Whitesand Newsletter Travel ,Style and Luxury.

The U.S.A Edition

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Dominican Republic Goes Glam

This Caribbean island isn’t just your average all-inclusive resort destination. Long hailed as one of the largest affordable all-inclusive destinations that has been known to attract the gourmand-types queuing up by the all-you-can-eat-buffets and vacationer bingers extolling the virtues of rum-laced cocktails with their bellies up to the poolside bars, the Domini-can Republic these days is attempting to dust off its “great for value” image by moving uptown so to speak. Except in this case, the slick chi-chi crowd has tapped into the beauty of the bohemian charm that wraps itself around the eggshell powdery beaches of the island’s southern part in Punta Cana and La Romana. This is where the high-rollers splurge.

Unlike Anguilla, the Turks and Caicos or St. Bart’s where million-dollar private villas are the norm, you can still pick up a villa in the Domini-can Republic for under a paltry million green-backs. And that’s with the ocean view palm fringed beaches and haute couture amenities. Drive across the countryside past the herds of grazing goats and cows and see a new animal, the building crane, jetting its steely head as it reshapes the island’s skyline. “Tourism is booming in the Dominican Republic and so is construction of second homes for people from northerly climes,” noted Alain Mora, a St. Bart’s real estate agent in an inter-view with The New York Times and added, “"You can be a king in the Dominican for very little money. You need much more than that in St. Bart's. Houses that are $400,000 to $500,000 in an exclusive Dominican Republic

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April 2012 VOL # 1 ISSUE #

Check out the following:www.festivalsintoronto.com

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. Magdalena Grand Beach Resort (Tobago)

Opened November 2011,Magdalena Beach Resort is poised to

be the premier resort on the island, offering 18 holes of on-site

golf ,extensive meeting facilities, palm-fringed beach, three

restaurants ranging from casual to fine dining, a pub and pi-

ano bar .With each room offering an ocean view, the hotel fea-

tures spectacular Caribbean sunset views and a beautiful

beach.

St.Kitts

A diverse selection of places to stay can be found on every

price range and properties vary from intimately elegant bou-

tique inns to grand beachfront hotels and all-inclusive resorts

as well as condominiums, villas and guest houses.

Food aficionados will find a wonderful range of cuisines to

select from, which are available at various restaurants, both

individually operated and found within the island’s hotels or

inns. Local delicacies with a distinctly West Indian/Caribbean

flair dominate menus, yet continental ,vegetarian, Italian,

French and other styles can be found on St. Kitts.

The spirit and rich history of St. Kitts is celebrated year round

with fun festivals and events such as the National Carnival, St.

Kitts Music Festival, St. Kitts Tourism Month and various

community festivals throughout the year.

With lush rainforests blanketing the slopes of Mt. Liamuiga,

pristine coral reefs, windswept coastlines and a wealth of in-

digenous flora and fauna as well as an astonishing variety of

birds, butterflies, amphibians, and the exotic green vervet

monkey, St.Kitts is a nature lover’s heaven. Incidentally,

St.kitts is one of the few places in the world in which the rain-

forest has actually grown in the last 25 years.

The historic capital city of Basseterre offers sites including

Independence Square, Berkley Memorial, St. George’s Angli-

can Church, the National Museum and the Port Zante cruise

Terminal. Other top tourist draws on the island are Brimstone

Hill (the only man-made UNESCO World Heritage Site in the

Eastern Caribbean) St.Kitts Scenic Railway ,Caribelle Batik

Factory, Wingfield Estate and Mt.Liamuiga.

