Antigua Curtain Bluff Resort
It is five o'clock in the morning. Will someone please wring that rooster's neck?Old Road Village sits right outside Curtain Bluff's front gates, so expect a pastoral wake-up call, even after late-night dancing, at this classic 72-room resort with twin beaches. Curtain Bluff is beloved by repeat guests, who come for the all-inclusive food, drinks, entertainment, scuba diving, deep-sea fishing, and a competitive tennis program. Nervy kids that were once kicked out of the bar are now trundling their own offspring to this blustery peninsula on the island's southern shoreline. No one seems to care that the scruffy rattan furniture in the Garden Pavilion has seen better days or that the only air-conditioning is a stiff onshore breeze from Morris Bay.
Newcomers may feel slightly unsure of their welcome—especially during peak holidays—in an environment dominated by this Waspy crowd for the past 42 years. At Curtain Bluff, if you relax and let them, the kind staff will adopt you, treating you like a longtime resident. My first clue in grasping this resort's appeal: elsewhere on Antigua, waiters spend half their time shooing greedy banana quits away from luncheon buffets. Here the kitchen puts out a VIP sugar dish for those brightly colored birds. Curtain Bluff also looks after its neighbors, sending local kids to a summer camp in Maine and offering full college scholarships through its Old Road Fund. On New Year's Eve, East Coast CEO's donate the proceeds of the annual Sunfish charity regatta to the cause. (Curtain Bluff owner Howard Hulford is a founder of Sailing Week, held in late April.)
Perhaps a resistance to change isn't all bad. A few years ago, managing director Rob Sherman banished the hotel restaurant's jacket-and-tie rule; this season, he is wooing sous-chef Franco Parisi from Nobu in London to spruce up a distinctly bland menu. There's nothing dull about the wine list: get sommelier Gloucester St. Ville to show you the cellar. It holds an impressive collection of Barolos and Margaux. The resort also demolished older rooms to create 40 junior suites, which either sit right on the beach or rise up the bluff facing Grace Bay. Two larger, third-floor suites have open-air living spaces and plantation beds smothered in matelassé pillows. Sherman is keen to attract younger clients. Yoga and Pilates classes, a children's program, and in-room massages are calculated tweaks. Big hint: Bulldoze the shuffleboard court. Now, how about those roosters?
Old Road Village, St. Mary's; 888/289-9898 or 268/462-8400; www.curtainbluff.com; doubles from $595, including meals, drinks, and most activities; reopens October 16.
CURTAIN BLUFF BEST ROOM Morris Bay Suite, with a living room open to ocean breezes and a Jacuzzi on the balcony
COCKTAIL SPECIAL Pineapple-Chambord Caribbean Fantasy
DON'T MISS Snorkeling on Cades Reef, just offshore
FAIR WARNING Steam-tray lunch buffets
Antigua Jumby Bay
At the Estate House, a 230-year-old manor turned restaurant, I call out for Ishmael. Who could resist requesting a wine steward straight out of Melville?He suggests a perfectly chilled Pinot Grigio for my shrimp cocktail, and I immediately decide that 39-room Jumby Bay, a Rosewood Resort, is leading the Caribbean's country club revival. This 300-acre island resort lies two miles off Antigua's northeast coast, but that narrow ocean passage serves as a saltwater privacy gate for a domain where villas are never locked and guests have their own golf carts and fat-tired bikes to zip around the property and to the three deserted beaches.
Recently, following a series of disputes with island homeowners, canceled management contracts, and a lengthy closing, Jumby Bay was taken over by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. Suave managing director Peter Bowling toiled to reinstate Jumby's original reputation as an enclave for low-profile guests who detest constant tipping and signing bar tabs. Both of these nuisances have been eliminated. Pedaling around the island pathways affords the guilty pleasure of snooping past the estates lining Buckley and Flinty Bays. (Several are available for rent.) Standard guest rooms done in shades of café au lait are scattered along the beach and Pond Bay; larger two-bedroom villas with plunge pools overlook Davis Bay. To compensate for a hillside setting, Courtyard rooms offer new outdoor footed tubs for starlit soaks.
During the day, both residents of the island's private villas and hotel guests tend to scatter under palm umbrellas on the main beach or snorkel among coral reefs near uninhabited Bird Island. Fierce croquet competitions on the Estate House lawn and tea with crustless finger sandwiches confirm my first impression of Jumby's retro-colonialism. And then the place throws me for a loop: I discover Su Ha Yang, a Chinese expat who lives in St John's. Her limited practice in Jumby Bay's one-room therapy center is a subtle blend of reflexology and Asian massage; it's just the ticket for tennis elbow and jogger's knee, the sort of genteel injuries that plague Jumby's sportier guests. At the end of our intensive session, she dabs a minty pick-me-up balm from Fujian on my nostrils.
Sunsets are heralded by a combo playing oldies (ever heard a steel drum rendition of "On Broadway"?) at Verandah, the resort's informal clubhouse restaurant. Diners slowly amble in from the tennis courts—especially for the Wednesday night stuff-your-face buffet of cold salads and carving stations. It's a throwback that recalls swank dinner dances in Newport or Palm Beach. Adleza, the polite manager, expertly steers me toward grilled-to-order lobster and crêpes suzette. A couple in a green blazer and Lilly Pulitzer sundress start to boogie on the patio. Time warp complete.
Long Island, St. John's; 888/767-3966 or 268/462-6000; www.rosewoodhotels.com; doubles from $700, including meals, drinks, and some activities.
JUMBY BAY BEST ROOM Harbour Villa 207, a two-bedroom with plunge pool and full kitchen
COCKTAIL SPECIAL Grapefruit-and-gin Cool Me Off
DON'T MISS Picnics on Pasture Bay Beach
FAIR WARNING Not for night owls—everything closes down at 12 A.M.
SHANE MITCHELL, a contributing editor for T+L, also writes about the Maldives this month.
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