Let there be no doubt the Oceanic region just southeast of the United States known as The Caribbean boasts some of the highest caliber resorts in the world. Yet how do you know which ones are truly The Best Luxury Resorts in the Caribbean? And better yet how can you take advantage of these amazing places to stay at a reasonable rate that won’t break the bank or force you to have to take out a small business loan just to indulge?
There’s actually several techniques to easily determine the very best luxury resorts in the vast Caribbean and we will cover a few here.
Possibly the best method is to simply do some queries using any of the search engines like Google, Bing or Yahoo. Let’s say for example you wanted to visit the Virgin Islands for your next tropical vacation. Well, then you would of course type into your search bar words (none as keywords) such as: “Virgin Islands Hotel Virgin Islands Resort”. That should return enough information to start you on your journey of discovery to make an informed choice.
Challenge is however that often a basic search like that will deliver you results from the big mega websites like Expedia, Travelocity, TripAdvisor , Booking, etc. And while that’s not such a bad thing, it does mean you have to practice a bit more discernment. This is because of course all those sites are trying to do is sell you on any of the resorts listed with them so that they can make their commissions. Certainly nothing wrong with that but it does make it somewhat difficult to narrow down what we’re really looking for: Best Luxury Resorts in the Caribbean at reasonable prices.
Here’s a few more pointers.
Search for reviews and feedback. While this is a no-brainer in this day and age of massive review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor it must be pointed out the importance and value of digging just a bit deeper on these sites. Once you land on a resorts profile click on the reviews, also click on the negative reviews, if any. While it’s not a good practice to give much weight to these because humans being humans things to happen that are out of control of the resort hotel, these can give you some insights.
Also if you are on TripAdvisor, look for resorts that have a Certificate of Excellence or better yet a series of the year after year,
What is Certificate of Excellence? Simply put TripAdvisor tends to give these awards or certificates to accommodations, restaurants and even attractions that consistently earn great reviews from their traveler visitor. Any resort hotel, villa, suites, B&B, guesthouse or whatever with a consistency in receiving these awards are a safe bet that they are a choice place to stay.
And now that we are on the topic of places to stay other than the big mega-resorts, you can often find super-great deals, lovely accommodations and spectacular amenities at the smaller, more private villas, vacation rentals, and luxury suites as well. Plus these B&B type of places are far more private and represent some of the most spectacular views and vista the Caribbean has to offer.
One such place in the US Virgin islands of course is Villa Marbella Suites on St Thomas. Well worth checking into – plus it’s a multi-year winner of TripAdvisor’s famed Certificate of Excellence as well as many other awards.
Another great resource for locating some of the best luxury resorts of the Caribbean is the various travel magazines. I’m referring to mags like Travel & Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Fodors, etc. Or even popular websites like Huffington Post, The Independent and USA Today have great travel sections. These types of online magazines are invaluable when selecting nearly any place, nearly anywhere the world has to offer.
So while choosing a vacation for you and your family may seems to be a pretty straight forward activity, selecting a luxury abode can be more daunting. Hopefully these hints here may help.
For more tips and hints on travel, tourism and more in the Caribbean and beyond check out more Villa Marbella Blog entries here weekly.
