Guest Review | CuisinArt Resort & Spa- Anguilla, Caribbean

Hotel/Resort Name: CuisinArt Resort & Spa
Location: Anguilla, British West Indies, Caribbean
Stars: 4

If you’re neither a celebrity nor one of those couples longing for some serious alone time, you might at first feel a little out of place in Anguilla. But you’ll come to realize it’s one of the most quiet and relaxing vacation spots in the Caribbean. East of Puerto Rico and directly north of St. Maarten, Anguilla is an understated destination where the likes of Cameron Diaz and Ryan Phillipe hang out. This isn’t a spot with a lot of touristy fanfare. And you won’t find a Spring-type of crowd here.

A friend and I arrived to the island on a Friday and stayed through Monday. We flew into to St. Maarten and paid about $50 one way to have Funtime Anguilla Ferry Service take us to the island. The ride seemed a little pricey. Looking back, we could have ferried to our destination using the public ferry for a lot less — $15 per person one way before 6pm.

Admittedly, I don’t think I would have ever thought of vacationing here, but a friend from grad, school, whose family is from nearby St. Kitts, was getting married. So I made a vacay out of it. We stayed at the CuisinArt Resort & Spa – where the couple was scheduled to wed and, ironically,where the reality hit TV show, The Bachelor, was filmed. I say ironically only because the couple on the show, Brad Womack and Emily Maynard, are reportedly on shaky grounds.

I’m not sure how any couple could stay mad at each other here. The CuisinArt is a gorgeous resort. There are 93 luxury guestrooms, ranging from 900 to 7,500 square feet. The New Yorker in me was in awe, given that the bathroom alone was about the size of my Upper Eastside apartment studio (just eyeballing, roughly 400 square feet). The service was great but I just couldn’t help getting mildly annoyed with the staff directly asking me to tip rather than just waiting for me to pull a few bills to the guy who helped with our bags.

It seemed the entire island ran with a similar mentality though. But I guess that’s expected, given that this is a place where tourist are expected to shell out some serious cash. A 15-minute cab ride from the dock to the CuisinArt ran us about $18. Not including tip. The New Yorker in me thought this was clearly an injustice! And any time you wanted to get off the resort to venture to the island’s few restaurants (I told you the island is desolate and sparse), it ran at least $30. Not including tip. We went to Gwen’s Reggae bar, and I would highly recommend the outdoor joint for drinks, food and good music in a beachy backdrop.

Despite the costs, which shouldn’t really come as a surprise since this is where the stars hang out, it’s truly a nice quiet getaway.