Royal West Indies Input
 

Anybody recently stay here we are going the end of the month for five nights? We also thought about the Sands
tia

I stayed at the Sands in May and also considered RWI. RWI seems to be doing better recently if the reviews on Tripadvisor are accurate.

The Sands was very nice as far as the room, common areas, restaurant, and pools. However, we had some problems with the service. The front desk staff left a little to be desired (they weren't very friendly and could be described as aloof), and we had to call everyday to get our room cleaned when it still wasn't cleaned at 4:30. Also, we would ask for stuff that was supposed to be in the room, e.g., paper towels, and they would say that they were going to bring them up and never do so.

I just looked at the recent reviews of the Sands and perhaps they heeded some of those criticisms from people like me b/c someone who went last month said they had turn down service every night and Fiji water in the rooms. That didn't happen when we were there.

Maybe if you could get someone who went to RWI recently to talk about that would be helpful. However, when the shuttle dropped off guests at RWI it looked really nice.

I assume we're talking Turks Caicos here

We stayed at RWI - and it was just what we wanted --plenty of privacy and quiet. Plenty of room --our room was gigantic.

Nothing special in food or drink. Just super casual and nice - and a long, winding lush garden atmosphere.

Eat elsewhere for dinner, for more variety and culinary expertise

dc

We stayed at RWI in March 2004 and thought it was great. Our room was big and clean. I think the grounds are beautiful and the beach was gorgeous.
You will not be disappointed with RWI - we would definitely stay there again.

We stayed at RWI the end of Nov/early Dec last year and are going back again the same time this year. I don't think you will be disappointed if you choose RWI.

We stayed at the Sands recently and agree with comments made by mah1980. Our two bedroom condo was usually not cleaned until 3 - 3:30pm. We would come back from our morning excursions hoping to come back to a clean place and hoping to let our toddler sleep in quiet through the afternoon...that was not to be. Also, I heard similar complaints from others staying there at the same time so I know it was not an isolated incidence. My oceanfront condo was also not "true oceanfront" but after waiting for over 2.5 hours to get our room and a very cranky toddler on our hands we did not try to change rooms. The one advantage over RWI would be a kiddie pool and an onsite kid friendly restaurant, that is if you are travelling with a child.

Thanks for the info from all. Those of you who stayed at the RWI I can't seem to find a layout for the buildings. I booked an Ocean Front Studio however
there is no info online and getting an email answer is like pulling teeth.
What rooms and buildings would you suggest for two of us.
tia

Stayed there for two weeks in July 04,and you will not be disappointed.Building 2 has best views.Washer&dryer in rooms,very handy.

ynot6352 - There is only 1 oceanfront building at RWI, #1. If you check out www.travelhop.com you can see the interior of the rooms and the views. However, they have mixed up the rooms (the 1 bedroom suite is actually a 1 bedroom suite oceanfront and the room identified as an oceanfront is actually an oceanview). I believe there are 15 rooms in each building (3 floors, 5 on each floor. The end rooms on each floor are 1 bedroom suites and the 3 center rooms are studio suites. Some of the 1 bedroom suites have an adjoining door with the studio suites and can be made into 2 bedroom suites). I have read where the resort have told people that building 2 is also an oceanfront, but it really is an oceanview. Try to get a confirmation that you are in building 1. When the suites were for sale there was a floorplan available on RWI site, but it is not longer there. You may also check out vrbo.com. You can rent from private owners and save quite a bit over resort prices. We did this last year and had no problem.

carol3
thank you for the info. we are also going to be there the end of nov. 11/29/05 thru 12/04.hope the weather is good andif you have anymore info about rwi it is greatly appreciated.

ynot6352 - RWI is a beautiful resort. Even though Provo is a desert island, the grounds at RWI are beautiful. One of the things that is nice about RWI is the staff sets up all the beach chairs and umbrellas around 8 am in the morning. When we traveled to Aruba, we had to get up before sunrise to go out to the beach to set up our chairs so we could get a place under a thatch hut. Some people complain about the noise from Club Med which is next door. Our room was right next to Club Med and we didn't find any problem with noise. Also, the resort had no children compared to The Sands or Ocean Club/West which caters more to children. We will also be there until the 4th. If you have any questions, please let me know and I will try to answer them.

carol3
can you tell us about tipping at the resort,best way to get around,places to eat and prices?

thanks

carol3
Also can you drink the water?

ynot6352,
I might be able to help with a few of your questions. Tipping at the resort was $2.00 a bag for the bellhop. We gave the girl at the front desk $20.00 at the end of the week for making dinner reservations and calling the car rental place and arranging a massage for hubby. The pool guy arranged for our parasailing and we tipped him $5.00 The driver for our airport transfer, we tipped him $5.00 each way. I think that was it.

