Resort Archives | Rum Therapy

March 4, 2016May 29, 2019

9 Highlights of our Stay at St. James’s Club, Antigua

As soon as we were welcomed through the gates at the private, all-inclusive tropical hideaway, St. James’s Club on Mamora Bay, we knew we were going to enjoy our time at this charming Antiguan property.

We’d spent our first few days on Antigua relaxing in the tropical tranquility of the Verandah Resort & Spa – another Elite Island Resort and we had heard that St. James’s Club was equally as impressive, although each with their own appeal and personality.

In short – we had a wonderful, relaxing stay. There’s so much we could share (and hundreds of photos!) from our time there, but we’ll touch on some of our favorite memories of the resort through our list of “9 Highlights of our Stay at St. James’s Club, Antigua.”

1. Location.
St. James’s Club is located on the south end of Antigua and sits on a large peninsula between the ocean and Mamora Bay. Because of it’s location, it’s very private, there’s little traffic and the beaches are uncrowded.

2. The Royal Suites.
The St. James’s Club offers a variety of accommodations from regular guest rooms to 3 bedroom villas. Our accommodations during our stay? A Royal Suite, which featured a beautiful overlook of Mamora Bay, a private balcony, a large, well appointed room and a bottle of chilled bubbly to enjoy upon arrival. Cheers to that!

3. It’s All-Inclusive.
The all-inclusive plan allowed us to relax and enjoy all of the amenities (including non-motorized watersport equipment and lessons!), and all of the food and drinks we wanted without carrying around cash or worrying about the cost.

4. The Grounds.
The lush grounds are meticulously landscaped, tropical and great to wander through.

5. The Pools.
Although we normally gravitate to beaches, we found ourselves spending more time than usual soaking up the sunshine in and around one of the 6 beautiful pools on property.

Reef Deck Pool

Coco’s Pool

Tiered Pool

6. Dining Options
There are 4 restaurants on site – Rainbow Garden, Coco Beach Restaurant & Bar, The Docksider Grill and Piccolo Mondo, where you can enjoy an evening of fine dining overlooking Mamora Bay (there’s a surcharge per person for dinner at Piccolo Mondo). Between the 4, we had no problem finding a variety of cuisines and settings and some delicious options. In addition, there are 5 lounges and bars – AND a beach cart that drives around serving up beverages to those so relaxed and sun-kissed that they can’t make it to the nearest bar!

Dinner by the water at The Docksider Grill

Steak Salad for lunch at Coco Beach Restaurant & Bar

Rainbow Garden

7. The Resort Was Not Crowded
Even though we visited during high season and the large resort was fairly full according to staff, it never felt crowded. We appreciated the opportunity to find quiet spaces to relax and unwind, the restaurants were never overly noisy and we never had to wait long to use the watersport equipment. The only time it seemed busy was at night in the lounges when there was live music playing – and that’s when we appreciate a lively crowd!

Beach chairs on a dock overlooking Mamora Bay

Plenty of space to play – or just relax

Coco Beach

Watersports Equipment on Mamora Bay

8. The Staff
We had the chance to meet St. James’s Club General Manager Antoine Brown, an engaging man that has assembled a great staff that genuinely seems to care about making guests stay something special – and in our experience, the staff can make a huge difference in how you feel about your stay at a resort. Antoine sat with us and chatted about the history of the resort, the continued upgrades being made, amenities being added (a new 3,000 sq. ft. Fitness Center has opened since our visit) and an additional Antiguan resort that Elite Island Resorts has just taken over and are in the process of refurbishing! We saw Mr. Brown frequently during our visit, always greeting guests and staff and making sure everyone was satisfied.

9. Great Base
Although you never really need to leave St. James’s Club during your stay in Antigua because you literally have everything needed on property for a great and relaxing stay, the location is a great base for those, like us, who like to experience some of the island outside of the gates. You can rent a car at the resort for a day (or more) of exploration and we did just that, checking out the yachts in Great Harbour and Falmouth Harbour, sampling Antigua Black Pineapple at a roadside fruit stand and seeing some of the gorgeous beaches, such as Turner’s Beach, on the west side of the island.

