Looking for resort recommendation for 4 night stay in mid-to-late January for my husband's 40th birthday. Never visited T&C before. We were seriously considering Four Seasons Nevis but travel is much easier from ATL-T&C than to Nevis, and we're a bit worried that the Four Seasons won't be completely reopened. Likes: gorgeous beach, excellent service, snorkeling, good fitness facility, nice spa, good food & wine, luxury accommodations, not overrun with kids (we very rarely get away from ours). What do you recommend? And any particular room type recommendations or rooms to avoid (I think I read to avoid standard gardenview rooms at The Somerset, for example). Thanks in advance.

Also, will water be warm enough for swimming & snorkeling in mid-to-late January? I've looked at average temps but that doesn't tell me about water...

All the properties are on a gorgeous beach (better than the beaches in Nevis!)

The Somerset: One of my favorites. The most gorgeous architecture on the island. Nice service, about a 15 minute walk to off-the-beach snorkeling, smallish fitness facility, next door to Regent Palms Spa (one of the best in Caribbean), great food and wine, ultra luxurious and not overrun with kids. Service ON the beach. Avoid the "lockout rooms" they tend to be noisy, but all others are gorgeous.

West Bay Club: Another of my favorites. A notch down from Somerset, but you'd never know it-luxury beds, terrific service. 2 minute walk to snorkeling, great fitness facility, decent spa (I think it's a traveling massuse in your room? I could be wrong) good food and wine (Somerset better), luxurious and not over run with kids. Service ON the beach.

Gansevoort: hip and chic, with cool nightlife on weekends and giant TV screen on the beach during sports games). Right next to West Bay Club, terrific service including on the beach, close to snorkel, great yoga pavillion, decent exercise facilities, expensive spa, not over run with kids. Cool luxury features such as remote control blinds, water faucet that drips from the ceiling into the tub and rainshower like showers. Ask to make sure your room has a balcony or patio, some oceanfront rooms don't have floor to ceiling windows.

Regent Palms: A Four Seasons feel to it, excellent spa, good service, about 15 minutes walk to snorkel, this one will have the most kids as it's the luxury choice for families. Again, no "lockout rooms."

I would throw in Grace Bay Club but it's way far to walk every day to snorkel. I personally like my other recs better anyway. ;-)

One of my favorite get away from it all resorts is Parrot Cay. Stunning beach, the BEST service in the Caribbean, not sure about snorkeling there but they can take you out to the reefs, the BEST fitness facility, yoga pavillions, good food and wine (get the food package, you'll save and you're eating the same food!), Zen type rooms with 4 poster beds with LED TVs and ipod docks, but minimalistic looking. Not overrun with kids. It;s on it's own private island, so only the resort choices for eating (2 restaurants)

Hopes this jelps narrow down.

We have stayed at Somerset many times and LOVE it,2 great restaurants, wonderful staff, beautiful condos , excellent flat beach, stunning pools, etc ( very few kids if any)

Thanks so much for the helpful responses. I have now learned that despite what my husband's co-worker told us, Delta no longer flies to T&C. Drat! We can fly American from Atlanta through Miami, but one of the appeals of T&C vs. Nevis was the direct flight. I may need to start a new post for this .... but any Caribbean island & resort recs with same parameters as above (luxury accommodations, snorkeling, great food & wine, spa & fitness facility, few kids, etc.) that is a DIRECT flight from Atlanta? We've been to Ritz St. Thomas, many years ago, and enjoyed it, but want to try something new. Thanks again.

Sweetandrew... I'm surprised by your post as my husband booked Delta tickets for us from Boston to Provo (via Atlanta) just this morning!

Just spoke with Delta rep. I was getting no flights departing 1/21 and returning 1/25 (our travel dates) on delta.com and travelocity. According to rep, in January there is only flight a week, on Saturdays only. She said schedule "picks up" in February. We can only get away for 4 days so unfortunately direct flight on Delta is out for us.

Looking for all of the above, closer to snorkeling, the better. How does Turks & Caicos Club compare to West Bay? In 2008 we got a great deal on Aqua Bay Club (Grand Cayman) because we went right after New Year's when all the kids were back in school. Looking for something like that, to someplace we haven't been.

Regent Palms in T&C -or- Aruba:

We stayed at the Regent Palms in Turks and Caicos on our honeymoon in July, 2007. It was gorgeous -- very resort feel, not many kids when we were there (too pricey, I guess), amazing spa (we had a couple's massage). Did I mention the bed? Our king bed was the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in, and this was in one of the most affordable, 'garden-view' rooms. The linens were high-quality, too.

I also loved the buffet breakfast that was included in the room price. We'd eat a large breakfast, then a light lunch. The Parallel restaurant is a high-end dining room with excellent food (we ate dinner there twice, and I'm still thinking about the seared foie gras appetizer and delicious fish entrees).

There's gear for low-key water activities, like snorkeling. The water is crystal clear.
I would LOVE to stay at the Regent Palms again if we could afford it some day! BUT this point may be moot if you can't find a direct flight. So....I might suggest Aruba.

We're going to Aruba in February of this year and have direct Delta flights from Atlanta on a Monday and the following Sunday. There are a lot of great resort hotels...given your parameters, I'd suggest the Bucuti Beach Resort and Spa (they're starting a no-kids policy, and it's on a nice, secluded beach). We're going to stay at the Radisson and then the Hyatt, which are both nice resorts w/fine dining options, but I think they might be more kid-friendly than what you're looking for.

We stayed at the Regent Palms in T&C and it was simply amazing. If you click on my screename, you can read our trip report. We did travel with our daughter and there definitely were children there, but it wasn't overrun with children. It was 5 star all the way.

I think for our next trip to T&C we might try the Grace Bay Club just for something different. The nice thing about GBC is that they have a no children section of the hotel and pool.