We're a couple in our 30's looking for a nice place on the beach with as few kids as possible. We're thinking about Villa Renaissance, Turks & Caicos Club, the Tuscany. La Vele, or Royal West Indies. Which would you choose and why. Appreciate your help.

We go to Provo often, and always stay at the Turks & Caicos Club. Only 21 suites, the staff is very accommodating and from what you're looking, it may be the right choice. Probably the nicest and quietest stretch of beach, not on hotel row like the others and is a real hotel (but has kitchens, etc.) Not in a rental pool like Le Vele Villa Renaissance or RWI/Tusc (no restaurant at these other 3). All those are condo-hotels.

Simba restaurant is convenient at the hotel(breakfast is included) and it also has a poolside bar, lunch and dinner.

Everything is about five minutes away by car- grocery store just up the street. Also, we love to snorkel, so it's the closest of your choices to the reef. Good luck, just my two cents!

hi jarredk, let me double pandyb's two cents to four. t&c club will be perfect for you.
rwi would be worst choice as it's known as very family friendly.
as pandy said t&c club is a quick walk down to coral gardens where some of best off beach snorkeling is.

t&c club is on the gecko bus route, so you can easily get to the more "happening" area & all the restaurants easily.

i would suggest you rent a car/jeep for one day at least to get out and see the island. malcolm road beach, chalk sound, taylor and sopadilla bay beaches are all worth a look.
and if you enjoy conch dishes go out to blue hills to 'da conch shack'.

some great dining to be found at anacona, grace's cottage, coyaba, magnolia at the miramar, aqua bar, bella luna for italian.
fun, cheap eats kind of a tradition to go to on provo is tiki hut at turtle cove marina.

here's a link to a good map: http://www.aquamarinebeachhouses.com/map.htm

Grace Bay Beach is gorgeous, and most of the hotels in Provo are very nice, so it is hard to make a bad choice. Having said that, there are some significant differences between the properties you mentioned that you should consider in making your decision.

VR: Good central location on GBB near other resorts, shopping, dining, etc; beautiful property; no on-site restaurant

T&C Club: Quieter location on GBB with good proximity to snorkeling at Coral Gardens, smaller, more intimate property; Simba restaurant on-site

Tuscany: Quieter location on GBB (east end near golf course but less resorts and restauants nearby; smaller property but I think it is all 3 BR units which may be overkill for a couple

LaVele: Good central location on GBB near other resorts, shopping,dining, etc; more contemporary style; no on-site restaurant

RWI: This probably the lowest priced option (in part because there are smaller rooms (e.g., studios) there), but it still is very nice, has a good, casual onsite restaurant (Mango Reef) and has other restaurants/resorts nearby.

P.S. About kids, I don't like staying at places with lots of kids either, but I stayed at RWI in late April - early May this year and only saw a few kids there. I'm sure there would be more kids during school breaks, though. There is some difference of opinion, obviously, but many others think that among the resorts in the "mid" price range (RWI, two Ocean Clubs, the Sands, the Alexandra), RWI is more couples oriented than most of the others. Still, it is probably true that some of the more expensive and smaller resorts will have less kids, although I could see there being more kids at resorts that primarily have larger units (e.g., the Tuscany).

Hope this helps.

bd3 made me curious about tuscany. the site does refer to 3 br units. however, on their rates page they do list 1br units available all except xmas weeks.

Thanks everyone and thanks BD3 for a great comparison.

Virginia - I also saw that the Tuscany lists 1 bedroom units. I just got an e-mail from them saying that all of their suites are 3-bedroom/3-bath oceanfront, though.

I'll second, (or 5th?) the Turks and Caicos Club-it's a gorgeous boutique hotel, probably the highest caliber of your choices.

Tuscany is 3 bedrooms-and for those prices for 2, I would go to Somerset instead.

Le Vele and Villa Renaissance are "self-catering" luxury, and of the 2, prefer VR. Le Vele is too modern for me. I find VR to be gorgeous.

RWI is always a good bang for the buck-nice, beautiful grounds-more children will be there of your choices. (Although lots of kids is relative-lots of kids by T&C standards, not by other island standards.)