Luxury Travel Wisdom

I’m sitting at The Beach House restaurant in St Kitts staring over a turquoise sea and out to the island of Nevis. As in all my Caribbean dreaming, the cool condensation from an icy rum cocktail runs down my arm as the waitress sashays off to the kitchen with my lobster lunch order. A palm frond overhead is buffeted softly by a silken sea breeze which also carries over a swinging calypso tune. I sigh contentedly and for once I do not wake up. No siree… today I am living the dream and savouring every last drop of the cocktail !

This classy restaurant is one of the first bits of Christophe Harbour to be built and services four stunning villas overlooking the tranquillity of Turtle Beach. What I love so very muchly about the place is that it doesn’t interfere with the environment. It’s beautifully understated both inside and out. Hooooray for having such sensitivity (the Marriott could take a leaf or two out of your book). I’ll get down to the the nitty gritty in a proper hotel / villa review on Just The Planet this week (or early next) – so keep an eye out – but for now let’s get back to eating lunch…

I had three lobster tails… THREE, and there’s the photo to prove it. There were also some sensational conch fritters and calamari to start – lightly battered and perfectly crispy with a Caesar side salad. After lunch it made perfect sense to retire to my villa for a little lie-down on my comfy deckchair. Each property faces a beach so quiet it could almost be your own. Doors are flung open wide onto private patios… and each has its own gazebo with an outdoor lounge and infinity plunge pool. And if you lie in your big king-size bed and peek over the top of the duvet… aaaah yes, there we go… the sea.

A short walk along the beach and you’re back at the restaurant, ready for a sundowner. There’s usually a member of the Christophe Harbour team around looking impossibly healthy and relaxed. Yes, this must be island living. Before you know it you’ll be asking for a quick squizz at their gorgeous brochure… and then designing your own Caribbean dream house on the back of a paper napkin. G’won… you know you want to.

I flew out to St Kitts last Saturday with a group of PRs, journalists and publishers for a press tour of Christophe Harbour… a proposed luxury real estate opportunity set on a pristine 2,500 acres of beautiful Caribbean island.

As a South African, and one used to big landscapes and wide open spaces, my initial reaction was to balk in horror that almost a third of this little jewel was to be dug up and built upon. Is no place on this planet sacred ? And as I did some more research of Basseterre (the capital) and surrounds, flipping through tourism brochures and looking at the various travel websites of the island, the likes of the enormous Marriott hotel jumped out and my heart sank further. “TELL ME I didn’t see TWO casinos,” I pleaded with the critic on my shoulder, who had already passed out cold and slid down my arm.

Well I can say now it’s a very good thing I went out there to see it all first hand. Sometimes we all need a little saving from ourselves. And I think St Kitts is no different. The island could so easily go the way of others in the Caribbean. For who hasn’t seen massive resort hotels dominating what used to be paradise beaches, whilst hulking great cruise ships block ports and seascapes, offloading thousands of insatiable shoppers who swarm through these small harbours like ravenous Pacmen.

But not this future for St Kitts if the guys at Christophe Harbour have anything to say about it. All of the south-eastern point of the island will be taken up by the development and it’s all 100% class. Instead of tacky hotels and ugly housing estates, Fazio Golf Course Designers Inc will shortly get stuck into building one of the most picturesque championship courses in the world. And a planned mega-yacht harbour and marina will also aim to steal the limelight and possibly a lot of the attention away from Antigua too. I want to tell all about the sensational villas, five-star hotels, spas, shopping and the Beach Club next…. but it’ll have to wait till my next blog.