Turks and Caicos trip report
 

Thank you to everyone who helped me with my many questions on Turks and Caicos. As promised, here is my trip report! First, let me start by saying, I love T&C. What a beautiful island—the beaches—glorious! Having been to Bermuda and Anguilla, which I feel have some of the best beaches around, I was pleased to find Provo right up there with those. My DH and I couldn’t agree as to which island had the best beaches (that we could determine). DH prefers Bermuda. I think it’s a toss -up between Provo and Anguilla. I was surprised at how developed Provo was though—I really thought it would be a bit less so- like Anguilla. It felt more built up, more “Americanized” than I had anticipated. (mind you though, we never left 12 mile beach).
The Regent Palms was simply perfect. I was a little skeptical b/c of the write up of the swim up bar and the scene. But it was truly 5 star. At check in, the staff brings you cold juice drinks and takes you directly to your room . Our room was spectacular. We had a one bedroom ocean view—and the view was direct spot on from 4 floors up. Not a crane your neck out the window view. It was a true ocean view. The room was gorgeous—perfectly decorated, fine moldings and marble. A bit funky in an elegant way- not at all garish. Lovely four poster bed that was so comfortable. Plenty of closet/drawer space. Beautiful 3 “room” bathroom (WC, large double vanity sink area and large shower/bath area. The deck was very large with a bed and a table with chairs, again overlooking the beautiful pool and beach. Our room was ready at check in (1:00). PS- the pics on the website just don’t do the rooms justice.
The staff was wonderful- couldn’t do enough for you. So helpful, so pleasant. Honestly, everyone seemed to have a smile at the ready.
The pool was infinity edge and a maze- really architecturally pleasing. And with the beach just beyond it, it looked seamless and beautiful. The beach was gorgeous. I had read some posts about people feeling that the “cabanas” lined up right next to each other on the beach made the beach seem crowded. Perhaps b/c we arrived at the tail end of school vacation week, it wasn’t that busy, but we never had anyone sitting in either of the cabanas next to us the entire time there. Personally, I would have preferred movable umbrellas, but the cabanas (shades) didn’t bother me at all. It never felt like the resort was overcrowded.
Although kid friendly (and we had our 3 yo DD with us) I didn’t find the hotel at all overrun with kids. It was really a perfect balance .
I have stayed at many 5 star resorts and I can say without question that RP belongs in the 5 star category. I’m just going to go straight to the food now, b/c honestly, we did nothing but lay out at the beach and the pool, read, spa and eat. (the spa was beautiful too).
FOOD:
We had lunch twice at Plunge and both times the food and service were fabulous. We also had lunch at Hemingways which was pretty good. We ate lunch 2 times at Bay Bistro. The first time was fabulous. The second was so-so.
The first night DH and I dined at O’Soleil. The staff there was really great. Listening to Nadine sing was a great plus. I loved my meal and the service. DH’s meal was a bit of a mess- had to send it back twice. But they more than accommodated us and took care of this misstep. They really get great points for great customer service—and as I said MY meal was great.
On night 2, DH and I dined at Anacaona. I would say again my meal was fantastic here. DH’s was ok- he ordered a USDA Prime steak that didn’t taste like a prime steak. Service was OK here—not amazing but not bad. I had read that the portions here were very small, and I have to say that was not our experience. The portions were pretty large and the setting was magical.
On night three, we dined at Coco Bistro. I liked the setting, very cute, very Caribbean. Service here was top notch. DH and I were salivating over our apps—get the tuna if you go- it was sublime. Our entrees were less super. A little disappointing for us I hate to say.
Then finally, on our last night, we dined at Coyaba. Our meal here was very very good. We were both very happy with our food and the service. My only complaint was that we arrived for our 8:30 res at 8 and wanted to have a seat at the bar. We asked at that time if we could be seated at 8:30 in the main area as we liked the vibe there. The hostess told me prob not b/c the tables were reserved. After asking again and then being seated there, it was clear that many tables were empty – couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t easily comply with a simple request that was easily fulfilled? In any event, we had a really good meal there.
There is no question that we will be back to T&C- I thought the food was close to the quality we experienced in Anguilla. Not quite Anguilla, but very very good. I would def stay at the RP again as well. Thank you all for your help making this trip as good as it was!

I tried putting spaced in above bt the paragraphs but cou;dnt- sorry!

