The latest Caribbean news from the Caribbean Tourism Organisation
Barbados to host 2014 Top Gear Festival
The Top Gear Festival will make its Americas debut on the Caribbean island of Barbados at the newly renovated Bushy Park Circuit on 17-18 May, 2014.
Hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, Top Gear Festival Barbados will feature an awe-inspiring line up of cars and driving talent including The Stig, the Top Gear Stunt Team and guest drivers from the world of motorsport and entertainment.
Photo courtesy www.mmstadium.com
Top Gear Festival Barbados is expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors and will include high-speed motor stunts, extreme driving and races.
Bushy Park is a short drive from the island’s capital Bridgetown and from the international airport.
The official event website and online ticket sales will go live in mid-January at www.topgearfestivalbarbados.com
New luxury resort for Nassau, Bahamas
Baha Mar, which is scheduled to open in December 2014, is set on 3,000 feet of white-sand beach just 12 minutes from Nassau’s newly expanded Lynden Pindling International Airport.
The resort will feature an elite collection of hotel brands with gaming, entertainment, private residences, and shopping – there is even a private island.
Baha Mar Casino and Hotel Bahamas. Photo courtesy www.elitemeetings.com
The Baha Mar Casino & Hotel, with 1,000 rooms, is the centerpiece of the resort, and includes a 100,000-square-foot Las Vegas-style casino – the largest in the Caribbean region.
A 700-room Grand Hyatt, a 300-room Mondrian, the 200-room Rosewood Hotels & Resorts and the 694-room Meliá complete the accommodations at Baha Mar.
Meliá International has announced it will take over the all-inclusive Meliá at Baha Mar this December. The property is set to undergo a full refurbishment which is due for completion in December 2014. www.bahamar.com
Elegant Hotel’s Colony Club reopens with new cookery demos and rum excursions
The Colony Club has just reopened in Barbados unveiling its contemporary yet sophisticated new look. Overlooking the sea, the colonial style resort features 96 bedrooms and suites, as well as a restaurant and landscaped garden.
Colony Club. Photo courtesy www.sovereign.com
Reopened in November, the intimate garden venue serves as the location for complimentary tours by onsite chefs who will use local, seasonal produce for a cookery demonstration for guests dining in the Laguna Restaurant.
Colony Club has also launched a bespoke ‘Rum Excursion’ which tracks the history of the island’s most cherished spirit from the field to the glass. Prices start from £182 per night per person, including breakfast and service tax. www.colonyclubhotel.com
Curtain Bluff in Antigua launches new CeeBee Kids Club
Curtain Bluff resort has just created a full programme of fun activities for families with young children. Suitable for children of three to 10 years, the programme is available five days a week between 9.00am-12.00pm and 1.30pm to 4.00pm with more days added at child-busy holiday times like the summer holiday.
Curtain Bluff. Photo courtesy www.cntraveler.com
Older children can enjoy the numerous sports activities that are complimentary at the resort.
Activities include creative local art and craft work, fun time in the kitchen, tennis, movie time with popcorn, learning about the local wildlife as well as swimming and sailing.
Baby sitting and nanny service can also be arranged with prices starting from approximately $9.50 (£6) per child. www.curtainbluff.com/activities/children.html
AM Resorts soon to open new 5* adults-only resort in the Dominican Republic
Breathless Punta Cana Resort and Spa in the Dominican Republic launched in
Punta Cana Resort and Spa. Photo courtesy www.expedia.co.uk
November. Located in the Uvero Alto region of Punta Cana, the five star resort features 750 chic and modern suites.
The adults-only resort will be home to gourmet dining options, trendy bars and lounges and a large range of activities including snorkelling, sailing, windsurfing and kayaking. Prices start from £800 per person. www.breathlessresorts.com
Zemi Beach Resort and Spa soon to open in Anguilla
Anguilla’s latest residential development, Zemi Beach Resort and Spa, has recently completed its first homes and is on track for a mid-2015 completion.
The 5.81 acre resort, located along 1,000 feet of beachfront in Shoal Bay East, will feature 28 two and three bedroom residences priced from $2 million to $3.1 million.
Residents and visitors renting the residences at Zemi Beach will have access to unrivalled, first-class facilities including onsite restaurants, wine cellar, bars and lounges, infinity-edged pools, a luxury spa, state-of-the-art fitness centre and an outdoor yoga terrace. www.zemibeach.com
Virgin Gorda’s Rosewood Little Dix Bay introduces a yoga retreat
Rosewood Little Dix Bay is launching a new wellness and yoga retreat for 2014. This four night yoga package, on the beautiful Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, will be for yoga enthusiasts looking to restore their chakras and enrich their mind, body and spirit.