Antigua Black Pineapple

There you have it – just a taste of the time we enjoyed at St. James’s Club on beautiful Antigua. Have you stayed at St. James’s Club or another Elite Island Resort? Tell us about it!

To find out more about St. James’s Club:

Visit their website: St. James’s Club
Find them on Facebook
Check out their tweets on Twitter
And see more photos on Instagram

Find St. James’s Club on our Antigua Map

To see more posts on Antigua and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

Copyright©Rum Therapy
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC

October 30, 2013June 1, 2015

Palm Island, The Grenadines

Palm Island, a private island resort in the southern Grenadines makes today’s entry for our ever growing Caribbean Destination Wish List.

Although we were fortunate enough to spend an afternoon on Palm Island during a week long sail on a Lagoon 440 in the Grenadines in 2008, the short visit made us wish we had a week or more to explore, enjoy and relax on the gorgeous private island with 5 spectacular white sand beaches.

Palm Island offers just 43 accommodations, ranging from guest rooms and suites to villas and the all-inclusive price includes three wonderful meals a day at two restaurants, lounges and bars and beach barbeques.

Palm Island is accessible only by boat and, as they say on their website, getting to Palm Island is just part of the adventure! Guests fly to Barbados and then take an inter-island flight to nearby Union Island.

In contrast to the striking white sand beaches, the water is some sort of magical blue hue that’s hard to look away from. Palm Island makes getting out on the water easy with a wide variety of excursions such as a sail to beautiful Mopion Island, Mayreau or the Tobago Cays, or take a Hobie Cat ride over to Happy Island.

So, what would we do if we had a week to spend on Palm Island? Well, in addition to spending a LOT of time on those gorgeous beaches and in the almost too blue to be true water, we’d love to explore the hiking trails on foot and bike, check out every one of the many hammocks on the island, golf, sail a Hobie Cat, enjoy some private beach dining and definitely find out what the Palm Island specialty rum drinks are!

Have you been to Palm Island yet? Tell us about it!

To find out more about Palm Island Resort, check out their website.

Find Palm Island on our St. Vincent and the Grenadines Map

To see more posts on The Grenadines and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

July 16, 2013April 23, 2021

Saba Rock, British Virgin Islands

Saba Rock is a small, private island that sits in the beautiful North Sound of Virgin Gorda.

Update: Many of the businesses, buildings and residences in North Sound, Virgin Gorda were damaged or destroyed in the 2017 hurricanes including Saba Rock. They are rebuilding and hope to open in Fall 2021. Check their website for more information. The photo below was taken of Saba Rock in March 2020.

To see more posts on the British Virgin Islands and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

Saba Rock is less than an acre in size and accessible by boat or ferry. We first visited Saba Rock during a sail trip when we stopped for just a few minutes to get gas and ice. During a recent trip to Virgin Gorda, we wanted to get back to Saba Rock to experience more of it, so we rented a dinghy from Leverick Bay Marina. By having a dinghy for the day, we were also able to explore neighboring Prickly Pear Island and enjoy a rum beverage at the Fat Virgin Cafe.

Saba Rock houses a restaurant – which we hear serves up succulent land & sea dinners, an over water lounge/bar, a boutique hotel, a full service marina, gift shoppe, 10 deep water slips and boat moorings.

View of Eustatia Island from the terrace at the Saba Rock Hotel.

Saba Rock has a ferry that will pick you up from several locations in the North Sound, such as Gun Creek and Leverick Bay – just call them to make arrangements.

Out back they have an excellent area to relax and enjoy the view of North Sound and the Bitter End Yacht Club, with nice soft sand and hammocks.

We spent some time lounging in the hammocks before heading back in to sample a Saba Rock Banana Daiquiri – recommended to us by a friend who thought they were absolutely the best around.

They were pretty darn good and the view made it even better…

To find out more, visit their website: Saba Rock

To see more posts on the British Virgin Islands and other islands, check out our Island Blog Directory

Copyright©Rum Therapy
Pictures and other content may not be re-used without written consent from Rum Therapy, LLC. All information is correct to our knowledge at the time of writing, but be sure to verify current information before your visit.