DC4MS

I had an opportunity to visit the Equity Estates property in Turks & Caicos as a “guest journalist” to evaluate their property and write a trip report. I paid my own airfare, rental car, meals, and activities. I stayed for a total of three nights and did not receive any financial payment for this review.

Pre-trip planning was done several weeks before my visit by Christie Johnson, an Equity Estates personal travel concierge. She communicated with me several times via e-mail and phone calls to arrange transportation, restaurant reservations, and activities. She even sent me a last minute text message to my cell phone about an interesting beach catered dining option as I was boarding the plane.

I decided to keep my concierge requests simple and only requested for the kitchen to be stocked with a few breakfast food items, specialty fruit, cheeses, assorted drinks, a few snacks, and only had one special request. I really wanted to smoke a real Cuban Cohiba cigar and asked Christie to obtain a few for me to enjoy as these are not available in the States.

The flight to the island was smooth and I highly recommend getting a window seat as the blue waters of the Caribbean was a magical sight to behold. Clearing customs was a breeze and I had a pre-arranged rental car waiting for me at the airport from Grace Bay car rental. The drive to the Equity Estates property took about 15 minutes and I never encountered a stoplight as the Turks & Caicos utilizes roundabouts for intersections and the greatest challenge was remembering to drive on the left side of the road.

The Equity Estates property is 4 bedroom, 4.5 bath, beachfront condominium centrally located on the 6th floor lower penthouse of The Regent Grand. This 4,546 square foot unit is one of 50 boutique condominiums located in a brand new development with fantastic views of the famous Grace Bay. The décor could be described as an Italian design fused with a small flavor of elegant Caribbean style.

As I enter the main open air lobby for check-in, I am greeted with a dramatic view of the central atrium framed by Romanesque columns. The view of the main building that reflects off the double infinity edged glass mosaic tiled pool is stunning. There is a gentle breeze that flows thru the property and the sight of the blue ocean is captivating.

The check-in process was fast and easy as Equity Estates has already informed them of my visit. I am given a key to the private elevator and a bellman was there to assist me with my luggage. I walked around a beautiful pool and headed towards the central elevator and put my key in the slot next to the 6th floor. When I stepped out of the elevator, I was inside the main entry of the property and heard a voice call my name from around the corner.

As I turned the corner into the dining room area, I was greeted by Laura, the local host for Equity Estates as she was waiting for me to arrive. She gave me a tour of the property, suggested various restaurants and activities, asked if she could arrange any special spa services or tours, and showed me the kitchen that was stocked with every item I pre-ordered and made sure to point out two Cuban Cohiba cigars for me to enjoy. We chatted for about an hour about the islands, the features of the property, interesting sights, and she reminded me that there is daily maid service with a nightly turndown service complete with Ghirardelli milk chocolate squares placed on the beds.

The entire Equity Estates property looked and smelled brand new as The Regent Grand has only been open for about six months. The interior design was impeccably clean and functional and the color selections compliment the beach surroundings. As I walked from the main entry towards the “Grand Terrace”, I pass through ten floor-to-ceiling pillars and greeted with the incredible view of the blue water of Grace Bay. As much as I want to explore the property in detail, I am quickly drawn outside to the very large covered patio and walk out onto the central rotunda balcony that is cantilevered out about ten feet from the rest of the building.

The central rotunda balcony dramatically frames the dayglo blue waters of Grace Bay between four vertical columns and distinctive railing that immediately screams - “This is the view you have been waiting for”. The sights, smells, and sounds of the ocean waves rolling onto the crisp white sands seem surreal at first glance and are music to my ears. It is hard to describe the beauty of the view as I glance from the light blue sky with puffy white clouds towards the deep royal blue water of the Atlantic Ocean at the horizon that gradually changes to a bluish-green, light blue, turquoise, and finally a clear blue color as it approaches the crescent shaped sandy beach 50 feet below. It almost seems like the entire ocean is a private swimming pool as the reef protects the bay from waves and currents and I can easily see the ocean floor a hundred yards off shore.

