, but very nice.
Grace Bay Club Villa
Upon our arrival, we were greeted by two lovely women who offered us cool towels and a rum punch. It wasn’t the usual front desk. It was more like a salon feel with sitting areas, each family was seated in their area while the ladies delivered our packets to us with details of our room reservation and said our concierge would be with us shortly.
We had two concierges, Franklin & Godfrey. Franklin was assigned to us at first, he showed us around the property and then to our room. They gave us a two bedroom villa instead of one which was a nice surprise. The room was well furnished, nice kitchen, comfortable furnishings in the living room. The only problem was our view from the balcony. It was smack dab in the middle looking right at the Rouge Grill. I could hear the staff and dishes clanking all day and night long. I complained to Franklin who talked to his manger and could arrange a move, however, it wasn’t until the next last afternoon. Once that was taken care of we settled into our room, and it was fine.
The service overall was good, however, the beach service was very disappointing, as there was none! When I booked I was told we would have cold towels, water and sorbet delivered around the beach. We didn’t see any of this the entire week…..others on the beach commented on this as well. Heck, I had to battle daily with the guys to put up an extra umbrella for my son to play under. And had to flag them down when I wanted a drink and food or water. Extremely disappointing as this was a huge deciding factor of which resort I selected to stay.
Food—The food was average. Nothing stood out except for the price. Everything IMO was overpriced, especially for mediocre cuisine. We ordered room service for dinner one evening and it was supposed to be from Anacona, nothing special about that meal either.
The other problem we had; I was told that my son would eat free, we were charged the entire time for his food and I was told by the concierge not to worry it would be taken off at the end. It didn’t and I had to bring this to their attention, but it was taken care of.
Spa—I did enjoy a massage at the spa. I was surprised at how tiny the spa was, however, it was comfortable and more importantly my masseuse was wonderful. She had a great attitude, wonderful hands and full of pride and healing that you felt her share. Her name is Zenicka.
Overall, the resort was beautiful, service was good, everyone was very friendly (except for the beach staff) and they all treated my son so sweet, however, I will not return to this property. It was priced like a 5 star, of course with all the service charges on food and spa services, however, IMO it did not live up to a 5 star rating. The Four Season’s I had just stayed at in Phoenix was far superior.
Sailing on the Beluga
We booked a morning sail with Sail Beluga. Captain Tim was very nice, and made every effort to give us what we wanted. He sailed shallow waters due to our young son (17 months) and safety was his primary concern, which I appreciated. His boat is older, but she works just fine. It’s a smaller vessel and perfect for a small group. It was $500/4 hours, pricey, but I would sail with him again.
Restaurants
I was very surprised that every restaurant we went to required a reservation, even though each one was almost empty. I have to admit that irritated me, as we were on vacation and I wanted to just go when I wanted to.
Coyoba—I have to comment on this, our concierge arranged for us to eat at Coyoba, his recommendation. I told him that I had heard that it wasn’t for children, he said normally they ask that we go early, however, Derek slept late and we couldn’t make the 6:00pm reservation. So Godfrey got w/Coyoba and they said no problem come on over at 7:00. We walked down and were to be seated outside in their front door patio (while their indoor seating and outdoor deck was completely empty). Well our seating area smelled of trash, when we commented, the owner told us that children weren’t allowed inside, so we told him okay we will go elsewhere, where he would be welcomed. Honestly, he made me feel like I was asking to bring my dog to his restaurant. When they saw us back at GBC, and we asked them to take us to Hemmingway’s, the manager was so upset he came to check on us at Hemingway’s to make sure we had been taken care of.
Hemingway’s-- As we showed up without a reservation, the greeter had a bit of an attitude. Service was very slow, food was good.
Mango Reef—Casual, good service and good food. This was one of my favorites, lots of choices and everything looked really good.
O’Solei—This was the only “nice” place that welcomed my son at any time, which I really appreciated! Carib Zack you were right! The dining room was beautiful, but it was all white and I feared the mess my son would make, so I opted to eat outside on the patio. Our appetizers were delish, however, our main course was overcooked. We both ordered fish, and both were over cooked, I was very disappointed. But our server was very accommodating and replaced our dishes promptly. This was by far the best service we experienced. The music was really nice as well, like all of you said it would be.
Da Conch Shack—Ate lunch here and it was what everyone has said, it was the best conch I have ever had. It was very hot that day and my son was becoming cranky so we didn’t get to enjoy it as much as we probably could have on a cooler day. I think it’s worth the ride there, but when reading others talk about driving there I thought it was really far, it only took about 15 minutes to get there from GBC.
Photographer-- For some of you who would require a photographer, we did hire Tropical Imaging for family photos at our resort and they did a fantastic job. Anita Marcus was our photographer, she was very accommodating (as our son and the weather didn’t cooperate and we had to try it 3 times before we got the photo shoot to happen). I loved all the pictures she took; it’s going to be difficult to decide on which ones to purchase!
Overall
Provo is such a small island, I didn’t think it was worth it for us to rent the car for the day, really not much to see or shop. We tried to find Sopadillo Bay, never did but enjoyed driving around anyway. We did enjoy ourselves and I would go back, there are so many resorts to choose from which is great. I felt safe and most of the locals were very friendly. The weather was perfect, but hot in the afternoons, some rainy evenings, but very nice.
Jun 30th, 2009, 04:57 PM
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Glad that O'Soleil worked out (after sending food back) And yes as I said they welcome children! Glad it was nice for you . The service at The Somerset is fantastic and you would have been thrilled with the beach service there compared to what you say about GBC...I love Somerset but, you know that ! lol
Jul 1st, 2009, 08:18 AM
#3
Interesting about Coyaba, my now 7 year old has eaten there plenty of times since she was a baby after 7pm......shame they would treat you like that.
I agree with you about Grill Rouge-the setting is spectacular, the food overpriced.
I have stayed at GBC when service on the beach has been great (set up tableclothes on the beach for a hamburger!) and received sorbets, fruits etc, but I've also stayed before where you'd never know it happens for days straight. I've always found it hit or miss.
Topical Imaging is fantastic! My favorite photographers in the world-I stive to take pictures like them.
Thanks for sharing your trip. Do you have pictures you can share? It's done nothing but rain in VA, I need a fix! 8-)
I agree with you about Grill Rouge-the setting is spectacular, the food overpriced.
I have stayed at GBC when service on the beach has been great (set up tableclothes on the beach for a hamburger!) and received sorbets, fruits etc, but I've also stayed before where you'd never know it happens for days straight. I've always found it hit or miss.
Topical Imaging is fantastic! My favorite photographers in the world-I stive to take pictures like them.
Thanks for sharing your trip. Do you have pictures you can share? It's done nothing but rain in VA, I need a fix! 8-)
Jul 1st, 2009, 10:21 AM
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Carib Zack & Blamona, great to hear from you both. Thank you again for all your assistance. If/when we go back, I will try out one of your other suggested resorts.
Blamona, thank you for giving me tropical Imaging's name, they are fantastic! I do have some pictures, most are all of my son playing in the sand! But I will try to get some together to share with the group.
Thanks again!
Blamona, thank you for giving me tropical Imaging's name, they are fantastic! I do have some pictures, most are all of my son playing in the sand! But I will try to get some together to share with the group.
Thanks again!
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