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Anguilla map
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| Deana Bellamy and James Henderson |
| Key Features
ANGUILLA is fashionable but low key, with ice-cool islanders and an unhurried pace of life, generally expensive but also some depth; not that easily accessible (but this keeps the crowds away); truly magnificent white sand beaches, some with beach bars, others barely developed; a small number of excellent and architecturally striking hotels, good service, some less expensive places to stay, also good villas; excellent restaurants; good day sails, good spas. | | |
ANGUILLA GUIDE, THE DEFINITIVE CARIBBEAN TRAVEL GUIDE for ANGUILLA
Anguilla has some of the loveliest beaches in an area that is known for its beaches. Strands of pearl white sand, offset by jade and turquoise shallows and a cerulean sky, stretch around the island. There are half moon curves, meandering strands and tiny cliff-enclosed coves. There are active beaches and deserted ones. The sand is sometimes so soft and deep that walking becomes aerobic exercise. And at night it can sparkle with luminescence. Even the island’s ports are on beaches most islands would sup with the devil for.
Anguilla is one of the Caribbean’s most prestigious destinations at the moment. Besides its superb beaches and sea, it has a string of excellent restaurants, a small crop of luxurious and reliable hotels and some top-notch villas. The island is not as stylish (nor as pretentious, some might say) as nearby St Barths and nor does it have the depth of Barbados. In fact there isn’t so much to do there. But it offers an easy Caribbean life that many visitors come to love. It is expensive, and a touch exclusive, and has pitched itself, wavering momentarily from time to time, successfully at the top of the market.
Anguilla is the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles and it lies around 200 miles east of Puerto Rico, just a few miles north of the French side of St Martin. It is 16 miles long and between one and three and a half miles across, with its highest point, Crocus Hill, at just 213 feet. The island is made of coral limestone, which explains Anguilla’s fabulous white sand, and it has a number of offshore cays. These are uninhabited but make an excellent day out on a sailing trip.
On land Anguilla is not particularly attractive. Its rocky substrate is gnarled and scrub-covered and the buildings are resolutely modern and concrete. But to worry about this is to miss the point of the island, because it also has immense charm. This is mainly due to the Anguillians themselves, who are independent, easy-going and charming and happy to share their easy life with all comers.
Tourism in Anguilla is something of a success story. Since the early 1980s the island has gone from a neglected coral outcrop with literally nothing to its name to one of the Caribbean’s leading destinations. Once it finally wrested political control from an inappropriate colonial arrangement with St Kitts and Nevis (some eighty miles to the south) at the beginning of the eighties, it was able to join a new wave of Caribbean tourism.
A couple of excellent hotels appeared on the pristine beaches. Then, with a wealthy clientele keen to eat out, an unexpected string of excellent restaurants developed. With the help of a few French chefs, a canny island government and the extraordinary system of supply direct from France and Florida via St Maarten next door, this barren, British island has ended up with some of the finest hotels and restaurants in the Caribbean. You can stay in great style and eat out well at a different place each night in Anguilla for ten days.
For all the changes since the early 1980s, Anguilla has not lost its easy-going nature and has not yet been swamped by building. There is enough development of high enough quality to give it a good buzz, but there are still hidden, natural corners to escape to and cool, local hangouts to while away some time in. Many of them, of course, on the island’s spectacular beaches. |
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Accommodation
Anguilla is well known for its small group of extremely smart and architecturally striking hotels (and some incredibly smart villas to match), but although the island has successfully pitched itself at the top of the market, with excellent levels of style and service, it has considerable range and some depth. Unexpectedly, there is not much depth in the hotels themselves and much of the best mid-priced accommodation is instead in self-catering properties. There is not that much accommodation at all at the cheapest end of the scale. Even the few guest houses tend to be more expensive than elsewhere in the region, but there are some self catering properties that are not that expensive and can make a good alternative.
