Our Alaska plans for May has changed and we decided on T & C instead. Just started researching and need in help in deciding between these 2 hotels for May: Sibonne and Alexandra. They are around $100 difference for the lowest ocean view catagory. We are wanting a great beach area with inexpensive resturants/bars close by.

How far are each from the Ports of Call and IGA?

Any other info would be helpful. We are generally AI people and not used to condos with kitchens with exhorbant food prices. Thanks.

It would be worth it for you to get a pass on the Gecko shuttle. You can eat out fairly cheap at alot of places if you know where to go and what night . Tiki Hut on wednesday nights has a chicken and rib dinner for $12.95. Sherk Bite at the Marina is reasonable in price, Danny Bouys has specials on certain nights
Both the Alexandra and Sibonne are nice places The Sibonne is older, smaller hotel, the Alexandra is a resort type place and newer. They are close to one another same part of beach cant go wrong with either one

Thanks for the response. We'll definately look into the Gecko Shuttle. Does either the Alexandra or Sibonne offer they own shuttle transporation to resturants/shopping?

We're leaning more towards the Alexandra due to the swim-up pool bar and kitchettes. It will just be the 2 of us. Do you really think we would need a kitchenette? Will the swim-up bar be operational the third week of May? Do you have any idea about the drinks and prices? How crowded do you think either hotel will be?

The Sibonne is less expensive, so not sure if we want to pay extra for the nicer pool area and the kitchettes if we really weren't going to us them. Does anyone actually "cook" in the kitchens or just use it for quick light meals and use of the frig? Don't really like the idea of cooking/making meals on vacation.

Still having a hard time in deciding between the two.

May is a great time to go, its slow time there. So no crowds
Drinks are very expensive I want to say its $4,50 for a beer and $7.00 and up for mixed. A case of beer at the IGA is around $44.00. If you drink beer get a case at the IGA and splurge on the mix drinks or bring mixers with you and buy some rum at the airport duty free store.
The Alexandra use to have a shuttle one day a week to take you to the IGA, not sure what day, or if they still run it.
I have children so I use the kitchen alot, mostly for snacks and some small meals like hamburgers, pizza,and hotdogs that have to be kayem and they dont sell them at the IGA so I bring them along.
Have a great trip

Hello KVR,

Sibonne has a great website. www.sibonne.com

We will be staying at the Sibonne for 9 days in March. I don't like to cook on vacation either. What I did find out is Sibonne provides a free light breakfast. Coffee, toast, juice a piece of fruit. You can add to this at a low cost if you need more calories. They have a great restaurant also. Sibonne is right on the beach. Small pool but the ocean is steps away. The Sands is next door, short walk and have a restaurant called Hemmingways.
Sibonne rooms also have a small fridge. I plan to bring some snacks to have in between our meals.
Also we plan to buy liquor when we leave JFK (NY airport) It's duty free. I understand there is a very nice grocery store on Provo IGA where you can buy snacks if you don't want to bring from the states.
The website has some great info to help you decide to stay there.
Good luck in your planning and let us know what you decide.
Hope this has helped you.

We did not see Alexandra while we were in T&C but we walked over several nights from the Sands to have dinner/lunch at their restaurant. The food was very good. Service a bit slow. We noticed also that the pool was very small.

I meant the pool and restaurant at Sibonne in my earlier post.

We're also looking at possibly staying at Sibonne in December. Just so you know, there's a major condo project (the Mandalay) that will shortly be starting right next door to the Sibonne. From what I've read, this will be a huge construction project. We've requested a room on the other side of the Mandalay to avoid the noise but I would imagine that, in any event, the Sibonne beach area will be much more crowded once people start moving into the Mandalay.

Have you looked into the Royal West Indies? We got a great deal from VRBO. Not going till June, so I can not give you more detail but thought its worth looking into.

Behind Sibonne, they are also building Lucaya, don't know when that's starting.
Sibonne is a good clean budget hotel.
Alexandria is a little more upscale.
Truthfully, sometimes it's nice to have breakfasts and light lunches at the resort, or just be able to keep cold drinks all day in a fridge. Alexandria offers that.
I would stay at either, just depends on what I want for the week.

Thanks for all the replies. I think we've decided on the Sibonne. Decided that the lower cost would out weigh going out to eat. Don't think we'll use the swim-up bar at the Alexandra just because the drink prices are so high. It makes a difference when you go AI, otherwise, we would enjoy a swim-up bar more. Also don't think we'll use the kitchenette at the Alexandra. The Sibbonne offers a light continental breaksfast, which is better than nothing and better than us having to find/make something. We plan on taking tours in the afternoon, which provide lunch, so we'll just have to go out for dinners.

I did check out Sibonne's website. They have great info on excursions/tours to take. They also indicated that the construction around them won't start until approx. Sept 2006, so they are not accepting reservations for fall/winter until they have a better idea of how the new construction is going to affect them.

I did look at the Royal West Indies, but it is higher than the Sibonne and not in the location we prefer. We would like to be close to the Ports of Call and IGA. Also like that we can walk to Coral Gardens from the Sibonne.

Stella39,

I will interested in your trip report and pics when you come back in March. Please fell free to e-mail me.

