caribbeansun

With the recent newsletter release and seeming confirmation of the NYC, Chicago, Naples, Miami along with The Cliffs and Cancun the question is - what next???

Constraining myself to considering only those locations listed by HCC as "in development" and "future destination" and ignoring those noted above, my top 10 would be as follows:

1) Nevis, WI
2) Tortolla, BVI
3) St. Lucia
4) St. Martin
5)Scottsdale, Arizona
6) Belize
7) Santorini, Greece
8) Paris, France
9) London, England
10) Prince Edward Island

And you...???

pwrshift

Not that I have any voting power, here are my top 10:

Toronto
Montreal
Quebec City
Boston
Paris
London
Rome
Fort Lauderdale
Palm Beach
Myrtle Beach

vineyarder

PEI is beautiful but way too short a season...

Here's my list:

London
Boston
Paris
San Francisco
Quebec City
Montreal
Vancouver
Greek Islands
Cap Cana
Capri

__________________
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Living in a vacuum sucks!

SFAZZ

Ok, I'll vote too.
1) Nevis
2) St Lucia
3) Tortolla
4) Scottsdale
5)NE coast
6) Napa
7) Whistler
8) Jackson Hole
9) Bahamas
!0) St Martin

I would prefer to stay in hotels in European cities so I don't include them.By my preferences , one can tell that I feel HCC should add Carribean locations as I have said before. My top place of all would be Anguilla (not on the list ) and probably beyond HCC's price range.

saluki

c'sun-

You have a pretty nice list. I do think a Caribbean spot should be high on the list for the next acquisition.

1) Nevis, WI
2) Southeast US beachfront (smaller town resort-type community, a 2BR that fits the budget?)
3) Paris, France
4) Scotland or Ireland
5) Kiawah Island, SC
6) Kauai or Big Island closer to beach
7) St. Lucia
8) Jackson Hole
9) Outer Banks #2
10) Scottsdale

LTTravel

Why is Nevis so popular? Hard to get to, little to do.

saluki

LTT-

You've no doubt been to more Caribbean islands than me. How would you rank them in terms of desirability?

LTTravel

I love the carribean, but there are two things that are important to me.
1. Accessability
2. food situation

The wife (and kids if you are bringing them alonb) hate to take connecting flights, boats or whatever to get to a destination. It can blow the first or last day of your trip. With the prices of airline tickets going up, the availability of non stop flights to destinations is very important. Of course, the out of the way destinations tend to be quieter and more pristine, but I don't want it to take 12 hours to get there.
I hate spending triple New York restaurant prices for mediocre food. I like a variety of restaurants(at less than double New York prices) and reasonable supermarkets. We join destination clubs not only because they offer great accommodations, we do to save some money. You usually bring a larger group to the larger homes. What good are they if you have to pay much more for airfare, food and time to get to the destinations?
I am having trouble convincing the wife to go to Nevis or Little Dix Bay because of they fail to satisfy those two requirements. Grand Cayman was a pleasant surprise (good supermarkets and restaurants at about 50% above New York prices). Cancun, despite all the complaints, satisfies those two requests. Aruba is not bad also, but just not as nice an island as the others. Still looking for the perfect spot.

Steamboat Bill

I like Nevis, but would put Tortolla LAST on the list as this is the LEAST desirable island on BVI....Virgin Gorda is much nicer, also St Johns and St Thomas are nicer.

St Lucia has had a lot of crime against tourists (possibly Canadians) and I am surprised this is on your list.

I personally feel Grand Cayman is the perfect spot.

This is followed by Virgin Gorda, St John, St Thomas, Anguilla, Nevis, Dominican Republic, and finally Aruba. Puerto Rico would be an interesting wildcard choice along with St Maarten.

I would avoid Nassau or Freeport.

One of the MOST important factors is ACCESSIBILITY as flying to the islands can be expensive and a hassle.

Here is a sample Spirit Air Map (I am not endorsing them, only using it as an example)



Here is the American Airlines Map

jcjl1

My Top Ten:

1. Caymen Islands
2. BVI
3. Greek Isles
4. Paris
5. London
6. Berlin
7. Bahamas
8. Belize
9. San Francisco
10. Sydney, Australia or NZ

I've added Berlin as its really the capital of Europe with all the culture and activities that anyone could want!

Steamboat Bill

I would vote for Whistler as my #1 Canadian destination or Banff (impossible).

Vancouver would be an interesting choice, but Whistler is so much nicer to spend a week.

jcjl1

P. S. - Cuba will be great when the communists fall in the next couple of years!

caribbeansun

It wasn't my wish list, as stated in the OP "Constraining myself to considering only those locations listed by HCC as "in development" and "future destination".

St. John, St. Thomas, Virgin Gorda, Jost Van Dyke aren't listed so the closest I could get given the restriction was Tortolla.

I agree that Grand Cayman is perfect but I already own there and from a purely self-serving perspective I really don't need access to another location on the island since I'd never use it.

I also agree with your comments on Nassau and Freeport - no thanks.

caribbeansun

You could go right now - but lets just say it's not exactly in the same league as some of the other choices in the Caribbean. It's the cheap vacation destination for all inclusive types - kinda like CANCUN

jcjl1

It won't be like that when the American Developers do their thing. Sorry, but it was THE PLACE in the Caribe before Castro.

LTTravel

I would post a very strong negative for St.Thomas and Puerto Rico and a moderate negative for St. Johns.

St. Thomas has had very little development in many years and even the Ritz there is mediocre. The Marriott hotel is horrible.(The new timeshare is OK but the hotel itself is beat) The beaches are OK but difficult to get to and you have to pay to use them. Lots of slum areas. (The only good thing is there are several places to eat)
St. John has beautiful beaches but again the island requires a flight to St. Thomas and then a ferry to St. Johns (hassle). The beaches also require a fee to get in to and are difficult to get to. I found the Westin there, which is supposed to be nice, also mediocre.
Puerto Rico? Have been many times when there were very few choices and had very little money. My friend stayed at the Ritz one night recently for one night prior to a cruise and got jumped by a bunch of kids in front of the hotel. Forget it, no desire to go again, unless I have to stay one night to catch a flight to a nicer destination the next morning (though I will dread it.)