Make sure when you dine at restaurants you check the bill to see if they have automatically added a tip. Many of the restaurants we ate at did this. As far as our favorite places to eat, we loved Coco Bistro, right across the road from RWI. Great outdoor setting and very good food. Our dinner there ran $70.00 with 2 drinks. Also, we loved the Gecko Grill at OC East. Dinner there with drinks around $90.00 Hemmingways was very good and about $70.00. If you go somewhere like Anacona or Coboya, they will run well over $120.00. Some great inexpensive places we found was Calico Jacks in Ports of Call and Danny Bouys at Saltmills. You can eat at both of those places for around $50.00 with drinks.

As far as transportation, we always rent a car at least for 3 or 4 days. That way you can try restaurants that aren't within walking distance to RWI, go to the IGA etc. Hope this helps.
Sandy

ynot6352
Sandy answered most of your questions about tipping and dining. I agree with her about renting a car. We chose to rent one for our entire stay so we could go to the IGA, shopping and restaurants at our convenience. There are a couple of small shopping plazas not too far from RWI. We dined at Coco Bistro which is within walking distance. When you walk out to the road that RWI is located on turn right and it will be located a short walk on the left side of the road (it's set back from the road). We also dined at Bella Luna which is not too far from RWI by car. You can walk to Anacaona from RWI. If you are facing the ocean, OCW is to the right of RWI (Gecko Grill is located there. Everyone loves this restaurant but I really didn't care for it.) Anacaona is to the left, a short walk down the beach. The lounge and restaurant is really beautiful. Even if you don't have dinner there, go to the lounge and have a drink. There is live entertainment on some evenings. This is the only restaurant where we had to call a day or two before to get a reservation. Bay Bistro at the Sibonne is also very good. Magnolia's, also expensive, is located at Turtle Cove (definately will need a car or taxi to get to Turtle Cove). We also ate at Hemingways (food was OK, but service wasn't great). The Fairways which is located at the golf resort gets good reviews and we are planning to try it this year. You may be able to walk there from RWI. To get to the Fairways you would turn left when you go out to the road that RWI is located on. I think it's located behind OCW. We also didn't get a chance to try Coyaba at Coral Gardens and Grace's Cottage. These are also expensive restaurants. I've also read great reviews about Iguana's which I think is located in Salt Mills Plaza (not too far from RWI. I think it's more moderately priced). You may have read some reviews from Howard who travels there frequently. In fact I believe he is there now. Watch for a trip report from him. I have e-mailed him directly and he gave me great info about Provo before we traveled there. The Gecko Shuttle is in service this year. This will take you to the shopping plazas and restaurants along Grace Bay. I think it now evens go to Turtle Cove Marina. I don't think it goes to the IGA? We're renting a car again this year since we like the freedom of coming and going as we please. Have a great trip! If I can answer any other questions, please let me know.

Thanks to both of you!!!!
Carol3 are the bugs bad this time of year??

I would definately take bug repellent. There wasn't a problem during the day, but once the sun went down there was. You will notice that the restaurants will have bug repellent available. I've had worse problems with noseem's in Florida this time of the year.

carol3
when emailed they wrote the room was ocean front and would not give a building number.
should we stay away from the drinking water?
how was the weather this time of the year?
dress requirements?
we are not fish eaters so where are the best beef and chicken dishes?
tia

drinking water is fine.
weather is generally fine, very dry island.
I'm not a fish eater either, but all restaurants have a big selection, all restaurants are very good if not excellent. My favorites are Hemmingways (at Sands Resort) and Tiki Hut (at Turtle Cove)
Both Sands and RWI are excellent places to stay.

We bought bottled water when we visited but I don't think it's unsafe to drink.

There are many restaurants to eat good beef or chicken. I don't eat seafood either so if you'd like to pull up my trip report from May which discusses restaurants just click on my user name. There are several other recent trip reports so just search restaurants in Turks and Caicos.

Try this for restaurants ,http:www.atsea.com/islands/tcirest.htm#hmie

sorry try this : www.atsea.com/islands/tcirest.htm#hemi

ynot6352
We bought bottled water for the condo but drank tap water in the restaurants and didn't have a problem.
The weather was beautiful when we were there last year. We only had one afternoon where the clouds came in and had a shower.
Dress is casual. I saw women wearing white jeans at Anacaona that requires dressy casual for dinner. At Coco Bistro there were people in shorts. The only reason I didn't wear shorts is I tend to attract bugs more than some people. I would suggest taking a sweater if you dine outside at night. Also if you are going to walk the beach or the road to a restaurant take a flashlight.
As some of the other people mentioned there is a good selection in every restaurant. I traveled with someone who doesn't eat fish and they didn't have a problem finding something on any menu in any restaurant that we went to. I put together a list of restaurants, sightseeing, etc. for a friend who went to Provo this March. If you would like me to send it to you, e-mail me at [email protected].

carol,

Excellent... thank you very much.