It's not correct that Sibonne isn't accepting reservations for the fall/winter. We've been considering Sibonne for this December and the hotel has indicated that they are indeed accepting reservations.

I only know what has been posted on Sibonne's web-site. This is the info directly off their website:

"Sibonné Beach Hotel is located just next door to the new Mandalay Resort Condo that is scheduled to begin construction in September 2006. Since many of our rooms will be very close to the first phase of construction - we are not accepting reservations for Fall/Winter 2006 until we have a better idea when the construction will begin - and what the impact will be on our guest rooms, restaurant and beach area.

We hope to have Fall/Winter 2006 rates and an update on the construction schedule by April 2006. If you would like to place your name on a 'waiting list' pending our update - please send an email to [email protected] with your preferred dates and the type of accommodations you would like. We'll let you know by email as soon as we can give you a realistic idea of the impact of Mandalay's construction next door."

We booked our package on beachdestiations.com and they have the same info on their web-site:


"**Sibonné Beach Hotel is located just next door to the new Mandalay Resort Condo that is scheduled to begin Construction in September 2006. Since many of the rooms will be very close to the first phase of construction - the hotel is not accepting reservations for Fall/Winter 2006 until they have a better idea when the construction will begin - and what the impact will be on the guest rooms, restaurant and beach area.**
**The hotel hopes to have Fall/Winter 2006 rates and an update on the construction schedule by April 2006.**"

Hope it doesn't affect your Dec. plans.

Thank you KVR. I appreciate the updated information. This must have been posted recently by Sibonne after I had corresponded with them. I give Sibonne a lot of credit for not trying to hide what's going on around them from unsuspecting tourists and for holding off on taking reservations until the situation is clarified.

The best rooms at Sibonne are under the apartment. Believe they are called Premier rooms. Closest to the beach. The other rooms are in a U and overlook a garden so not much of a beach view.

Hello KVR,

I have to give Sibonne alot of credit for taking the risk of not taking reservations until they know what is going on with construction near them. I also noticed they are dropping their rates for summer travel. Quite a bit. Plus they are closed from 8/25 to 10/2.

I am so looking forward to our trip. I will write a trip report. Everyone has been so helpful to me in my research and I in return want to help others planning their trip.

We booked our trip through Liberty Travel and aside from the air fare, I'm happy with our price and choice. We also bought trip insurance because you never know what kind of snow storms we may have in the east coast. So far we are having a mild winter. Keep the fingers crossed.

4 weeks to go....

Blamona, are you home or still in Provo?

Stella, I'm not in Provo anymore, I miss it tremendously.

No resort is close to IGA supermarket, but Gecko Shuttle will take you there cheaply.

I tried every restaurant except Grace's Cottage while there, so ask away.

The weather was delightful, in 61 days, it only rained 1 day, two overcast mornings but they both cleared up by around noon. It was unusually windy 1 week, but still perfectly sunny.

I was completely spoiled.

Stella39,

I've been looking at T & C for a while. It's on my "to go" list. I was amazed by the huge price drop for Summer. We were able to get the Sibonne for 6 nights with air out of DFW for $1,850 for the both of us. Could not pass that up. The insurance was another $137 for the both of us. Alaska was going to cost 4 times that.

We chose the balcony oceanview on the 2nd floor. I've been going over the excursion web-sites that the Sibonne posted. We want to go to the Caves on Middle Caicos and do at least one snorkel trip. We'll walk down to Coral Gardens. Go to Smith Reef and go on the semi-sub and do an Island tour. Would like to see the glow worms and do a sunset cruise, but I don't think we'll be there during a full moon.

I think we'll take a collapsable cooler and a couple of floaties for the ocean. I already have these great beach mats for places that don't provide loungers or charge a fee. We are not much for liquor except in frozen drinks, but do drink beer. Would it be worth it to try to bring our own? $44 for a case sounds steep.

I appreciate everyone's input. Thanks.

Hello KVR,

You did good. What a great price! So happy for you.
We are staying 8 nights but going high season and we are paying $1,000 more. We also are staying in the 2nd floor ocean view room

My husband has always wanted to go to TCI and it's his birthday March 4th otherwise we would have gone in May also.

We have been traveled for many years and have stayed at some beautiful resorts and we really just sleep there. We are on the go or on the beach. What I have read about Sibonne, I'm sure it will be perfect for us and what we want to do.

Check with your air carrier, luggage weight is limited.
A/A allows 50 lbs per suitcase now. Beer is heavy. I would buy it in Provo. I don't think I would want to lug beer around. Maybe someone has done this before and has suggestions.

It's exciting to plan a trip isn't? Will you be renting a car? We reserved a jeep for 4 days. We think that will be enough to see some of the other beaches and sites on Provo.

Enjoy the rest of your planning and I will report back after our trip.

Welcome Back Blamona!
It's got to be hard coming back after such a long time in the islands. How is your daughter adjusting?
Good for you that you are able to be away that long.
I'm sure I will have more questions for you as I get closer to our departure date.

For the big BEER question: You can walk to the Sawmills shops and buy beer there at $10 for a six-pack. That is a better price than the IGA. I don't think beer would do well on the flight!