Oil Nut Bay, an eco-luxe-resort community in Virgin Gorda, will introduce a number of community amenities in 2019. They include its Marina Village, an oceanfront promenade with an eatery, coffee house, boutique and library open to both sojourners and local residents.Oil Nut Bay
It’s estimated that in 2017 Americans let more than 700 million vacation days slip through their fingers. Some believe those wasted opportunities led to more travel resolutions last year and this. If so, the additional self-promises will be matched by additional new luxe destinations in one of Americans’ favorite fun spots, the Caribbean.
It’s estimated that in 2017 Americans let more than 700 million vacation days slip through their fingers. Some believe those wasted opportunities led to more travel resolutions last year and this. If so, the additional self-promises will be matched by additional new luxe destinations in one of Americans’ favorite vacation spots, the Caribbean.
A case in point: Port St. George, the first eco-engineered luxury destination to ever come online in the Bahamas. The destination’s groundbreaking is slated for this year, and construction is anticipated to continue four or five years. The 882-acre resort will span the Bahamas’ Long lsland from coast to coast, yet occupy a mere one percent of the island, standing as an opulent oasis amid its surrounding natural wonders.
Destinations aplenty
Other Caribbean properties are opening much sooner. Among them will be the 5-Trident (5-Star) Club Med Miches Playa Esmerelda, slated for unveiling this December in Miches, a tranquil Eden stretching along the Dominican Republic’s northeast coast. Club Med Miches Esmerelda will not only be the first operating resort in the emerging area, but North America’s first new Club Med resort in more than four decades.
In the Turks and Caicos, 2019 will see the groundbreaking of Rock House, Grace Bay Resorts’ first residential development in the craggy, pristine Providenciales’ north shore limestone cliffs. Rock House will ply vacationers with such luxurious inducements as a sparkling infinity pool surveying the breathtaking blue waters of the Turks.
One of the first branded developments in Belize will debut when Alaia Belize opens in 2020 on Ambergris Caye, the paradise Madonna christened La Isla Bonita. The resort is actually the first Marriott International Autograph Collection property in Belize. Featured at the 20-acre beachfront community resort will be a beach club, rooftop suspended pool and lunge, full-service spa, fitness center, kids club, dive shop and art gallery.
Meantime, on Juanillo Beach, Hyatt Ziva & Zilara Cap Cana will open this November. The unveiling will usher in the family-focused Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana and the adults-only Hyatt Zilara Cap Cana. The former will feature a custom water park and throwback diner, while the latter will serve up elegant, tranquil design, a theater, water park, spa and internationally-flavored dining options like the Orient Express, set inside a train car.
Hilton Caribbean will open three new resorts between this year and 2022. They include a 145-room Homewood Suites in Santo Domingo, opening this year; Tranquility Beach Dominica, Curio Collection by Hilton, set to open in 2021; and Waldorf Astoria Antigua – Callaloo Cay on the northeastern Caribbean island and legendary yachting terminus.
More to come
Other notable Caribbean resorts will reopen all or parts of their establishments following either capital improvements or post-Hurricane Irma repairs.
Sanctuary Cap Cana is an adults-only, all-inclusive resort that reopened earlier this year following a $44 million renovation featuring new towers, rooms and an array of amenities.
Hilton La Romana, the Dominican Republic’s nearly concealed all-inclusive resort, is launching its adults-only component in June. As part of the makeover, there will be new dining rooms, refreshed guest room technology and new ocean-view lobby.
Not much more than a year after Hurricane Irma, the Virgin Gorda eco-luxe resort community Oil Nut Bay will take the wraps off its new Marina Village waterside promenade, as well as a spa and the Bay Suites.
Also worth mentioning are two established resorts, Zemi Beach House and Altamer. The former was the first luxury property on Anguilla to reopen after Irma, the resort is known for its genuine Anguillan health treatments at its own Zemi Thai House Spa. The latter, on Anguilla’s very private West End, is an ultra-exclusive resort developed by New York City’s Time Equities real estate firm. It’s celebrated in part for its 24-hour butler service and boat charters to surrounding islands