Netherlands Antilles Travel Guide
Tags: Hotel Weddings / Destination Wedding Hotels / St. Maarten Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags
Get Hitched for Free at Sonesta St. Maarten Resorts
Don’t get us wrong, we’re happily married, but something about the breeziness of a beach wedding sorta makes us want to tie the knot all over again. And at Sonesta St. Maarten Resorts, destination weddings just got even breezier.
Both Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino and Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort & Casino are doing their best to lure brides and grooms with free perks for any couple who books 10 or more rooms for a seven-night minimum stay.
Their “Free Wedding Package” includes a wedding coordinator, wedding cake, corsage and boutonniere, official marriage license, 10 percent off select spa services at Sonesta Maho’s Good Life Spa, a bride corsage and groom boutonniere, room upgrade, and free reception and dinner (with open bar!) at Sonesta Maho. Not bad! Especially if you’re too dewy-eyed — or, um, hasty — to really care about making each wedding detail just-so. And let's be honest, if you're planning a destination wedding you probably just care about the beach and your betrothed.
Room rates start at $275. The offer is valid through 2010.
Tags: Hotel Renovations / Bonaire Hotels / Scuba Diving Hotels / → All Tags
Captain Don's Habitat in Bonaire Has Plans to Be Beautified
Back in August, we told you about our brush with sucky service at the Captain Don's Habitat in Bonaire, Netherland Antilles. The whole debacle left us feeling kinda icky, mostly because we really fell hard for the island of Bonaire, and well...for the most part, the situation could have been avoided.
But hang onto your swim fins, because there may be a happy ending to our scuba sob story. We just caught wind of some good (and completely unexpected) news regarding the long-time diving institution.
The folks at Captain Don's Habitat must've snapped out of 1973, because the rundown property is (gasp!) being updated and renovated. They're planning on purchasing new (desperately needed) bathroom fixtures and furniture later this month, which should arrive to the island sometime in March. Then, the first phase of renovations will get underway and construction of new suites will be completed.
Tags: HotelChatter Reviews / Hotel Hell / Bonaire Hotels / → All Tags
Great Scuba, Sucky Service at Captain Don's Habitat
Think all press trips are free caviar and roses? Think again. What happens when a hotel invites a writer to cover their hotel for multiple publications and she ends up itching and scratching?
Though HotelChatter does not usually accept comp'd stay reviews, this was a situation we thought you needed to know about. After all, as GlobeTrotting Gourmet says: "if this is how the concerns of hosted media guests of the hotel are met, what can other guests expect?"
As an R&R/dive-centric island destination, we think Bonaire is the bee’s knees. However, events that unraveled during our recent stay at Captain Don’s Habitat during a hosted press trip really set the bar for how not to handle customer relations.
We get that Bonaire is not a destination for luxury-seekers. It’s all about the ocean, aquatic creatures and coral reefs. We like it that way. We’re more than happy to make certain concessions in creature comforts and amenities in the interest of enjoying this island paradise free of big box, high-rise hotels. We expect the occasional stray spider, gecko or bug in our room – it’s the Caribbean, duh. But what we cannot handle is a hotel that cuts corners on cleanliness and comes up short on customer service.
This is where the subpar part of our stay at Captain Don’s Habitat comes into play.
Tags: Carribean Resorts / Eco-Resorts / → All Tags
Dive, Windsurf, and Meet a Pirate-Esque Environmentalist in Bonaire
Bonaire has quickly become a top contender for "Favorite Caribbean Destination." We had a feeling we’d like it—the hospitality of the Bonairians coupled with the efficiency of the Dutch throughout the Netherlands Antilles creates a unique dynamic we haven’t found anywhere else in the Caribbean.
Today, we totally rocked windsurfing, mastering turns within the first hour of our first lesson with Bonaire Windsurfing Place. We also got to meet some pretty high-profile pro windsurfers, including Taty Frans, ranked the #7 windsurfer in the world. (Check him out on YouTube.)
