Anguilla. Part 1. Two Tickets to Paradise.
Here we go on our fifteenth anniversary vacation to Anguilla.
Today I woke up at 6am, a full 50 minutes before my alarm. We started getting ready, got the kids up so they could say goodbye. Our taxi came at 730, we loaded up, had our usual crying and goodbyes and then we were off.
The ride to the airport was smooth, the airport was pretty quick, we got coffee at Dunkin and then headed to the gate. Once we got to the gate we noticed it was pretty empty. We boarded the plane third (instead of first), which was tough for Tzvi, but he found the strength to deal with it. We had the bulkhead, row 1 seats A and B. As we watched people board we realized the plane was extremely empty. Then they started making announcements that everyone needed to stay in their assigned seats due to “balance” and “ticket pricing”. Basically they didn’t want people moving to seats they needed to pay for. I don’t think there were more than thirty people on the plane, if that. Needless to say we had an open seat next to us.
The flight was easy, there was a little turbulence. The last time we landed in St Martin was two years ago when we went to St Barths. At that time, the St Martin airport was under construction and we had to go through a pretty third-world outdoor baggage claim and immigration process. They’ve finished the airport and I have to say it’s actually pretty nice. Passport control and baggage was a breeze and we quickly headed outside where there was a man with a sign for our hotel. He took our bags and then drove us about one minute to the ferry port. I think we could’ve walked there, but who wanted to in that heat.
The ferry port (and I use the term “port” loosely) was basically an outdoor waiting area with a snack bar and signs all over the place about stopping the spread of Covid-19. Finally they took us through a little building where we had our passports checked again (this time for exiting St Martin) and then boarded the Funtime Three speedboat. There were only a few other passengers – a couple who looked to be in their thirties, an older Indian couple with their adult son, and a young girl traveling alone. We set off on the ride and were given complementary drinks. I had a Diet Coke, which I spent the next twenty-five minutes trying not to spill as the boat bounced us around the ocean. I don’t even know how to describe the ride. Have you ever rode The Beast ride in NYC? That’s probably the closest thing to this.
We arrived at the Anguilla port – the Blowing Point Ferry Terminal (insert innuendo here) – and went through our third passport control of the day. We were met by a driver from our hotel and were ushered into a black SUV. We made the fifteen minute drive through Anguilla, which I have to say looks like pretty much every other Caribbean island. Dirt roads, unfinished houses, lots of goats wandering the streets. Anguilla is a tiny island. You can drive from one end to the other in about forty minutes, and that’s primarily because you can’t really drive more than 30 miles an hour. According to our driver, there are only 13,000 people on the whole island.
Finally we arrived at our hotel – the Cap Juluca, a Belmond hotel. This was our first time staying at a Belmond, and you know it was tough for us to venture out of the comfort of our usual Four Seasons or Rosewood vacations. However, Belmond is owned by luxury conglomerate LVMH, so we figured a sister brand to Louis Vuitton probably isn’t that bad. Could we sound more spoiled? Actually, the truth is that our wonderful travel agent Mary Helen suggested this hotel, and as usual, she was spot on.
We walked into the open air lobby and were greeted by Roxanne who sat us down in big comfortable chairs facing the ocean and brought us a delicious passion fruit rum drink. From check in we were driven in a golf cart to our suite by Evan who is our “villa host”. He’s not quite a butler, but more like a personal concierge – he gave me his number and said to text him anytime with requests, reservations, etc.
Before going any further let me describe the layout of this resort. The resort is set on Maunday’s Bay, which is on the northern side of the island, and basically spans the entire length of the bay. At the western edge of the bay is the “main house” that has the lobby, the pool, Uchu (one of the restaurants) and the bar, as well as a separate building that houses the other two restaurants, Cips by Cipriani and Pimm’s. At the eastern end of the bay is the spa, as well as the Cap Shack, another restaurant, which is kind of like a beach shack and bar where you don’t need to wear shoes. Between the two ends are all of the villas – 24 white Moroccan style buildings, each with around six rooms/suites of varying sizes. All of the rooms face the ocean, and there’s a single street that runs from end to end. You can either get around by bike, walking or having them drive you around on a golf cart.
For this trip we booked a junior suite. We’re in 1705, which is in Villa 17 – “Aquamarine” (every villa has a name, most are colors although a few are randomly named after places in Morocco). The villa is fitting because aquamarine is my favorite color, although it would’ve been fun to be in cerulean. Our suite is on the second floor, and has a patio plus a second rooftop patio with a beautiful view of the whole bay. The room is beautiful and the bed faces the ocean. The bathroom has a tub designed to fit two people – it’s not just a tub that’s big enough for two people, it actually has two separate spots where two people can lay facing each other. My one complaint is of course that the shower has no door. I don’t understand it. Who isn’t cold without a shower door?
We spent about five minutes unpacking but it was 4:15 and we were hungry and wanted to get some beach time in, so we exited our villa and took the short path to the beach. We found our seats and settled in. There is only one row of seats along the beach (so there is never anyone sitting in front of you), and every room gets a designated spot right in front of their villa, so you never need to worry about getting good seats. They assign you seats on the first day and those are your seats for the whole stay.
Unfortunately we were told that there was no more food service for the day. We had barely eaten all day, aside from our morning bagel and some plane snacks. We were told to walk down to the Cap Shack, except when we got there the kitchen was also closed. We sat on the beach hungry, then came back to the room and sat on the terrace and ate Chex Mix.
We got ready for dinner, FaceTimed the kids, and called for a golf cart. The golf cart never showed so we walked to the lobby which wasn’t so bad, and then got our scheduled taxi. One thing to commend the hotel on – Tzvi had emailed them in advance and asked them to make dinner reservations for all five nights. For the two nights we were going off property, they automatically scheduled taxis to pick us, which was a nice touch.
Tonight we are eating off property at Blanchards, apparently an Aguillan staple. When we were reading about Anguilla, pretty much every blog, review, article, etc. said to eat at Blanchards, so we did. We got a great table facing the beach. Of course it was the typical Caribbean restaurant where there are no walls, so we were basically in the sand, but there was a nice breeze coming off the ocean.
They gave us menus that had been printed especially for us and had Happy Anniversary Harry and Stephanie written across the top. We started off with drinks, a rum punch for me and some banana cream shake situation for Tzvi. We ordered the fried plantain chips and a zucchini bread. The zucchini bread ended up having cheese baked into it, so that was a fail. They should really write that on the menu. We then had a warm shaved Brussels sprout Caesar salad which was actually very good, and then I had salmon with bok choy and cous cous and Tzvi had breaded grouper. For dessert we shared an apricot croissant bread pudding and something coconuty that was basically a chocolate shell with coconut shavings and then a scoop of coconut ice cream filled with baileys Irish cream. Neither of us really love coconut, but it was their most famous dessert so felt we should try it. It was pretty good.
We got a taxi back to the hotel, then a golf cart back to the room, and ended the day.
Everything was going so well.
