Recommend October 2010 - (Page 70)

GUADELOUPE continued from page 68 panini from La Case Beach Pizza, it’s a toss up whether to rent a kayak at the resort’s gear shack or kick back and gawk at the more ambitious who’ve actually done so. Today, gawking it is. Especially appealing after the long ﬂight, the 2,700-sq.-ft. Spa La Creole offers PAYOT skincare product treatments in its three therapy rooms and seaside cabana, steam room, sauna, and both indoor and outdoor relaxation areas. Recommend your clients book their treatments before arriving if they’re hoping to revive right off the bat. Other La Creole amenities include a trio of pools, two restaurants, La Rhumerie lounge with live music in the evenings, tennis courts and ﬁtness center. Strolling the grounds after dinner at the global Route des Epices, we wondered if the serenading throngs of tree frogs might hinder a good night’s sleep. On the heels of such a full day and ﬁlling feast, that simply wasn’t the case. Including breakfast, rates range from $115 pp through Nov. 14, 2011. touring and grazing through grande-terre Driving more than diving into Guadeloupe’s rich menu of land and ocean activities, we were fortunate in balancing that with a bounty of local cuisine typically accompanied by Planter’s Punch and ﬁne French wines. Guadeloupe’s Creole specialties mirror its many cultures, combining French fare with African and Indian spices. Perhaps the most pleasant of these edible ventures was Le Grand Bleu at the four-star La Toubana Hotel & Spa in the small ﬁshing village of Sainte-Anne. Etched into a hillside with tables fringing an inﬁnity pool, the open-air eatery is known for its fresh lobster pool where you can size up your crustacean. Above its white-sand beach, 32 pleasant bungalows are furnished with individually controlled air conditioning, telephone, ﬂat-screen TV, kitchenette with refrigerator and terrace. There’s also a full-service spa—although on this particularly toasty afternoon, most guests congregated at the pool’s swim-up bar instead. With continental breakfast, nightly rates are from $140 pp through Nov. 7, 2011. eco-oriented basse-terre If your clients are looking for ﬁve-star headliners, Guadeloupe may not be their cup of tea since accommodations max out at four. But if they’re into ultra-cool eco-lodgings with an artsy edge, they’ll ﬁt right in at Tendacayou Home & Spa. Nature thrives in every nook and cranny here. Clinging to the hills above the village of Deshaies and Grande-Anse Bay, proprietors George and Sylvie Carreyre’s 10-bungalow hideaway meshes a colorful collaboration of environment and art that’s capped by an over-the-top, 3-level refuge staircased into a mango tree. The spa is equally imaginative, with its natural pool inviting guests to a communion with orchids and ferns. Aside from creative touches that seem to one-up themselves in every direction, the Carreyres take pride in the fact that all organic spa scrubs and wraps are concocted on site. Nightly bungalow rates are from $156, including breakfast. It makes sense that Basse-Terre’s lush landscape is home to the 12-acre Jardin Botanique de Deshaies, where a 1.5-mile circuit travels through more than 1,000 species of ﬂowers and tropical plants. Among the park’s landscape of 15 themed areas are waterfalls, ﬂamingos, and the Parrots’ Village where chromatic macaw and ararauna were coaxed to perch on our shoulders for nectar treats. C C M M Y Y CM CM MY MY CY CY CMY CMY K K http://www.marriottsanjuan.com http://www.marriottsanjuan.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend October 2010

Editor's Notes/Agent Speak
Hotel Desk
Tour Talk
Luxurious India by Rail, Plane and Boat
The Heavenly Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces
Experiencing the High Life in Kenya
Savoring the North of England
Riviera Nayarit Travel Planner
Marival Residences & World Spa
Wildly Luxurious––High-End Vacations
The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman Does it Again
Guadeloupe
Five High-End Villa Stays
Compagnie du Ponant's Le Boreal
Palm Beach: Playground for the Rich and Famous
Hawks Cay Resort, Florida Keys
La Costa Resort and Spa, California

Recommend October 2010