Travel Agent recently took a trip to Turks and Caicos to check out the Hartling Group's newest luxury resort, The Shore Club on Long Bay Beach.
The property, in our opinion, represents the most seamless, clean, glitch-free opening in the Caribbean in quite some time.
In just nine months, the hotel was a well-oiled machine from top-notch food and beverage service to beautifully designed suites with amazing ocean, beach and pool views.
The Shore Club is a $100 million property with 106 ocean-view suites and six luxury villas spanning along 820 feet of beachfront on the island of Providenciales’ Long Bay.
We stayed in room no. 2304, a Two-Bedroom Oceanfront Suite. The master bedroom has ocean views while a second bedroom located across the suite has views of the pool and includes a beautiful tub. Each room has 55-plus-inch, rotating, Smart TVs and balconies. The balcony in the master bedroom spans across the suite’s living room. The hotel also has a fully equipped kitchen.
In the middle of the two rooms is a lounge area with a pullout sofa, a small, flat screen TV and its own bathroom. This room can be closed off as a separate kid’s room.
The room also comes with butler service, which was excellent during our stay. Our butler, Shakera Taylor, is highly recommended. We recommend a $20 to $30 daily tip, per day for the butler.
There are a total of four pools here, including an adults-only lap pool in the wellness area, located in front of the resort’s yoga pavilion.
There is also an adults-only beachfront pool with a hot tub and private cabanas. Swimmers here get full views of the ocean and Long Bay Beach. If the wind cooperates, pool dwellers can watch scores of kite surfers doing tricks and whipping through the shallow water, which is about three feet deep even about a mile out due to a massive sandbar.
The family-friendly Colonnade pool comes with luxury and garden cabanas. While all pools have cabanas, Colonnade has the most. This pool also includes cushioned-swings and a fire pit in the middle at the nearby Rope Bar, which, as the name implies, is adorned with ropes hanging from the ceiling.
The Rope Bar also plays host to the Manager’s Cocktail, which takes place every Thursday night from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. During this cocktail reception, certain alcohol, including our favorite beer at the resort, Turks Head Lager, is complimentary to guests.
The last pool is the family-friendly Resort Pool, which has a swim-up bar and a restaurant, Sea Grapes, which serves guests at either the swim-up bar or at a small, seating area outside of the pool. We highly recommend the ribs and jerk chicken here.
This pool also has views of Long Bay Beach and the ocean. At the pool bar, ask main bartender, Jovard Philocin, to whip you up one of his speciality cocktails.
There is also amazing food and beverage service on the beach. Guests get a short red flag attached to a stick to shove in the sand when they need a snack or a cocktail. Beach attendant Kenly Taylor was always there within a minute or two with a strawberry daiquiri or a cold Turks Head to sip in the sand or take into the ocean.
Our favorite of the three dining venues was the Peruvian-Japanese restaurant Sui-Ren, where Travel Agent had some of the freshest tuna and lobster around.
The Dune Spa is a rustic spa area made up of two spa cabanas located in the resort’s gardens, giving it a relaxing, tropical feel. We got the resort’s signature full body massage and highly recommend masseuse Emmanuelle Vollant.
Who to Pitch to?
The main target here is Millennials with money, both couples and families. We also think this has a lot of potential for both girls’ getaways and couple retreats.
Advisors should reach out to Denario Cook, reservations manager (denario.cook@theshoreclubtc.com).
Visit www.theshoreclubtc.com and keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for all your latest travel news. Be sure to follow Travel Agent’s Joe Pike on Twitter @TravelPike and Instagram @pike5260.
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