| Phenomenal |
| Hotel The Sands at Grace Bay |
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Pieter >
1 contribution(s) Canada |
| Mar, 2010 | Leisure | Family
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Laid back resort where relaxation is paramount. Staff is extremely friendly and gracious. Rooms are gorgeous, very nice facilities. Hemingway's is great, casual elegant, open air ocean front dining...the filet mignon is top notch ! The sand on the beach is like powder.
Remember that this is the Carribean and you are on vacation so relax as things do happen at island time pace.
bring books as there is not too much to do on the island other than swim, scuba, fish, golf, bicycle, sail, eat and tan.
awesome time had at the Sands...very family oriented....lots of young families but not packed together. No structured events for kids....its play with your own kids which is great !
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| Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel |
| Not too sure...there is a casino and a theater and some bars but we stay at the resort. no real cultural activities in the evenings |
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| Beach/Pools/Grounds |
Beach is absolutely exquisite...powdery white sand you can really dig into and make some great castles . Lots of space to throw a football or play paddle ball ( bring that with you ) there is a nice little service hut that offers kayaks, floaties, snorkel gear and windsurfer at no extra cost.
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| Other Comments |
this is a place where you want to go if you want privacy, do not want to be talking to anyone if you do not want to. it is very relaxing and quiet. hot days , nice evenings always a nice breeze.
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| Restaurants and Bars |
Hemingways is really good. most of the restaurants are pretty comparable in price and quality.
Avoid the pizza joint on the second floor above Mama's gift shop. they do not know good service.
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| Rooms |
| Very nice and welll appointed. The whole resort apparently just recently got updated. very nice. |
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| Your Arrival |
| just ask for a taxi to the Sands as they do not provide air transfers normally. |
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| Special Thanks to the best Dive Team I was ever a part of |
| Hotel Club Med Turkoise |
| User Rating:
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Peter from Ontario >
3 contribution(s) Canada |
| Dec, 2009 | Leisure | Solo
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| Flew in from Toronto (3 hrs 45 minutes direct). Shuttle picked me up at the airport. The resort is about 20 minutes away. Arrived at Club Med and the staff did not waist anytime giving me my room and information then they walking me to it. My luggage was brought in 15 minutes. First resort I have been too where I was not told to attend a meeting so they could try to sell me a condo or something else! Resort is organized and it is easy to learn the layout. Staff (GEOS) are very friendly and work very hard. I have no doubt that the staff is picked on their personality as much as what they can do work wise as all seemed to be very friendly and would stop to talk regardless if you know them or not. Most do multiple jobs in a day. On the last day many came out to see the travellers off (many hugs and handshakes and a few tears shed too). Most of the staff seem to be French Canadian (many from Montreal). Most of the travellers are Canadian and American. |
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| Activities on and off the Resort/Hotel: |
| I went SCUBA Diving almost everyday. This is the best run and most organized Dive Resort I have ever been too (and I have been to a lot in the Islands). Juanita (From Newfoundland) great gal who runs a tight ship and is very well respected by her team. The divers loved her as she had a good sense of humour (after all she is a Newfie *L*). Modern dive boats! Nobody leaves the boat until all your equipment is checked 100%. There were a few divers who were in wheelchairs and that was not an issue to this staff as they did an excellent job assisting everyone! The staff (Julian, Sam "Bam", Kevin, Mike, John, etc all did an great job. The diving its self was fantastic. On my 3rd dive our dive seem saw a Whale Shark (30 feet at least but depending on how many drinks we had later that day it grew *L*) very rare to see (sorry Juanita I had to put it in *L*). When not diving the dive staff would eat with the divers and spend time with them having a drink and just hanging out. In short I know I speak for a lot of divers when I say THE DIVE STAFF MADE THIS TRIP GREAT!!!!!! |
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| Beach/Pools/Grounds: |
| Beach is beautiful the water looks like it does in the travel books. 1 pool always kept clean. Afternoon dive clinics that do not get in the way of the swimmers. Lifeguard on duty (a girl named Dawson from Montreal). Grounds kept in great shape. Grounds crew work very hard everyday keeping the grass, bushes and trees well taken care of. This is a very nice resort in all aspects! |
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| Other Comments: |
Don't listen to any of the negative reviews as these are the type of people who complain about everything in their daily lives (or it's travel companies who do not deal with Club Med or The Turks & Caicos doing the slamming) THIS RESORT IS FANTASTIC! This is my first time I have been to a Club Med and it will not be my last. Make sure if you are a SCUBA Diver to have a dive (even just a couple) as this is one of the best dive sites in the world! Leave things like toothpaste, shampoo etc for the staff as they do not get payed a lot of money and can use it. Don't forget about the grounds keepers they work very hard also!
Special Thanks to the best Dive Team I was ever a part of (Luke, Brian and Shannon "Flap Jack Fins") see you guys on our trip in 2010 and to Julian, Amy and Ruben who went out of their way to make my trip great!
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| Restaurants and Bars: |
| Most days I ate at the main restaurant food was always good. Head Chief (Ruben) great guy who always came around shaking hands and taking to the people at each table. Sharkies Bar is a nice place to spend the later afternoon as the sun is going down. There is always a musician playing. My only complaint is the slow bar service at the main bar (male staff will basically serve females and men will wait) A few times I waited more then 15 minutes to get a drink as the women would just walk up and get served right away (very common complaint among men while I was there). Amy (Montreal) was the best bartender (very beautiful, always happy and friendly) and Cerro and Justin also did a great job and always work much faster then most of the other bartenders (and serve everyone not just women). The alcohol is pretty cheap but you can buy top shelf if you get sick of the low grade they serve (might want to pick up a couple bottles at Duty Free and bring it with you). The beer is fine (Turks Head) and they have both dark and light. |
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| Rooms: |
| Very clean, electronic safe, modern showers which always had hot water. They supply shampoo and body wash (not high end stuff so you might want to bring your own) Lots of drawers and places to hang shirts/paints etc. Small Flatscreen TV's in each room which get most American stations, CBC and CTV Canada and few British stations also. Maids do an excellent job! |
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