December 19, 2008

CARIBBEAN | TURKS & CAICOS

Royal Caribbean

By Suzanne Steinert

How the Regent Palms is taking Turks & Caicos to new highs.

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Safaris aren’t typically suited to the mai tai-swilling, toes-in-the-sand set — unless they take place in Turks & Caicos. The second annual Gourmet Safari showcases the islands’ brightest culinary talent, today through Sunday, on Providenciales. Here, German-born chef Torsten Rumprecht will debut a new menu from Parallel23, the newly re-launched restaurant at the Regent Palms. Chef Rumprecht (whose clients include Donald Trump and Billy Joel) ups the ante on traditional Caribbean cuisine.  His take? Try fresh Caicos lobster infused with vanilla Creole sauce.

You can, however, expect more straightforward fare at Beaches Resort on Grace Bay, where a sprawling $125-million “Italian Village” opens January with a medieval-themed Sesame Street restaurant for tots. An anomaly on an island famous for exclusivity, the all-inclusive family retreat will offer 162 luxury suites in the Village, each with dedicated children’s bedrooms featuring bunk beds and game tables. The clincher for kids, however, is a newly expanded 45,000-square-foot water park — among the grandest in the Caribbean.

But kids aren’t having all the wet-and-wild fun. Chic retreat Amanyara — which recently unveiled its new ultra-luxe villas — hosts record-setting free diver Tanya Streeter, January 22-29, to lead guests in private, open-sea diving lessons during the peak of the whale migration season. Still, those who prefer gentler pools can indulge in the Regent Palms’ acclaimed spa where each stand-alone treatment room is surrounded by water. A pair of Thai therapists has just joined the staff to give what the spa claims is the most authentic Thai message in the Caribbean. (The treatment is experienced fully clothed, while lying on a seven-foot-long floor mat).

Turks & Caicos isn’t finished slinging superlatives, though. The first phase of Dellis Cay — a 560-acre private isle just 20 minutes from Provo — debuts in 2010 with the Caribbean’s first over-water villas, plus a four-story Piero Lissoni-designed Mandarin Oriental. Meanwhile, Zaha Hadid, Shigeru Ban, and other celebrated architects are designing private homes for deep pockets on Dellis Cay (Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas already purchased a Lissoni villa). But what Dellis can’t claim (yet), is what The Tanai will bring to the resort scene next year: the largest infinity pool in the Caribbean.