I quickly discover that this 6th floor penthouse is far superior to the 7th floor penthouses as the Grand Terrace of unit 602 with the distinctive signature balcony offers the best vantage point of any other unit in the building. I estimate that the oceanfront balcony is about 70 feet long and 10 wide and also has a central 10x12 foot rotunda. There is a large round table on the balcony with six padded chairs that will make a perfect place to enjoy, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even midnight snacks. The terrace is large enough to comfortable seat 14 or more guests as there are chairs, benches, lounges, and even a romantic couch outside the master bedroom.

The kitchen is very open and is designed with granite countertops, a central island, oak finished cabinets with ultrasoft closing hinges, and also has a great view of Grace Bay. It is well equipped with Electrolux Icon appliances, convection oven, microwave, refrigerator with filtered water and ice, five element range top, wine cooler, dishwasher, over 100 glasses for every possible occasion, blender, coffee maker, toaster, Lenox china, and a ton of accessories including a martini shaker (hooray).

The dining room is completely open and is located next to the kitchen. There is a large glass table with six leather chairs and three decorative glass vases filled with sea shells to add some life to the room and remind you that you are in the Caribbean. A small desk is located besides the kitchen that has a Linksys high speed wireless Internet router, HP office jet printer, local phone, and a Vonage phone that allows toll free calls to anywhere in the US.

There are three guest bedrooms on the pool side of the property with their own private bathrooms and shared balconies. The southeast bedroom is the smallest containing two twin beds with a decorative mosquito netting (even though there were no bugs) to add a tropical feel to the lime green walls and floral bed sheets. There is a 32 inch Samsung LCD television on a wooden dresser and a sting chair in the corner. The closets have sliding solid core wooden doors and every closet is efficiently laid out with California Closet organizers and two robes per room. The guest bathrooms are full sized with granite countertops, frameless glass showers, tile floors, Gilchrist & Soames soap, shampoo, and conditioner.

The middle guest bedroom is the largest of the three guest bedrooms, has the largest bathroom. It is decorated in dark brown and green earth tones, grass cloth wallpaper, seagrass carpet, bamboo themed furniture and artwork, double lined curtains, and a leather sitting bench near the closet. This room has a queen sized bed, 37 inch Vizio television in a bamboo cabinet, and a six foot tall dressing mirror. The balcony is shared with the southeast bedroom and is about 25 feet by 6 feet and offers a great view of the cloverleaf swimming pool below and has several comfortable chairs to relax in.

There is a laundry room located in the corridor between the guest bedrooms that has a full sized, front-loading Frigidare washer and dryer. There is even a brand new ironing board that is still wrapped in plastic and a large Igloo cooler for packing up a few drinks to take to the beach.

The southwest guest bedroom has a queen size iron posted bed on a thin burlap rug. There is a small couch opposite the bed and under a wall mounted Vizio television. The walls are a sandy coco color and there are floral patterns in the bedspread and artwork. The bathroom is similar to the others and is designed well.

The family or informal living room is also referred to as the “Grand Salon” because it is about 20 feet by 20 feet, has a large white fabric L-shaped couch that can easily sit 10 adults and offers great view of Grace Bay. There is a large dark wood wall unit equipped with a 42 inch Vizio plasma television, Bose 321 surround sound system, iPod docking station, Xbox 360, a dozen DVDs and Xbox games, and various beach themed knick-knacks. The wooden table with marble inlays matched the wall unit and had some coffee table books and a fantastic pair of binoculars that came in handy for checking out the “action” on the beach, if you know what I mean.

When I walked into the master bedroom, I immediately looked at the captivating view of Grace Bay to the right (I never grew tired of that view) and initially thought that the room was smaller than I expected. However, when I turned left and saw the long hallway with two large his/her closets, separate bathroom, shower, and mystery room down the hall, I became curious at what was located behind the folding wooden doors at the end of the hallway. Even stranger, I could hear the sound of water, similar to a fountain, and assumed that someone must have left the water running in the master bathroom.

