Eight Decades of Ellsworth Kelly Draws A Packed Crowd to the Parrish Over 400 guests… Read More →
After a sold-out pop-up debut, the East Hampton outpost of a downtown Manhattan favorite returns… Read More →
Your Quick SPARK Guide to the Hamptons’ Latest Restaurant and Store Openings and ClosingsOpening /… Read More →
Sometimes it’s worth the Jitney ride … SPARK’s top NYC event picks this week—from a… Read More →
From choice food and wine tastings to top live music events, sizzling film screenings, and… Read More →
A decades-long collaboration between Leslie Gelb and East Hampton artist Chris Liles results in “Wake… Read More →
On the East End, where environmental changes first ripple through whispers before becoming spectacle, hundreds… Read More →
When the garage becomes the destination, not the afterthought. In the Hamptons, scarcity defines the… Read More →
A shrinking opportunity to get into the Hamptons—without overpaying to do it. As the East… Read More →
A behind-the-scenes look at the agents, teams, and headline-making deals shaping the East End market.… Read More →
Turks & Caicos: Where Hamptonites Go to Thaw
Between blizzards back home and margaritas in coconuts, a week in Turks & Caicos delivered the Caribbean reset we needed.
For Hamptonites, the Caribbean is the place to be when the weather turns cold—it’s almost a tradition to vanish there before Memorial Day. Some folks hit the slopes — paying a fortune to freeze, if you ask me — but the rest of us head south.
This winter, my husband surprised me with a Valentine’s trip to Turks & Caicos. Oddly enough, it was the one Caribbean island I’d never really considered — I now think that was his plan all along. After a bunch of delays due to the Fernando blizzard, we finally made it.
Turks & Caicos is a bunch of islands, but most people go to Providenciales (Provo to everyone), where the airport is. About 20 minutes away, along Grace Bay, is the hotel strip. Don’t worry, it’s not as crowded as it sounds. Even the big resorts are pretty chill for the Caribbean, and the beach is so wide it never feels packed. The island is planned well, so it never feels too built-up.
We stayed at Grace Bay Suites, which I can’t really recommend. No ocean view, a tiny pool, and housekeeping only showed up twice in six nights. At first, we thought it was a mistake in booking, but nope.
The service all over the island — hotels, restaurants, trips — felt strangely absent. At Embers, a popular eatery, there were tons of empty tables, but no one was seating people. A waitress stepped in as a hostess and told everyone to just wait. After twenty minutes, people started sitting themselves down, with some escorted back to the line that no one was monitoring. We went to get a drink inside at the bar while we waited for a mysterious hostess that never materialized, and where we were able to snag a high-top bar table. We sat ourselves down, where a nice waiter took our order and then disappeared to clean glasses somewhere for an hour.
It was strange. The service in Turks & Caicos isn’t as fast-paced as Americans expect. The food and drinks, though? Amazing.
One great dinner was at BLT Steak in the Ritz-Carlton. My mushroom risotto was perfect, and my husband’s steak almost made me give up being a pescatarian. We started with small but incredibly tasty oysters. They also brought out two huge popovers — a touch that felt very British, which makes sense since Turks & Caicos is still a British territory.
That British sensibility is seen in other ways, too, like on the roads. People drive on the left, but the cars are American, with the steering wheel on the left side. It’s a little confusing. If you’re visiting from the U.S., look both ways before crossing the street — and then look again. You’ve been warned.
The first night, we heard about a Fish Fry, so of course we went. I had a mango margarita in a coconut, then some fried fish. The music was loud, the rum was strong, and the vibe was like a Brooklyn block party. Every time the DJ yelled, New York in the house? I shouted, ‘Yes!’ — after a few margaritas, of course.
Melissa Durliat, the person behind COCO’s Boutique, a globally curated resort wear shopping experience in three locations in Turks (Rock House, Grace Bay Resort, One Season Plaza in town), gave us another tip: Rock House Resort. One image of her and her son at Rock House made us immediately add the resort to our next time, must-do list. She also recommended da Conch Shack for a casual lunch on the beach. Again, next trip.
I always try to find the best coffee on any island I visit. In Turks & Caicos, it’s Beans & Leaves. Their lattes were amazing — only a little café in Florence, Italy, is better. Their medium roast is strong and chocolatey, like a dark roast. It was perfect.
Turks & Caicos isn’t cheap. No-name flip-flops are around $30, basic sunscreen is $25, and a small pack of cookies is $12. A small bag of plantain chips? You get 5 round slices for $5 — wild. Prices are higher than in the US, and while they use the U.S. dollar, most restaurants add a 10 percent service charge. Even with the slow service, we still tipped another 10 percent because, as Americans, we always do.
The beaches are more than worth it. The water is super blue and warm enough in February to feel like a bathtub. We were so tired that we skipped the usual trips like jet skiing and snorkeling. We were there to relax. Period.
Most mornings were the same: wake up slowly, grab coffee at Beans & Leaves, then relax on the beach and get some sun after being stuck inside all winter. Thanks for nothing, Fernando — Turks & Caicos for the win.
