1st #LiveLeisurely Blog Post - Turks and Caicos

We recently took a vacation to Turks and Caicos to celebrate our birthday week.

We thought that we might share a little about our first vacation in what feels like forever.

 

We have been sacrificing time with our families and friends for over a year while launching Luxe Leisure and wanted to treat ourselves to a short getaway. We launched as an e-commerce site in September, followed by opening our first brick and mortar store in South Boson this January.

 

We hope you enjoy our first attempt at a blog post and leaning more about who we are. Feedback is always welcome and appreciated.

 

  

  

We stayed at the Gansevoort as we have stayed there previously and fell in love with the property for its beauty, service and our beloved Exhale. Some hotels we also considered were The Shore Club, Como Parrot Cay, The Palms and Grace Bay Club. Only in our wildest dreams could we stay at the super exclusive Amanyara resort, but we drooled over pictures for days anyway.

 

The yoga and barre classes at the Gansevoort Exhale are held outside in a peaceful and serene setting and the deep tissue massages we received were some of the best we have ever had. Let’s not forget to mention the delicious coconut water served in the coconut that we received right after our massages! Some other spas to consider if you are in Turks and Caicos are Regent Palms Spa and the Spa at Amanyara.

 

We arrived on a Wednesday around 1pm and were still able to enjoy the afternoon soaking up the sun by the pool. Many of the resorts have top notch restaurants with amazing fresh seafood and fun cocktails. On the plane, we were flipping through the Turks and Caicos travel magazine and discovered a new restaurant, Sui Ren which is in the year-old Shore Club and made a reservation for our first night.

 

The atmosphere was romantic, tranquil and had a modern + chic feel. The sushi and mahi mahi were delicious and very fresh, the chicken wok fried rice and the wine pairing was great as well. The live music from a solo artist playing chill acoustic added to the incredible ambience. On a side note, do not fill up on their banana bread, it will get you hooked! Afterward we went on adventure to the Casino. It was a bit intimating at first walking in, however everyone was super friendly. We played some slot machines and a few rounds of black jack.

 

   

  

We woke up to a perfect sunny day and were so excited to spend the day by the beach. Luckily, we enjoyed a half day of sun, but then the clouds set and we were stuck in a rain storm that lasted all day and night. We made the best of it however, and reminded ourselves how blessed and fortunate we were to finally be on a vacation and have a few days off and enjoying time together in an amazing destination. Instead of the beach, we both spent the day at the Exhale spa and enjoyed some well-deserved pampering.

 

Unfortunately, a surprise horse ride on the beach was rained out and Provo Ponies could not reschedule as they were fully committed for the week. FYI, they book about 3 months in advance. Due to the rain, we stayed at our hotel for the night and had dinner at one of the Gansevoort restaurants, Stella. We tried the special of the evening, the slow braised Korean short rib and the rack of lamb with grilled veggies. Both dishes were amazing and we couldn’t believe we didn’t eat at Stelle for dinner during our previous stay. All of the food we had on the island was incredibly fresh and delish!

 

  

 

We woke up the second morning to sun and rented a beach bed for the day. To our surprise, it starting raining again and we were caught in a torrential down pour.  We always try to look for the silver lining and figured why not do what we always love to do, Netflix and chill! We started a new series, Money Heist, have you watched it? 

 

To say the least, our plans this week were not going how we wanted at all. Special birthday drinks at our favorite bar was rained out, but luckily dinner at Coyaba was still on! They were able to accommodate us indoors instead of their usual outside garden. The red snapper and jerk chicken were so yummy. Words cannot describe how amazing the apple pie for two is, the aroma of the fresh apples and the perfect pastry puff crust atop swirls of caramel and sugar and topped with vanilla ice cream.

 

   

 

Saturday, we started our morning both a bit quiet and a little scared to press the button that would open our blinds to see whether or not we would face another day of rain (FYI May and June are the rainy season). Both trying to be positive and support one another with the bad luck of the previous day’s weather we held our breath as sun started to fill our room. We spent the day on the beach and pool and figured we would try a redo of our missed birthday evening at our favorite bar, Infiniti.

 

 We made it Grace Bay Club where Infiniti Bar is right at sunset and captured a picturesque pink sunset with a tropical drink in hand and a warm fireplace that reminded us of a European beach resort vibe. We sat at a table for two by the fire pit while debating whether or not we wanted to leave for our dinner reservations at Coco Bistro. The view and ambiance were so amazing we didn’t want leave.

 

  

 

Pulling up to Coco Bistro for dinner (reservations highly recommend), we waked into an intimate yet lively tropical garden oasis with some of the best grouper and tuna we have had on the entire trip and the banana fired critters with the scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream put us over the top. It was pure bliss!

 

   

 

Sunday was the perfect day we dreamed of, we even debated extending our trip. Then we remembered how blessed we were to be on a vacation. We already felt recharged and ready to get home with new energy and ideas to propel the growth of Luxe Leisure forward. 

 

What we would do next time? Explore North Caicos and Middle Caicos. We have heard they have some of the prettiest and most secluded beaches on the island with lots of lush greenery. We have started to feel quite familiar on Providenciales and would love to rent a small home with a private pool and direct access to the beach to be a little more secluded on our next visit…looking for travel buddies if anyone is interested!!!

 

  

 

Restaurants of Recommendation:

Stelle ,Parallel 23 ,Infiniti bar, Coyaba, Sui-Re, Coco Bistro, Seven, Magnolias (The food was only average compared to the other places we mentioned however the sunset from here is OMG)

We hope you enjoyed and found at least some of this helpful if you are choosing to go to Turks and Caicos. We are always happy to answer any questions you may have or clarify anything.

- C & C