How about calling back to the US?
tia

ynot6352

We bought international calling cards when we were there. They were available in some of the local shops and internet cafe. I think you can have your cell phone set up when your there so you can call home, but thought it might be too expensive.

Carol

I called cingular today and they want 5.99/mo @ $1.69 and $1.99 wo 5.99/mo fee. We will try the stores when we get there.
My wife "needs" to be in contact with our daughter in college!!

ynot6352

I can't remember what we paid for the calling cards, but I do remember that we didn't seem to get as many minutes as the card said we would get. I think we were deducted minutes if the call went thru and it was busy. I will ask try to get some more details about this from the person I traveled with last year. Don't worry though you will be able to get in touch with your daughter while you are there. Curious - did you ever check out the rentals by private owners?

ynot6352

http://www.cw.tc/cnt.php?typ=main&c=25. If this link doesn't work, do a search for Cable and Wireless in Turks and Caicos. They have info about rates.

carol
Yes I did check the site out and if we like the island we may look into a house next time.
Friends of ours are very interested in a house rental on the island but they are waiting for our impressions of T&C.
BTW the site was excellent!
Thanks!!!

carol
Well we came back on sunday and the only problem was the flight out of new york was 4.5hrs late so our 12:30pm flight left at 5:20pm. RWI was perfect and i now have the layout of the buildings and rooms so i know just what floors and buildings i like. thanks to you and others for all the input.

carol-
We are considering RWI for February. What building and room would you recommend? Was Club Med a problem? Would you stay somewhere else next time? Thanks

To dwn321123,
We've stayed at RWI twice and really like the resort. Compared to the prices of other resorts on Grace Bay, RWI can't be beat. The best building on the grounds would be building #1, which is also the only oceanfront building. Any room on the 2nd floor would have great views. Alot of people prefer 3rd floor rooms for the view, but they don't have covered balconies and the sun can bake you if your out there in the afternoon, and if it rains you have no cover. The next best building is #2. It sets a little behind building #1, but if your on the 2nd or 3rd floor you'll still have geat views. We stayed in Building #2, room #222 in April and just loved it. The studios are in the center of the buildings and the 1 bedrooms are on the end. The rest of the buildings, #3 and higher are all oceanview or gardenview. As far as Club Med, we never had a problem with noise. When we were sitting on the balcony in the evening we heard music from there one night and that was it. Hope this helps a little.
Sandy

dwm
sandy is correct about the buildings. we were in bld 1 first flr and the view was partially blocked by the sand dune.
the second floor in bld 1 has the best views (3rd flr good but no cover) bld 2 is angled and has some good views 2nd and 3rd flr.
if you go to www.vrbo.com you can see a view from the bld 1 2nd floor studio. 2nd flr stuido is only available through the owners listed at vrbo. there is also has a building layout.
btw we would go back in a heart beat.
tony

ynot6352

We came home on the same flight as you on Sunday. I called AA about 9am when the flight from JFK should have been leaving and was told they were on schedule. When we got to the airport we were told there was a 2 hour delay so we decided to wait. Hope you found out about the delay before going to the airport and didn't have to wait as long as we did. A lot of people left and went back to their resorts.

dwm321123

GC Sandy and ynot6352 have answered your questions. We stayed on the 3rd floor in bldg. 1. Our condo had curtain panels across the top of the balcony which gave shade from the sun, but not much protection from the rain. You will get a nice view from bldg. 2, but bldg. 1 is the only oceanfront bldg. if that's important to you. As ynot6352 mentioned you should check out vrbo.com. You can get a better rate from private owners vs booking with the resort directly. You can use all of the facilities at the resort except for the shuttle that RWI provides for picking people up at the airport. You will have to arrange your own transportation from the airport. If you have a problem with the room, the owners will provide you with a contact person. You would not contact the staff at the resort. RWI has a shuttle that will take you to the IGA supermarket for $20 (2 people). Since the shuttle to the IGA isn't free, there's isn't a problem if you want to use it. I believe the Gecko shuttle goes to the IGA which would probably be cheaper. We rented a car and had no problem getting around the island. The road construction in front of the resort should be finished by February. I'm sure you will have a great time at RWI.

carol
I wish we had gone back to RWI however we stayed from 11am. I knew we should have checked Flight Tracker on the web to monitor the flight but I never thought 3 inches of snow could shut JFK down. It was such a great day to waste at an airport. Oh well, enjoy the holidays.
tony

Hi folks. One thing to consider is that many reviews come from condo owners trying to rent their unit, so I'd beware. Most of the resort with the exception of a few true hotels, Comfort Suites, Sibonne and the Turks and Caicos Club which are not condos. even the high end ones like the Palms, Grace Bay Club and Point Grace are individually owned condos. Same with RWI and the Sands. All condos in a rental program.

sunnysunshine

What posters do you think are owners on this message board??

sunnyshine,

I would also like to know which posters you think are condo owners.

I think perhaps he means that many reviews on tripadvisor are from condo owners.