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Eleuthera Hotel Guide: A Private Island at Cape Eleuthera
At the behest of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Senior Editor Juliana spent four days roaming around the island of Eleuthera. Discovered in 1648 by shipwrecked adventurers, the island's name is derived from the Greek word for freedom. And freedom she found. Away from phones, TV and internet. Sadly, her emancipation from technology was shortlived and she's back to tell you about where to stay when you visit Eleuthera, one of the Bahamas' Out Islands that stretches for 110 miles.
As we mentioned on Monday in our review of Powell Pointe at Cape Eleuthera, one of the services offered at the resort is a short boat ride to a private little island for the day.
The resort will drive you and your guests to the island with a packed meal, snorkel gear, beach towels and any other items you might want to take a long, and you can spend a few hours in your own private, isolated, Caribbean heaven.
We were fortunate enough to have a trip out to one of these secluded islands led by the resort's General Manager Stephen Kappeler who took us on a seashell adventure in the crystal-clear waters and forced us to pull a live conch out of its shell. It's ok, we survived but those things are nasty-looking. They look much better in fried form on our dinner plate.
Here's a video we shot from the boat of the island. Just something to think about as you layer on your sweaters and scarves.
Related Stories:
· Powell Pointe at Cape Eleuthera [HotelChatter]
· Eleuthera Hotel Guide [HotelChatter]
Tags: Eleuthera Hotel Guide / HotelChatter Reviews / Bahamas Hotels / Hotel Video Tours / Powell Pointe / → All Tags
Eleuthera Hotel Guide: Powell Pointe at Cape Eleuthera
At the behest of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Senior Editor Juliana spent four days roaming around the island of Eleuthera. Discovered in 1648 by shipwrecked adventurers, the island's name is derived from the Greek word for freedom. And freedom she found. Away from phones, TV and internet. Sadly, her emancipation from technology was shortlived and she's back to tell you about where to stay when you visit Eleuthera, one of the Bahamas' Out Islands that stretches for 110 miles.
On our third day in Eleuthera, we hopped in the tourism ministry's white minivan and drove on south to the very southernmost tip of Eleuthera--Cape Eleuthera.
Thirty-five years ago, this place was the destination on Eleuthera, much like Harbour Island is today. It probably had something to do with being a cape which always sounds like a glamorous place to go. Anyways, Cape Eleuthera had a four-star resort for vacationers and townhomes were built with the hopes of attracting regular visitors. Yet the owner apparently went bankrupt and things shut down immediately. Slabs of concrete were never built upon. The three-wheeled golf carts were left in a field to rot and locals were forced to find new jobs.
Now 35 years later, a new developer has bought the nine miles of land at Cape Eleuthera with the hopes of building a resort community that will be even better than the original.
It's only about half-done but we stayed in the resort part of a resort/estates/marina complex, called Powell Pointe.
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Eleuthera Hotel Guide: Pineapple Fields' Killer View and More
The good news is we have tons of stories left to share with you about Eleuthera and the island's hotel scene. We will also be writing stories on this Bahamian isle for our brother site, Jaunted.
The bad news is that you will have to wait until Monday to read the rest of these stories. We are en route to Las Vegas, to do some extremely stressful and tiring reporting on the hotel scene for you dear readers.
But we would never leave you with just stale links. Above is the view from Tippy's at Pineapple Fields. And below are links to all our Flickr sets from the hotels we have covered so far. Of course, you can always re-read our Eleuthera stories whenever you want.
· The Cove Eleuthera: A quiet villa stay on a private beach with alcoholic drinks at your disposal. (FLICKR shots.)
· The Quality Inn Cigatoo: A cheap stay in "town." Restaurant serves great breakfast, lunch and dinner. (FLICKR shots.)
· Pineapple Fields: Apartment-style living just steps from a private beach and with one of our fave restaurant's ever, Tippy's. (FLICKR shots.)
· Cotton Bay Estate and Villas: The upcoming resort from Starwood Hotels, still largely under construction but with killer views. (FLICKR shots.)
Tags: Eleuthera Hotel Guide / HotelChatter Reviews / Bahamas Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Starwood Hotels / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
Eleuthera Hotel Guide: Cotton Bay Estates & Villas
At the behest of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Senior Editor Juliana spent four days roaming around the island of Eleuthera. Discovered in 1648 by shipwrecked adventurers, the island's name is derived from the Greek word for freedom. And freedom she found. Away from phones, TV and internet. Sadly, her emancipation from technology was shortlived and she's back to tell you about where to stay when you visit Eleuthera, one of the Bahamas' Out Islands that stretches for 110 miles.
What we love about Eleuthera is that the island is so peaceful. The two hotels that we stayed at in our first few days--The Cove and Pineapple Fields have both been fairly remote and quiet getaways on and near the beach with the lodgings in little villas and four-unit houses rather than at a mega-resort of 3,000+ hotel rooms (Cough, Atlantis, cough.)
But these types of quiet getaways aren't for everyone. Starwood Hotels' latest residential-hotel project Cotton Bay Estates & Villas, is located on the more southern end of Eleuthera in Rock Sound and will attempt to mix seclusion with the "anything you desire, we have it" mentality of a luxury resort.
Cotton Bay is still under some heavy construction (island time is more akin to Six Columbus time) but we were able to get a "hardhat" tour to see what the place will look like one day.
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Eleuthera Hotel Guide: Pineapple Fields, Part One
At the behest of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Senior Editor Juliana spent four days roaming around the island of Eleuthera. Discovered in 1648 by shipwrecked adventurers, the island's name is derived from the Greek word for freedom. And freedom she found. Away from phones, TV and internet. Sadly, her emancipation from technology was shortlived and she's back to tell you about where to stay when you visit Eleuthera, one of the Bahamas' Out Islands that stretches for 110 miles.