Great report emcash. My wife and I have been looking for luxe, relaxing Caribbean resort with our 2 children, who will be 6 mo and 2.5 years this summer. We need a vacation! I think they will be too young for the kids activities, but we are hoping they have something we could do with them- any info? Also, it appears they have babysitting. Did you use that at all?
Any ideas about other places? We went to Cap Juluca for honeymoon several years ago; liked, but not looking to return right now. And Mustique 10 years ago was very cool, but a bit tough to get to with 2 kids in tow. Want nice beach, higher-end hotel/ resort, and preferably a place with interesting island to explore (St. Lucia hotels all up in the hills, Abaco seems baren outside Ritz club).

Thanks. Al

Hi Al-
Yes, we did use the babysitting service and it was wonderful. You have to go through the concierge, and that was the only "misstep"I can point to. When i called weeks earlier, i asked for the same sitter for each night. I was told i could only book the first night b/c the sitters are hotel employees and they didn't know which night's the employees were free. when we got there, there was a lot of scrambling as the head of sitting tried to accomodate this request. I got the feeling there was a disconnect b/t the sitter rep and the concierge. If you plan to go this summer and stay at RP (which i HIGHLY recommend), ask directly for Aggie, who is teh coordinator. She got us 1 young woman for each of our nights- this woman could not have been sweeter-- bought a stuffed animal for my DD's last night- so sweet!

Your children would be too young for the kids' club, but the sitter was fabulous and i'm sure you could hire one for daytime as well if you wanted a few hours by the beach.

I can't imagine a better place on T&C for high high end luxury that is alos very kid friendly.

Great report...thank you.
We love O'Soleil and ate there twice in January...never a problem. What was wrong with your husbands meal? ( Glad it was ok in the end) Just curious?

Nice trip report. Have viewed the suites at Regent Palms and have dined on the property several times at Plunge. It always looks nicely kept.
Also love the dining and experience of The Somerset next door.
Very nice resort too in the upscale market.
The evening entertainment at O'Soleil on Fridays is a not to miss for sure. The food is also suburb.
Turks and Caicos definately can go head to head with the overall experience with Anguilla.
I think that I prefer Turks better.

Caribzack- my DH ordered the lamb medium rare, it was brought to us well done- no pink whatsoever. he sent it back and it returned a bloody rare-unchewable. He sent that back and asked them to forget about it. he then ordered chocholate ice cream and it was crystallized- freezer burn.

My meal- the sea bass, was perfect- so delicious. Perhaps the best dish of our stay.

We didn't ask for anything to be removed from the bill, but we were disappointed as i had read so many good reviews of the restaurant. management, without prompting at all from us, removed ALL our food items from the bill. (we had had drinks and some wonderful wine which we paid for) They said this was not usual for them, and they wanted our experience to be prefect, not what we had received. i thought that was quite generous and very good customer service.

which brings me to another thought-- every fish dish we ordered was amazing. every meat we ordered, even if described as USDA prime or colorado rack of lamb, didn't taste right and was overcooked-- without exception.

WOW Too bad about O'Soleil but, they really took care of you in the end!! Interesting about fish being ok...we tend to order fish a lot!

I know it is customary in the caribbean to have great fish, but since we were in upscale places who advertised quality meat cuts, we figured we'd mix it up a bit. Without fail, all our meat dishes no matter where we went, disappointed. The fish dishes, also without exception, were great!

When on an island, we personally take advantage of the local
offerings. You can have steak and lamb in the US. Try something that is fresh and not imported and most likely you will be happy.

yes, we figured that out after a while. Logical yes, but sometimes when the words USDA Prime are staring back at you, you can't help but be in the mood for that sometimes! the fish was truly wonderful.

Last check of Fodors and Emails as we leave for Turks & Caicos in a few hours.

Enjoyed your review, especially the restaurants. Last year our favorites were Coyaba and Coco Bistro. We are returning to those and have added a reservation to O'Soleil to our list.

thanks for sharing your experiences! 8-)

Just curious, you are talking about how you should order fish here because that is there specialty. We are going in April and neither one of us are real seafood people. Is there any place that anyone could recommend for meat other than fish?
Thank you for any info.
KB

Thanks for the great trip report. I have to wait until August for our trip :( I am counting down the days.
Thanks,

Palmtree2384...I have ordered non fish dinners at many places (love fish too but, mix it up)
O'Soleil-lamb-excellent, they also have chicken dishes
Hemingways-beef filet, chicken stir fry
Bay Bistro-fantastic beef filet, lamb
Iguana-had filet last year, not this past trip,loved it
anyway go to www.wherewhenhow.com and look at menus, excellent non fish everywhere, don't worry!!

We had good chicken dishes at lunch several times. We just really had no luck when it came to beef, lamb or pork. Not that any of it was BAD, but it either wasn't prepared right, tasted gamey (the lamb) or just didn't taste great. But who knows, it could have been one of those things with us.