This special break will include four nights’ luxury accommodation, a three day wellness program with two yoga classes per day, one 60-minute Seaside Sedation massage, as well as take-home healthy recipes and fitness tips.
Available dates are 8-12 January; 14-18 June and 18 to 22 June 2014. Prices start from £825 per night per person. www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/little-dix-bay-virgin-gorda
Grenada’s Petit Anse adds two new rooms
Photo courtesy www.worcesternews.co.uk
Petite Anse, a peaceful haven on the northern coast of Grenada, has just opened two new chalet-style rooms, named Lime and Banana, bringing the total number of rooms to 13.
Owners designed the property, which overlooks a secluded sandy beach with views of The Grenadines, to provide peaceful privacy.
Petite Anse’s restaurant uses only local ingredients and is renowned for its extensive and inventive home-made ice-cream menu, with flavours including avocado, mango and nutmeg. Prices for an all-inclusive sea-view chalet start from £270 per night, based on two sharing. www.petiteanse.com
New spa-inclusive suites at Elite Island Resorts
Spa suites have been introduced at four Elite Island Resorts, offering guests the chance to have spa treatments included in their all-inclusive holidays. Guests can choose five spa treatments within a one-week all-inclusive spa stay from a specially designed spa menu. Bath robes and spa packs, including a gentle exfoliating cleanser, sun protection cream and after sun mist for face and body, will also be included.
The spa packages are available at The Verandah Resort & Spa and St James’s Club & Villas in Antigua, The Club Resort & Spa in Barbados, and St James’s Club Morgan Bay, Saint Lucia. www.eliteislandresorts.com/
Palm Island teams up with Team GB Olympic medal champion Becky Adlington for swim workshop in May 2014
Rebecca Adlington OBE. Photo courtesy www.jilliebushell.com
Elite Island Resorts has teamed up with double Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Becky Adlington OBE and Virgin Holidays to launch a swim workshop for guests at the Palm Island resort.
The free workshop, taking place from 4 – 7 May 2014, will combine learning about the health and therapeutic benefits of sea swimming whilst holidaying in a stunning Caribbean paradise.
Virgin Holidays is offering the Swim Palm Island with Becky Adlington package from £1,899per person, including seven nights in Palm Island with scheduled flights departing on 2 May 2014 with Virgin Atlantic from London Gatwick direct to Barbados, transfers and accommodation at the 4V+ Palm Island on an all-inclusive basis. www.virginholidays.co.uk
Air travel news
Photo courtesy www.traveldailymedia.com
Virgin Atlantic to resume flights from Gatwick to Trinidad and Tobago
Airline carrier Virgin Atlantic has just resumed its direct flights to Tobago, which started 29 October and will continue until the end of March 2014. The weekly flights are available from London Gatwick with a return flight starting from £680 per person. www.gotrinidadandtobago.com
New routes and additional flights to St Lucia
Getting to St Lucia will is easier now with 13 direct flights a week from the UK. Daily flights are available with British Airways and five weekly flights from Virgin Atlantic, both flying from London Gatwick.
Thomas Cook’s scheduled airline launches its new weekly direct flight from 10 November 2013 on a specially configured Airbus A330 – 200 aircraft, leaving Manchester in the afternoons. Midday departures allow travellers to benefit from a wide range of connections from regional airports across the UK and Europe including Scandinavia and Germany. www.thomascook.com, www.virgin-atlantic.com
Thomas Cook launches new twice weekly service to Barbados from Manchester
Thomas Cook Airways is set to start its twice weekly service from Manchester to Barbados on Sunday, 10 November 2013. The weekly Manchester-St Lucia-Barbados flight launched on 10 November and a weekly Manchester-Antigua-Barbados flight commenced on 19 December.
Flights depart at 11.15am, allowing for connection time out of Europe as well as the north of England, Scotland and Ireland. www.thomascook.com/flights
St Vincent and the Grenadines new airport set to open in 2014
The construction of the Argyle International Airport (AIA) is due to open for operation in Q4 of 2014. This is a significant development for St Vincent and the Grenadines as it will allow direct flights from the UK, thereby increasing accessibility and encouraging tourism to the destination.
The airport will accommodate jets as large as the Boeing 747-400s and will allow for direct flights to St Vincent and the Grenadines from USA, Canada, Europe and Central and South America. www.svgiadc.com
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