From Kim Donaldson, Co-founder of Bottlenotes.com, May, 2007
“Every Christmas, our family escapes winter in New York by going somewhere warm. It isn’t easy to find a resort that will make three generations of workaholic New Yorkers relax. But last year we went to Carlisle Bay, the resort on Antigua opened by the owners of One Aldwych, in London.
We spent ten days on a pristine beach, reading, swimming, kayaking, sailing and snorkeling. There was a beautiful free-form pool around which one could always get a lounge chair or tea in the afternoon. The tennis courts were very well maintained and were not overbooked. The beautiful spa offers all the regular services, plus a high-tech gym and a beauty salon. Carlisle Bay has two very good restaurants, one pan-Asian and one modern Caribbean, plus a wonderful great room with open sides where you can have cocktails and enjoy live piano music every night. The well-designed rooms are all right on the beach, with big terraces and luxurious bathrooms.
But more than anything, I think Carlisle Bay shines in the way kids are treated. Their Cool Kids Club is a little cottage with a baby pool, outdoor play equipment and indoor games for kids six months to six years. (They also have programs that cater to different age groups up to twelve.) They had different activities all day, supervised by wonderful, highly skilled babysitters who were then available to baby-sit in your room at night while you enjoyed ‘grown-up’ dinner. Every day, there were three adult and kids’ movies shown in a state-of-the-art theater, plus some special activity, like a kids’ dinner picnic on the beach with face painting, or a bouncy castle at the kids’ club. The manager of the resort even found, at our request, a small Christmas tree so our three-year-old could leave cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve. It turned out the manager’s children had agreed to donate the tree, which had been in their bedroom, to the cause. We could not have been more touched—and determined to return to Carlisle Bay.”
Editors’ notes:
Booking: Rooms from $725. (Note there is a two-week minimum at Christmas and New Year’s, and the hotel can be booked a full year in advance for this period.) 268-484-0001; www.carlisle-bay.com.
Getting There: Fly to Antigua (the most frequent connections are through San Juan and Miami) and the hotel will arrange for an airport pickup.