The story of the hotels in Anguilla is an interesting one. Even into the mid 1980s there was very little on the island at all, just the lovely old Rendezvous Bay and a couple of guest houses. But with such fine beaches it was only a matter of time. And in many ways the fact that it developed late helped it. The two hotels that appeared at the beginning of the 1980s – Malliouhana and Cap Juluca – came onto the Caribbean scene just as everything was changing. At Malliouhana Leon Royden built huge rooms, with bathrooms that were the size of Caribbean bedrooms up to that point - before that the theory ran that people came to the Caribbean for the beach and wouldn’t spend much time in their room anyway, so it didn’t matter what size it was. Again Cap Juluca was something completely new, at the cutting edge of style - Moorish style villas with vast bedrooms and bathrooms that opened to the sky. Tastes were changing. A new generation of expensive travellers were beginning to expect style and the sort of space that they had at home.
The island was also a blank canvas with barely any tradition of architecture, and over the next few years Anguilla became home to some extraordinary flights of architectural fancy. The hotels have taken inspiration from around the world; Cap Juluca may have been Moorish, Malliouhana had echoes of the South of France and Cuisinart took inspiration from Mykonos. There was even a crenellated Moroccan palace for a while. Most extraordinary of all, though, was Covecastles, which began a trend of ultra modern style, almost geometrical fantasy. Covecastles are a string of striking villas that stand stark white between the blues of tropical sea and sky, all adjoining cylinders, quadrants and cubes.
Most recently the theme of geometrical whimsy has been continued (by some of the same architects) in some truly spectacular private villas, which in their turn have changed the villa rental scene on the island (and in the Caribbean to a certain extent). Cerulean started as an eclectic mix of square columns and domes. Next came Altamer, now three villas and a restaurant at the other end of Shoal Bay West. Close to Covecastles, Altamer develops the same theme of stark white geometry, into a series of white, saw-tooth roofs reflecting the shape of Anguillan sails. Temenos, again three villas, stands high on the north shore in a convocation of domes, blocks and cylinders. Temenos is the flagship of Temenos Estates, a huge development that surrounds the new Greg Norman golf course. This will be a series of private luxury villas in the same extravagant style, some of which are expected to be for rental.
Hotels & Resorts
There is a small group of excellent Anguilla hotels whose reputation extends across the Caribbean. They tend to be quite large for a relatively small island, though none is over 100 rooms in size. The hotels are definitely a part of the weird and wonderful recent architectural heritage of the island too, with styles as varied as Greek, Moorish and space age, but most importantly they use the best of their settings on the island’s fantastic beaches. And in the way of Anguilla, which has relatively little development, they are sometimes the only ones on the beach. Lastly, also typically of Anguilla, they are quite expensive.
| Cap Juluca
Cap Juluca stands in a line of 18 spectacular Moorish-style villas on its own superb curve of sand tucked away on the southern shore of Anguilla. The atmosphere is upbeat, with activities and sports by day, and then elegant in the evenings, all underpinned by low-key Anguillan charm and reliable service. Cap Juluca is one of the best known and loved hotels in the Caribbean. Several special packages and programmes available.
Key Features: Supreme beach, top Anguilla hotel and Anguilla resort with 72 rooms and suites and 26 rooms in Pool Villas (includes interlocking to make multi-room suites), three restaurants, room service 7.30am-10.30pm, spa services, watersports, day and night tennis, golf aqua driving range and putting green, croquet lawn, nature trail, gym with cardio centre, yoga/pilates studio, boutique, media room with cable TV, library and board games, entertainment, Easter and summer children’s programmes, conferences. Wedding and romance packages.
From US$425/night in summer | | CuisinArt Resort & Spa
A lively hotel set on a superb stretch of sand on Rendezvous Bay on Anguilla’s southern shore. Its architectural inspiration from Mykonos, so its stark white buildings are flashed with diamonds and domes rich blue. Upbeat atmosphere, with an excellent, full service spa and a hydroponic garden.