As I walked down the master bedroom hallway the sound of water grew louder and when I opened the wooden folding doors I found the source of the sound…..a private spa serenity room with its own six foot tall indoor copper mirrored waterfall. Wow, this was a surprise as I have never seen a private spa room in any Destination Club home and this one appeared to be modeled after a 5-star luxury spa retreat that came complete with a centrally placed professional massage table, his and hers lounge chairs, soft mood lighting, double lined sun-blocking curtains, and interesting artwork that you would typically find at a wellness center. There were two separate vertical wall units surrounding the waterfall that had decorative oils, spas, towels, and yoga books to complete the spa effect. This was a very impressive room and a complete surprise that will please any guest (oops, I just ruined the surprise).

The master bedroom had a king sized four-posted bed with decorative drapes for a romantic effect. There was a burlap rug, two sitting chairs, Vizio television in a wooden cabinet and beach themed artwork. There were two large closets and a safe in the master bedroom, a separate room with a commode, bidet (I did not test that feature), and a sink. The master bathroom had a large and deep jetted hot tub, glass enclosure shower, two sinks, granite countertops, and an interesting mirror that was illuminated from behind the glass.

The master bedroom shared a pool view balcony with the southwest guest bedroom and shared an ocean view balcony with the Grand Terrace. Although, I chose to visit during the less popular and much hotter summer month of July, I am sure this place would be amazing during the winter to open the windows on both balconies and sleep with the cool ocean breezes and gentle sound of the waves.

Although Grace Bay beach is the real star attraction of this location, the pool area of The Regent Grand certainly deserves attention as it was one of the nicest designed resort pools I have ever seen. It is a clover shaped pool with double zero entry points on opposite sides that meet in the middle and is only 3 feet deep in the center. The other ends of the cloverleaf are six foot deep and have a unique double infinity edge effect. The entire pool is lined with 1-inch glass mosaic tiles that are various shades of blue and have a 24-carat gold leaf sunburst design in the center.

One of the nicest features of this specific location is the boutique feel of the property and the lack of crowds. While I was able to visit some of the surrounding resort properties that were fairly crowded, this place offered an almost private beach experience as only a handful of people on the beach or pool during my visit. The property had a nice sized workout room, tennis courts, and poolside bar.

About the only thing that was lacking was an on-site restaurant, kids club, and room service, but there are a dozen or so restaurants located a few hundred yards across the street and there is a tremendous amount of new business construction that is being developed in front of The Regent Grand.

Here is an online slideshow of some photos I took during my visit.

Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

Kagehitokiri

fantastic pictures and report. :thumbsup:

from looking at the floorplans, it looks like of the 5 penthouses, only this one has truly private elevator access with direct entry from elevator to unit.

BTW with opening discount, rates through 12/20/08 run $370 > $1670.

want2travelmore

This property is right next door to the much smaller, boutique High Country Club property at the Villa Rennaisance, which is a ground floor unit whose patio is maybe 25 - 30 yards from the beach, which is a great convenience, but can't match the view of this Equity Estates unit (or its price of course!). I was there in May and we walked over to the Regent Grand one day. It looked as though there were maybe four sets of guests staying there the whole week we were there. DC4MS's excellent review is on point in terms of the wow-style architecture and feel and the beauty of the property's Grace Bay beach views - it has to be one of the most attractive Caribbean beaches I've ever seen and is one of the easiest walking sand beaches I've been on. The beach was never very crowded at either the Regent Grand or Villa Rennaisance. The pool with the beautiful artistically placed primarily deep-blue tiles is a style and construction match for the Villa Rennaisance property's pool - just much bigger. I'll confess when we stopped by (four of us), it was after a fairly long and hot beach walk returning to the Villa Renaissance, and that pool magnetically drew our bodies into it for a few refreshing minutes and splashes. Not by the rules, I know, but we had to check it out. But those deep blue tiles actually psychologically cool and soothe the soul just by looking at the whole pool and surrounding area lay-out with lounges, palm trees - you know what I mean!

