Snorkelling and luxe getaway awaits
memory not just for the warmth, sunshine and scenery, but for how they make you feel.
And we feel lucky, content and exhilarated, all at the same time.
It’s a Caribbean thing, it’s a Barbados thing, it’s a paradise thing.
Kerry and I get the same tingly feeling at the resort where we’re staying, the uber-romantic, couples-only Sandals Royal Barbados.
It’s a five-star luxury resort, so, of course it’s location is spectacular on-icing-sugar-soft Maxwell Beach in St. Lawrence Gap.
The accommodations are innovative.
The rondoval thatchedroofed bungalows have private patios with plunge pools, outdoor tubs, outdoor showers and butler service.
Swim-up suites apply the swim-up bar concept to resort accommodation with the suites’ patio directly connected to an elaborate network of palm-tree bordered pools.
Even if your room is on the second, third or fourth floor, it will have an infinity pool or soaker tub for two on the balcony, complete with billowing, white privacy curtains.
Upgraded to a rondoval bungalow with butler, Kerry and I revel in VIP treatment.
Room-service breakfasts on the patio are followed by frolic in the plunge pool, then time on the beach or one of the main pools, where our butler has saved prime chairs under an umbrella and placed a cooler with water and whatever we want from the bar.
Sandals firsts at Royal Barbados are also given a test drive: the chain’s inaugural roof-top pool, roof-top bar and roof-top restaurant; bowling at Lover’s Lane; jasmine-sunset couples massages at Red Lane Spa; and dinners at new-concept American Tavern and Asian-fusion Chi.
Again, it’s how a vacation makes you feel, as much as the sumptuousness of the resort, that defines getaway success.
And Sandals Royal Barbados makes us feel special, sexy, pampered, relaxed and rejuvenated.
Air Canada flies non-stop between Toronto and Montreal and Bridgetown, Barbados.
Check out Sandals.com and Aircanada.com.