Key Features: A popular Anguilla hotel with 93 penthouses, luxury and junior suites, restaurants and two cafes, cooking classes, spa and salon, fitness centre, hydroponic farm, boutiques, watersports | | Malliouhana Hotel & Spa
Malliouhana is the most refined and elegant of Anguilla’s hotels. All slender columns and arches and angled roofs, it sits on an outcrop above Meads Bay, one of the Caribbean’s finest beaches, where by day a sophisticated crowd gathers at the bistro and the full service spa, later gravitating to the hotel’s excellent French dining room on the clifftop. Good children’s facilities.
Key Features: A famous and well established Anguilla hotel, Malliouhana Hotel has 55 rooms and spectacular clifftop suites, excellent classical French dining room on the clifftop (supervised by Michel Rostang), beachfront bistro, full service spa and salon, watersports, children’s area, boutique.
From US$430/night in summer | | | ^ back to top |
Small Hotels & Inns
There are few properties of note in the mid size and price range in Anguilla and perhaps unexpectedly in an island that otherwise has a relatively strong sense of style, there is nothing which can be described as particularly stylish, certainly not ‘boutique’. There are a couple of hotels that are typically West Indian, the nicest of which is the Rendezvous Bay Hotel. Although this is relatively large in the number of its rooms, Rendezvous Bay has the wonderful feel of a classic Caribbean beach club and harks back to the calmer, say comatose, days before Anguilla was developed. Frangipani Beach Club is more modern and has a plusher feel, in a block overlooking an equally good beach with central facilities and a restaurant but more appropriately fits the category of Cottages, Apartments and Condominiums (see below). One to watch, which might fill the gap admirably, is Shoal Bay Beach Resort, which is undergoing a refurbishment in 2005 and is due to re-open towards the end of the year as Ku (supposedly from an Arawak word for Sacred Place), with lean and stylish rooms. In the absence of a broad range of mid-price hotels to choose from, another good option to consider is a self-catering apartment, of which Anguilla has a good few. See below.
| Kú
A small and stylish hotel set on the truly spectacular sands of Shoal Bay on Anguilla’s northern shore. Ku is very low key and has 27 very comfortable self-catering suites. It is well priced for a generally expensive island.
Key Features: Good small hotel for Anguilla holidays, relatively cheap Anguilla vacation with self-catering facility, on a blinding white sand beach. Twenty-seven large suites (bedroom, open-plan kitchen, living room and balcony or terrace) with white wicker furniture, air-conditioning, ceiling fans, oceanfront or ocean view balcony, kitchen (fully equipped with fridge, stove, microwave, coffee maker, kettle), DVD and CD player. Beachfront restaurant and bar, free-form pool, small spa, fitness centre, shop for provisions and beach essentials. Watersports including scuba on the beach.
From US$180/night in summer | | Rendezvous Bay Hotel & Villas
Extremely low key, relatively simple, oodles of old Caribbean atmosphere and Anguillan charm. However, the hotel has been closed for refurbishment since summer 2008.
Key Features: A mid-size Anguilla resort with 50 rooms, some on the beach, others overlooking the bay from a rocky headland, plus some villas for Anguilla vacation rentals, a very good restaurant, some watersports, art gallery, tennis courts. | | | ^ back to top |
Villas
There are a good crop of independent Anguilla villas. They have almost all been built since the late 1990s and the spree of building is continuing, so there are more are on the way. Some form part of the extravagant architectural styles for which the island is known. In fact in some ways the ‘super-villas’, as they have come to be known, led it, but of course there are many others in much less fanciful style, that use traditional and modern Caribbean design.
