Caribbean (Plus) Corner

This fabled sea, covering more than a million square miles and 7,000 islands with diverse languages, cultures, and ecosystems, has become probably the planet's premier vacation playground. Here it's all about its regional issues and allures. And yes, the (Plus) means we're including the Bahamas and Bermuda along with the Caribbean coasts of Colombia, Costa Rica, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guayana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Suriname, and Panama.

For other individual island forums, check out Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saba, Statia (St. Eustatius), St. Barth, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Maarten/Martin, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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Chilling on Tortola and Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands

Victor Block My husband Victor and I are travel writers. Which means when we get to a destination, we explore every aspect, constantly seeking out stories. Until we got to Tortola, capital of the British Virgin Islands, with a population around 15,000. That didn’t happen. And it was almost like — dare I say the word? — a vacation. But let’s back up a bit. We are a lot older than our last trip here 30 years ago when my husband had the temerity to actually hazard driving. To put the roads in…

Started by Tripatini

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Rum and much more in Barbados

Victor Block Most travelers know that most Caribbean islands are soaked in rum, but Barbados goes the rest one better because here, locals say, is where rum was discovered. In capital Bridgetown one early-17th-century day, the story goes, a tavern owner was searching for an empty shipping barrel when he inadvertently stumbled across one filled with a concoction worth selling -- a barrel of sugar cane fermented over time. Well, Mr. Rumball -- the tavern owner -- knew a good thing when he…

Started by Tripatini

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In the British Virgin Islands, Anegada and its Lobster Festival

Photos: Victor Block Most travelers have heard of the U.S. Virgin Islands; some of the British Virgin Islands. Those familiar with the BVI usually know Tortola, and maybe even Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke. But it seems that few have ever heard of Anegada. Which is a shame because it has so much to recommend it.

Started by Tripatini

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7 cool things to see/do on Saba

Richie Diesterheft Never heard of it? You´re far from alone – last year just 5,700 flights – by one of the Caribbean´s lowest arrivals figures – landed on its third smallest island (just five square miles/13 sq. kilometers sitting on an dormant volcano Mount Scenery, with a population of just under 2,000). But those in the know realize that the self-styled "unspoiled queen," part of the Caribbean Netherlands (along with Bonaire and Sint Eustatius, aka Statia) and first settled in the 1640s,…

Started by David Paul Appell

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Northeast News September 3, 2010 at 12:11am

"It probably depends on the person" is right. When it comes to travel preferences (and culture, and religion, and politics, and spending power) there are no typical Americans. The marketing and branding pros must be walking on eggshells these days.
Tony King September 2, 2010 at 10:21pm

Best solution, close all the hotels, charter a yacht, call me...!!
Julie September 2, 2010 at 9:52pm

It probably depends on the person. My personal preference is definitely small, independent hotels. But I also enjoy eating local cuisine and experiencing the local culture when I travel. However, I also have friends who prefer American chain hotels even when they travel internationally.
Patricia Borns September 2, 2010 at 9:21pm

David raises an important question. How many Americans share or don't share his travel preference? For many years, the Caribbean was on an all-inclusive corporate hotel binge that erased its cultural distinctiveness, because that's what governments believed Americans wanted. Now, the talk is of small footprint boutique hotels and local rentals. To paraphrase Freud, what do Americans really want?
David Lawrence September 2, 2010 at 8:26pm

Good Q, Northeast, 2 good answers. Also as an American, I don't want to stay at a Hyatt or Hilton, especially in another country. Would we go all the way to Japan to stay at a dude ranch?
Tony King September 2, 2010 at 6:16pm

Just to add another thought to Patricia's, there is a tendency to forget that much of the Caribbean i.e. St. Martin, St. Barth, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Cuba, St. Vincent, the Grenadines caters almost exclusively to European visitors who do not visit the Ritz Carlton's, Hyatt's and Hilton's of this world.
Patricia Borns September 2, 2010 at 4:59pm

Are you referring to "U.S. Hotel Brands in the Caribbean: Over-Supplied or Under-Represented?" (www.hvs.com/Library/Articles/?cat=11). The data looks to be two years old, and the authors' main business is stimulating foreign investment. Not to discount their conclusions, but those two things raise cautionary flags for me.
Northeast News September 2, 2010 at 4:27pm

U.S. HOTEL BRANDS IN THE CARIBBEAN:
UNDERREPRESENTED OR UNDER DELIVERING:

The largest hotel consultant in the Caribbean, MacLellan & Associates, reports:

"A recent article by Parris Jordan and La Baik of HVS provided interesting data on the apparent low volume of US-branded hotels in the Caribbean, when compared to the hospitality scene in North America. The conclusion reached was that there may be an opportunity for significant growth by brands in the region in the near future."

Is this, in fact, the right conclusion?
Tripatini August 27, 2010 at 6:24pm

Please CLICK HERE to help a Tripatino with a question on a three Caribbean islands. Thanks!
David Lawrence August 25, 2010 at 1:25am

I'm with Ed and Rebecca. Don't know what all the fuss is about.

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