Tags: Carribean Resorts / Hotel Activities / → All Tags
Get Your Scuba On In Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
Where: Netherlands Antilles
This week, we’re venturing to the diving mecca of Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. Located in the Southern Caribbean, it’s part of the ABC islands, the others being Aruba and Curaçao. We’re here for "Celebrate Our Planet" week, and so far, it’s been rife with underwater-related action. We were here to witness Karol Meyer break her free diving record attempt (she did at over 90 meters), took a spin through the Caribbean’s only super-high tech decompression chamber (very Star Trek-y), went on a fantastic snorkeling trip to Klein Bonaire via the Woodwind (saw Hawksbill turtles, green sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, squid and lots of parrot fish), and tomorrow, Dr. Sylvia Earle, world famous oceanographer, joins the mix.
Tags: Girlfriend Getaways / Hotel Packages / Hotel Deals / St. Maarten Hotels / Beach Hotels / → All Tags
A Girlfriend Getaway We Actually Like in St. Maarten
As tired marketing gimmicks go, the Girlfriend Getaway always seems to try a little too hard and fall a little short of something worth our cash (we’ll find our own “martini man,” thank you). But if more places start taking the cue of Little Bay Beach Resort in St. Maarten, we may have to reconsider. Rather than cheesy add-ons, Little Bay’s girlfriend getaway package sounds like a good deal, plain and simple.
The five-night stay costs just $585 per person and includes breakfast daily, a $100 spa treatment, a $50 jewelry store gift certificate, and a $100 boat trip over to St. Barths. Groups who want to upgrade from the standard hotel room can pony up more for swanker digs — $775 per person for a one-bedroom beachfront suite or $1,045 per person for a two-bedroom beachfront suite. The trip is available until Dec. 23, so you’ve got plenty of time to make plans.
And really, who isn’t up for a trip to St. Maarten right about now?
Tags: Curacao Hotels / Infinity Pools / Caribbean Resorts / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
Renaissance Curacao Sees Your Infinity Pool And Ups You
Curacao is something we drink more often than a place we dream of traveling to, but with the February 1 opening of the Renaissance Curacao Resort we are seriously thinking of hopping on a plane and flying down there.
This new place looks so colorfully funky from the photos that we are already thinking we'd enjoy it. And then there are the swimming options. There's an infinity pool, of course, because no self-respecting new resort could open up without one these days. But they've added a new dimension by creating an eternity beach. We're not quite sure we understand it--they say it's "Real sand, real ocean water, real palm trees...above sea level"--and it could just be a bit of a marketing ploy, but we have to admit, we're falling for it. (All 32,000 square feet of it).
Added bonus--the resort is built around a UNESCO Heritage-listed fort, so there's some cultural learning to go with your cocktails. Like every good just-opened resort, the Renaissance Curacao has an opening special--they're doing $199 per night for rooms with normal rack rates up towards $300 a night.
Tags: Sweet Suites / Treehouse Hotels / Tree Hotels / Curacao Hotels / → All Tags
Sweet Suite :: The Tree House Mansion at Kura Hulanda
Treehouse Hotels are a popular sort of breed these days, perfect for tree-huggers, those wishing for an eco-vacation and anyone who ever fancied the Swiss Family Robinson digs.
Now, here's a chance to stay in a Tree House Mansion.
The Lodge Kura Hulanda & Beach Club on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao has opened its two-bedroom, two bathroom treetop suite built atop wooden stilts for hotel guests to rent:
A wooden spiral staircase leads up to the Tree House Mansion and into the open-air living room, which features an authentic, ornate Bali Bridal bed and a wide terrace providing picturesque sunset views over the water.
Tags: Warm Weather Hotels / Warm-Weather-Hotels-Map / Hotel Infinity Pools / Caribbean Hotels / Westin Hotels / → All Tags
Warm Weather Hotels: St Maarten's Westin Has Rules at the Pool
For a warm weather escape with a Dutch flavor, then vacationing on the island of St Maarten is something we'd recommend (and if you want to show off to your friends, you might explain to them that at the end of 2008, St Maarten will become an independent state of the Netherlands rather than a part of the Netherlands Antilles). A resort that's improved over the years is the Westin St Maarten Dawn Beach Resort and Spa, which has pushed its way up to #14 out of 81 on the TripAdvisor rankings after becoming part of the Starwood chain.