The villa market in Anguilla is not as advanced as one might expect, however. This is partly because of the island’s relative remoteness, but also as a result of a historical lack of confidence in the management of the villas on the island. No system of villa management, of the sort that exists in Barbados or St Lucia, was ever in place in Anguilla. It has always been that the owner-managed properties have been the best bet, but things seem to be gradually improving though, enabling renters to feel more secure in their choice of a villa holiday. Legislation is being prepared by the government to help standardisation, and some new villa rental agencies have appeared. Cap Juluca Hotel has also adopted a novel approach by bringing a number of top-notch villas under their umbrella, through AMCS Villa Management, and offering guests the use of the facilities of the hotel.
But the most distinctive feature of the villa market in Anguilla is the ‘super-villas’, whose appearance changed the whole rental scene a few years ago. On an island with simple modern houses that barely offered even any housekeeping, suddenly there were architecturally spectacular piles with chefs and butlers. They lit on the beaches of Anguilla in prodigal style, with amazing designs, almost as if they had descended from space. Cerulean, was the first, a wonder of white walls and right-angled geometry. And it was soon superseded by two even more outrageous projects, Temenos and Altamer, which both rise from the sand in a convocation of white cylinders, columns, cubes and domes. These properties are listed as villa resorts below but equally you can take an individual villa within the small complex of three. Temenos is also the prototype of a whole estate full of space age villas to be developed at the St Regis resort around the new golf course.
| | Sleeps 14 | Cerulean
One of the Anguillian ‘supervillas’, a spectacular private house for 14 guests set on Barnes Bay, a superb stretch of sand on Anguilla’s north shore. With its extreme privacy, spa and top service in a stylish setting, Cerulean has seen plenty of stars in its time. An exclusive retreat on the beach.
Key Features: A unique Anguilla villa and rare in the Caribbean with its own spa - Susan Ciminelli spa with massage and beauty treatments, pool (40ft x 25ft pool), jaccuzzi, watersports including snorkeling, tennis court, fitness centre. Cable TV, VCRs, videos, stereo, library, office with fax and data ports, also secretarial services if required.
From US$40,000/week in summer | | | Sleeps 12 | Coyaba Villa
A very private Anguillan home offering 9,000 square feet of living space and 3,000 square feet of pool and terrace area all set in a seafront garden with views across to St Martin. An excellent choice for families, small conferences or a villa wedding.
Key Features: An Anguilla villa designed for relaxed living, owner managed, daily happy hour staffed with bartender (selected beverages), gymnasium/games room, 20 x50' pool, 10' round jacuzzi, computer ready area, small conference room, fax machine. | | | ^ back to top |
Villa Resorts
The villa resorts are one of the leading features of Anguilla, not only because they are very much a part of the island’s wave of extraordinary architecture, but because of the way, in the past few years, that they have changed hospitality on the island, even in the Caribbean. Altamer and Temenos have taken villa life to new levels of comfort and style. Each has a collection of three villas that can stand alone, or they be hired as a whole resort, for 25 or 30 people. You will have your own dedicated staff (in each villa), including trained butlers, and every possible comfort. Like so much in Anguilla, the villa resorts tend to be quite expensive, so if you are looking for a less expensive option, then you might consider a self-catering apartment. Check Cottages and Apartments below.
| Altamer
Three spectacular, ultra modern villas (and a restaurant) that rise stark white between the blues of Anguilla’s sea and sky on Shoal Bay West, near the island’s western tip. Altamer leads the new generation of Anguilla villa resorts, with top notch service and high comfort in cutting edge style. Also a conference centre and disabled access to the villas.
Key Features: A spectacular Anguilla resort, three villas built in abstract, almost geometric style, each with 5 bedrooms, up to eight rooms in the third, private chef, butler service, pool, hot tub, tennis court, some watersports, fitness centre, games room, digital sound system, conference centre. The villas can be taken individually or as a three together. Also restaurant on property (slightly separate).
From US$30,250/week, 5 beds in summer | | Covecastles
Covecastles stand shoulder to shoulder in a line of white beachfront villas, stark and almost sculpture-like on a backdrop of surreal Anguillan blue. Set on a delightful curve of Shoal Bay West near the island’s western tip, they are sixteen beach houses, villas and grand villas, Anguilla’s original arhcitecturally stylish villa resort.