We saw from the ground below the balcony with rotunda of the unit DC4MS described and it has the primo view and makes you literally sense the unit is as palatial a vacation spot as DC4MS describes it, and the pictures prove is the case..

DC4MS

I think all the HAB properties in that area of Grace Bay are fantastic and guests at any of the HAB resorts can share all of the pool, tennis, and workout facilities (at least they can now).

Although the Equity Estates property is a large 4 bedroom, 4.5 bathroom, the High Country Club property next store is a comfortable 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom beachfront unit on the first floor. I actually bumped into the HCC guests on the beach when I walked over to check out the Villa Renaissance as they happened to be the only couple on the beach when I walked by. They were kind enough to show me inside the property and they even registered on DC4MS for an account, but have not posted yet.

Here is a little history on the developer:

HAB Group embarked on their first beachfront development, Villa Renaissance, in 2000, completing in 2003. The success of this development lead to further projects in the shape of The Regent Grand in 2007, The Regent Village in 2009 and the forthcoming The Vellagio in 2010. All are situated in an area of Grace Bay that is fast becoming ‘the new heart of Provo’.

By the time the full 'Regent site' is completed, it will represent in excess of 120 oceanview condos and 100,000 sqft of commercial space, supplying Providenciales' first fully integrated lifestyle/retail environment.

Kagehitokiri

well, that kind of takes away the "boutique" aspect..

want2travelmore

Respectfully disagree to some extent. Even though the Regent Grand is next door to the Villa Renaissance, they aren't on top of each other and a fence separates the properties. VR only has 24 or so units. Regent Grand is bigger, five or six floors instead 3 at VR, but much bigger units, but still translates to only 50 units. Also, the commercial development between the Regent Grand and the nearest main road isn't directly attached to Regent Grand, but is easily walkable.

Yet you are correct in one sense, once fully developed as four condo hotels not far from each other, but in distinct areas and walkable distances, and related commercial shopping nearby, they won't be boutique in the remote isolated sense. But as a guest at VR it definitely had the boutique feel where the staff knows everyone and really seems to genuinely be helpful versus meeting minimum guest standards spelled out in a corporate policy and practices book somewhere. And at 22 - 26 units, never felt close to crowded at the pool or the beach. Now, maybe the two newer hotel projects will be past boutique size, I don't know their unit count plans.

Kagehitokiri

its not private, so strike that, and if a lot of nonguests show up and hang out, that will drop the service level.

its just that i personally wouldnt refer to it as "boutique" when the property is open to all guests of other HAB properties.

DC4MS

Let me better clarify the situation.

VR and TRG are sister properties that are next to each other and they are building a third building Vellagio. All three buildings are similar in style, but different in appearance and structure. The Vellagio will also be similar, but different. The shopping village is under construction and very few shops or restaurants are open, but you actually have to go out the front gates of the VR and THR properties (100 yards). The Salt Mills area is about 300 yards away and across a street and there were several nice restaurants and shops.

I consider all three properties to be "boutique" in nature as they are "small" properties in terms of size and number of guests. The grounds and architecture did look slightly European, but fit well with the surroundings.

When I was there, guests could use either pool or tennis courts. I actually used the VR tennis courts as the TRH was brand new and there was construction going around it and there were no trees to block the HOT sun. The VR courts had a bunch of palm trees surrounding the courts and it was better shaded.

I was told that guests could use either VR or TRG pool and I rarely saw anyone in the pools the entire time I was there. There were only about 4 people at the VR beach lounges and sometimes zero people at TRG beach.

If you look at my slide show, you will see two views of the beach (one looking west) and (one looking East). Both were taken on a Saturday afternoon and you have to look hard to find people in the pics. When I went to visit the Seven Stars, The Palms, and Sommerset they were more crowded (but still not that bad). It did appear that Beaches and Club Med were pretty packed.

Simply said, I really liked the layout and design of the HAB properties.