On our second day in Eleuthera, we had checked out of The Cove, spent the morning at Preacher's Cave, ate lunch at the Quality Inn Cigatoo, and headed down to Pineapple Fields.
Way back when, Eleuthera was pineapple country and the fruit was one of its biggest exports until Hurricane Andrew pretty much devastated the business. While pineapples are still grown on the island, it's not as booming of a business as it once was. And sadly, while we were there we had not one pineapple. It was out of season.
Nevertheless, Pineapple Fields is paying homage to the island's past as well as building its future as a prime getaway destination.
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Eleuthera Hotel Guide: The Quality Inn Cigatoo
At the behest of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Senior Editor Juliana spent four days roaming around the island of Eleuthera. Discovered in 1648 by shipwrecked adventurers, the island's name is derived from the Greek word for freedom. And freedom she found. Away from phones, TV and internet. Sadly, her emancipation from technology was shortlived and she's back to tell you about where to stay when you visit Eleuthera, one of the Bahamas' Out Islands that stretches for 110 miles.
[Ed. Note: There's a little bit of a glitch in the video. After the HC credits, move the marker to 0:06 and it should play again.]
Even far far away in the Caribbean, Choice Hotel members have an option to use their loyalty reward points--at the Quality Inn Cigatoo. We didn't actually stay at this hotel, but the managers kindly allowed us to take a room tour (above.)
The Quality Inn is located in Governor's Harbour which is centrally located on the island of Eleuthera. This area has more of a real town compared to the area near The Cove. A gas station, small supermarket, liquor store, and a bank can be found in the town's center. Also nearby is a library which has wireless internet and a few government offices. And down the road is our favorite restaurant, Tippy's, but we'll tell you more about that tomorrow.
As for the Quality Inn Cigatoo (which is the original native name for the island of Eleuthera), the rooms have shockingly bright floral patterns on the bedspreads and curtains and the rest of the decor is rather simple. Nothing fancy here. Although the rooms do have TVs. But with room rates in high season at only $119, this place is extremely affordable.
The hotel has its own pool which is a plus and its own restaurant which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The fare is pretty good so long as you like fried anything. But that can be said for the entire island of Eleuthera. Fried Grouper (a fish), fried conch, fried chicken, etc.
Additionally, the managers of the place are part-time film producers having just wrapped on the film "Mysterious" featuring Antonio Sabatini Jr and James Brolin. While filming the movie in Eleuthera most of the cast and crew stayed here. But when Brolin's famous wife, Barbra Streisand, came into town we heard she stayed on her yacht. And we wouldn't expect anything less from Babs.
Tags: Lenny Kravitz / Andre Balazs / AB Hotels / Eleuthera Hotel Guide / Hotel News / → All Tags
Notes on a Rumor: Lenny Kravitz and Andre Balazs in Eleuthera
Over the summer we got a tip that Lenny Kravitz would be designing the hotel lounge for hotelier Andre Balazs in his newest property on Eleuthera island in the Bahamas. The resort would be another in the Standard Hotel brand, built around the prefabricated Maison Tropicale house that Balazs snapped up at an auction.
Since we just spent four days on the island of Eleuthera, we thought we would be able to sufficiently update this rumor. For starters, everyone we mentioned the AB/Kravitz partnership to, from the tourism officials to hotel owners to a hotel bartender, had no clue about it. Some hadn't even heard of Andre Balazs so whatever is being planned is just that, being planned. There's nothing definitive.
However Lenny is a big part of the island. He has a house near Gregory Town and frequently pops into local restaurants and local bars for impromput jam sessions. To say he's the darling of the island people is an understatement. So if he puts together anything whether it be a concert or a hotel lounge, the people would know about it right away.
We're not saying that Lenny and Andre won't team up for Eleuthera but its definitely too early to know anything.
Related Stories:
· Lenny Kravitz To Design Hotel Bar for Andre Balazs? [HotelChatter]
· Andre Balazs is Sooo (Pre) Fab [HotelChatter]
· Eleuthera Hotel Guide: The Cove at Eleuthera [HotelChatter]
Tags: Eleuthera Hotel Guide / HotelChatter Reviews / Bahamas Hotels / → All Tags
Eleuthera Hotel Guide: The Cove at Eleuthera
At the behest of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Senior Editor Juliana spent four days roaming around the island of Eleuthera. Discovered in 1648 by shipwrecked adventurers, the island's name is derived from the Greek word for freedom. And freedom she found. Away from phones, TV and internet. Sadly, her emancipation from technology was shortlived and she's back to tell you about where to stay when you visit Eleuthera, one of the Bahamas' Out Islands that stretches for 110 miles.
We landed first on the island's north end at the North Eleuthera Island International Airport. Despite the international name, the airport has only one runway, one terminal, one entrance and one exit. It makes the Long Beach Airport look like a major airport hub.
After we went through customs (remember you need a passport for the Bahamas now), we hopped in a car with some tourism officials and drove out on the island roads. Actually, there's really only one main road for the island, the Queens Highway, which has no traffic lights and very few stop signs. Seriously.
Bahamians also drive on the left side of the road but they often drive American cars so that the drivers' seat is on the left side instead of the right. It's a little unsettling at first but it works.
Our first hotel on the trip was the The Cove Eleuthera in Gregory Town about 20 minutes south of the airport. The Cove is tucked in from the main road on a private beach. You have to leave all your pre-concieved notions of a beachfront resort behind when you come here as this place feels more like your own private home. But one where you would never lock the doors.
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