Key Features: Covecastles, a leading Anguilla resort, are ideal for stylish, private villa living on the beach. Excellent restaurant, personal housekeeper, cable TV, DVD/CD player and VCR with libraries, internet access, non-motorised watersports and beach furniture, floodlit tennis court, boutique and bicycles. Spa treatments available.
From US$595-$3,100/night for 2-5 bedrooms in summe | | Shoal Bay Villas
A small group of self catering apartments right on Shoal Bay, Anguilla’s liveliest beach. The twelve studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments are pleasantly furnished and look either over the pool and courtyard or over the sand and fantastic blue sea of Shoal Bay itself. A low key atmosphere right at the heart of the beach.
Key Features: Stunning beachfront location for this small Anguilla resort, 12 fully equipped Anguilla condos / apartments with daily maid service, swimming pool, snorkelling equipment, in room spa services available | | Temenos
Temenos is a trio of startlingly white, seemingly sculptured villas that stand above the spectacular sands of Long Bay on the north shore of Anguilla. Each is identical in layout with four master suites, high levels of service, high style and high grade comfort. They can be taken individually or as three villas together.
Key Features: Three nearly identical Anguilla villas - Sea, Sand and Sky – each with four master suites, butler service, pool and Jacuzzi, beach house, watersports, barbecues, fitness room, three tennis courts, meditation platform. A virtual Anguilla resort. | | | ^ back to top |
Cottages, Apartments and Condominiums
The apartments in Anguilla probably represent the best way to get to one of Anguilla’s lovely beaches without having to spend your life savings. Interestingly there is more depth in self catering accommodation than in any other sort on the island. This is Anguilla remember, so they are still not that cheap, but if you are happy to look after yourself a bit (and many return visitors to the island chose this option), you can get the easy Anguilla life for less expense than you would in the major hotels. And with such excellent restaurants there is less impetus to stay in a hotel anyway.
| Carimar Beach Club
An attractive collection of affordable Anguilla condominiums set right on the superb sands of Meads Bay on Anguilla’s north shore. Well presented self-catering units stand in a horseshoe among explosions of bougainvillea. Lovely low key atmosphere in a home from home.
Key Features: A cracking location, 24 one- and two-bedroom Anguilla condominiums, Reception, laundromat, two tennis courts, tv and games room, snorkelling, some beach equipment
From US$200/night in summer | | Frangipani Beach Resort
A tall, Spanish colonial-style building right on a superb stretch of Meads Bay on Anguilla’s northern shore. About 30 bedrooms and suites in one- to three-bedroom self-catering apartments (there is also a restaurant), all overlooking the sea and sand.
Key Features: A good example of Anguilla condominiums that work well, pool, restaurant, beach bar, tennis court, watersports and beach furniture, king sized beds, air-conditioning and fans, cable tv, fully equipped kitchens.
From US$250/night in summer | | | ^ back to top |
Guest Houses
There are just a few simple guest houses in Anguilla, a couple of which offer a friendly reception within a West Indian home and in unique island style. Do not expect Anguilla to be cheap even at the bottom end of the scale. Lloyd’s, t 497 2351 in Crocus Hill, is probably the best, but it is not near the action. The other option, if you are happy to look after yourself a bit, is to take one of the many modern apartments, some of which are well priced. Although few of them would fit into the recommended accommodation of Definitive Caribbean, they are cheap and cheerful and won’t cost a fortune. Perhaps try Sydans Apartments, t 235 7740 or La Palma Guest Rooms, t 497 2260, both in the thick of the action in Sandy Ground.
Sailing and Cruising
There are opportunities for day sails (see Day Sails), but few yacht charter opportunities exist in Anguilla. No hotels or villas on Anguilla offer a stay sail option.
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