This past month USA Today’s Melanie Reffes visited The Sands at Grace Bay and wrote an incredible article highlighting her stay at our Turks & Caicos resort! Below is the Seaside Splendor article written by Melanie Reffes, accompanied by her beautiful photo tour of The Sands at Grace Bay which can be fully viewed on the USA Today website: Seaside Splendor.
Less than two hours by air from Miami, Providenciales is the biggest island in the Turks and Caicos and a sunny escape from the winter winds at home. Seven miles from the Providenciales International Airport, The Sands at Grace Bay fronts the baby-blue sea on Grace Bay Beach; the finest talc white sandy stretch on the island. The resort marries Caribbean chic with a casual vibe in 114 suites and studios in six three-story buildings that stand no higher than a palm tree. Each one to three bedroom suite features with ocean or garden views and all of them are spacious — up to 1,600 square feet — and have modern kitchens, dining rooms, washers and dryers and screened in furnished patios and balconies ideal for an afternoon siesta or a cocktail as the sun sets behind the beach. Studios with ocean or garden views are cozy comfy with pull-out couches for guests (or small kids). Wi-Fi is high-speed and complimentary throughout the resort.
For the active-minded, gratis bicycles are perfect for exploring the island, tennis and basketball court is lit for night play and the fitness center stays open until 11 p.m. The Sands at Grace Bay is also a short hop from the 18-hole Provo Golf Course and a pair of marinas for those wishing to explore the island by boat. Caicos Dream Tours arranges paddle boarding, kayaking, Hobie cat sails, spectacular snorkeling and diving in the healthy barrier reef and tours around the island. If you’re lucky, you may spot JoJo; the playful dolphin who has called this section of the sea home since 1980. If you’re just looking to wind down, find your own lazy hammock in the Coconut Grove Garden, revel in a calming soak in the open-air Jacuzzi, plant yourself on a sun lounger by one of three pools or snag a shady spot on the beach under a thatched palapa. For a regal rubdown; massages at Spa Tropique or en-suite are blissfully serene.
A culinary ode to Ernest Hemingway, who fished in the sea surrounding the island, Hemingway’s is beachside dining perfection from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Perched on the shore with servers so friendly you’ll swear you’ve met them before, a table on the dune deck is where to greet the morning with a spicy Blood Mary, stack of crazy good almond pancakes or a yummy ’Ernest’ omelette with a dab of the local hot sauce called ‘Ghost Story’. Big salads are divine for lunch and for dinner; locally-caught frittered conch and a buttery South Caicos lobster tail are the order of the day. Save room for a key lime pie martini and a deliciously shareable fried ice cream served in a sweet tortilla basket sprinkled with cinnamon powdered sugar and chocolate sauce.