With 308 rooms plus six luxury suites (all with the famous Heavenly Bed), it's no boutique resort but that means it has plenty of facilities, including two restaurants on the ocean front, as well as a cafe near the pool and a swim-up bar. There's even a casino on site that they proudly proclaim is Vegas-style, whatever that actually means--we think a casino's just a casino.
We're particularly taken by the pool, which Westin brags is the largest infinity pool on the island. It looks gorgeous, although we're not sure if it fits our definition of infinity. What we find most amusing is their policy on "saving" seats, according to one guest's experience:
The resort has a sign saying if you abandon your chairs for longer than 2 hours, your possessions will be confiscated (I commend the hotel for that!). One afternoon, 2 couples were seeking chairs and we saw a pool attendant direct the couples to 4 chairs that had been unoccupied all morning but had been "saved" by someone by leaving hotel beach towels on them. When I saw the pool attendant do this, I hoped he'd work his way up to General Mgr.of the hotel since the hotel needs this type of initiative.
Abide by the pool rules and you'll enjoy your stay. They have some special deals for winter getaways where you can get a credit to spend in the spa or in the restaurants, starting at $150 if you stay for three nights.
[Photo: maribel91]
Tags: Affordable Beach Resorts / Caribbean Resorts / Curacao Hotel Reviews / Andea Bennett / → All Tags
Escape the Slush: One Twenty Fifth of T+L's Affordable Beach Resorts
A while back the big news on Curacao was the J Lo's possible pregnancy. Didn't happen, but we are guessing the Dutch could care less.
Fast forward six months, or so, and it turns out Lodge Kura Hulanda & Beach Club, one of Willemstads's beach resort options, made Travel & Leisure's 25 Affordable Beach Resorts List (March 2007).
While all the beach resorts on the list are definitely worth a look we focused in on Kura for two reasons.
First, Curacao takes our minds off slush--just get yourself to Miami, and three hours from MIA you will be in Curacao.
Second, Kura was written up by Andrea Bennett, a friend of HotelChatter, and we always tend to believe our friends, even when they show up in the glossies.
The lodge's 75 villas, suites, and guest rooms stand on a cliff, surrounded by 350 acres of carefully tended gardens filled with flowering shrubs and tamarind and breadfruit trees.
The rooms, with their big patios, soft white linens, and rattan furnishings, are soothing but also high-tech, with flat-screen TV's DVD players, and free high-speed Internet.If we do book a flight to Curacao and get out of the slush filled Northeast the first thing we will do upon check-in is fire up our computer, no, not to live blog the experience for you, but instead to go straight to Wikipedia and hope there is an entry for tamarind trees.
As a bonus, it sounds like you get welcome drinks. Nice. White coral-sand beach, welcome drinks, free Internet for under $200 a night, if you find a deal.
[Photo: accent_grave]
Related Stories:
· 25 Affordable Beach Resorts [Travel & Leisure]
Tags: Celeb Scoop / → All Tags
J.Lo Goes on a Babymoon?
Always a credible publication when it comes to celebrity procreation, Life & Style mag reveals that Jennifer Lopez and hubby Marc Anthony took the 2 and a half-hour flight from Miami to Curacao for a possible babymoon and to celebrate their second anniversary.
The crooning duo stayed at the Hotel Kura Hulanda on this Dutch Isle in the Caribbean. Although, we don't know exactly which type of suite they stayed in, we're pretty sure they passed on the regular $220 a night standard rooms in favor of the $1,000 a night Indian Bridal Suite which comes complete with "sterling silver furniture."
Even if you can't afford this suite, the rest of the rooms will still please you with bathrooms decked in Indian marble, hard-carved mahogany and teak furniture and hand-woven linens from India. And you'll still feel original as no two rooms in the hotel are the same.
Related Stories:
· Hotel Kura Hulanda reviews [TripAdvisor]
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