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April 2012 VOL # 1 ISSUE #3

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April 2012 VOL # 1 ISSUE #2

CARIBBEAN WEEK TORONTO:Patrons at the Rum and Rhythm Festival

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development would start at $1.1 million in St. Bart's.” Just ask Eddie Creed. The retired Four Seasons Hotels and Creeds tycoon took a fancy to the D.R. while on a golf vacation there during the '70s. So he built a villa in the southeastern part of the island, overlooking the legendary Pete Dye-designed Di-entes del Perro (The Teeth of the Dog) golf course. The course is located at the Casa de Campo resort, a luxury 7,000 acre enclave along the coast dotted with private villas and casitas suites. Celebrities the late Elizabeth Taylor and Sean Combs have been among the glitterati who have retreated there. For recreation, there’s equestrian tournaments, tennis, scuba diving, a private yacht club, shops, restaurants, a hos-pital, plenty of R&R by the beach or pools and of course golf in the Caribbean’s best 18-hole golf course. “I was the golf club’s 40th founding member,” Mr. Creed says of the Casa de Campo Golf Club. Now he shows one of his latest creations, a painting, which he has taken up after his golf swing slowed down. Mr. Creed tells me that his latest house guest was singer Alicia Keys who was shooting a music video in a repro Greek amphitheatre a

short drive from his vacation villa. I Italian architect and Paramount movie set designer Robert Coppa built a pseudo-Spanish colonial city in the '70s housing its own chapel, piazza, Greek amphitheatre and called it Altos de Chavon after the Chavon River that winds between sheer granite cliffs be-fore spilling into the Caribbean Sea. A short drive from Casa De Campo, you’d swear this place was built by Christopher Colum-bus who discovered the Dominican Republic back in 1492. The village's 5,000-seat open-air amphitheater was opened in 1982 by “Old Blue Eyes” Frank Sinatra and Carlos Santana. To-day, other performers like Julio Iglesias and Gloria Estefan have graced this Grecian stage. To the north at Cabarete on the Atlantic coast, windsurfers strike a gnarly pose as they battle the fierce updrafts that loom high along this stretch of golden sugar sand. I’ve made it to the coun-try’s windsurfing capital where bronzed barebacked, surf-strapped dudes take white knuckle flights over sun worshippers who lounge by the poolside of the posh Azzurro Club Cabarete and Estrella. Beating the heat, I decide to hitch a ride aboard the resort’s white trolley car for an inside peak of Azzurro’s spa. In shades of cool cucumber and pale yellow, the private massage rooms overlook the palm-fringed beachfront that punctuates the turquoise waters. Dr. Jose Reyes, the spa’s medical doctor and trained therapist, is gently covering a client in chocolate cream. “Chocolate cream is excellent for fatigue, muscle and joint aches,” he later says of the two-hour anti-oxidant chocolate therapy treatment he introduced a year ago using locally harvested cocoa beans.

Jutting into the Atlantic Ocean off the nub of the Samana peninsula, the Occidental Gran Bahia resort is perched like a crown atop this rocky promontory. The glam factor is high with the suites styled in white washed walls, matching bright floral bouquet patterned curtains and bedspreads. The piece de la resistance for this castle-like hotel is undoubtedly the panoramic view of the ocean which also doubles as a humpback whale sanctuary between January 15 and March 15. I open the French-doors of my private balcony overlooking the quaint islet Cayo Levantado and chuckle on how this remote jungle island was recently featured in a Bacardi Rum commercial that dubbed the place, “Bacardi Island.” In Punta Cana, Frank Ranieri, chief executive of Punta Cana Resort & Club, is busy with final touches for the debut of his newest baby, the Six Senses Spa, opening in December. The luxury spa will emphasize several programs such as the Planet Earth Core Treatment program, which includes gold, silver and crystal sprays, natural aromatic clays and native flower and herb es-sences. Besides the P.B. Dye golf course, arguably the Caribbean’s closest resemblance to Pebble Beach, private villas, a self-contained 100-slip marina, an ecological reserve, a biodiversity labo-ratory and a horse ranch, the resort mirrors the uber chic tastes of its co-owners, singer Julio Iglesias and designer Oscar de la Renta, a Dominican Republic native. Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov was so impressed with the area after a visit with the de-signer he sold his getaway in St. Bart’s and purchased a beachfront estate nearby. With its pastel interiors, white shuttered windows and plunging pools, the Punta Cana Resort & Club tastes and feels like a California dream. Actors Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart know this. They were guests in one of the exclusive luxury villas designed by de la Renta. President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary also managed to slumber at Oscar’s private mansion. So if this D.R. seems far removed from the D.R. you know -- relax, don't worry. Five-star resorts like the Punta Cana Resort & Club make you feel like an A-lister without the big pocketbook. Rates for a two bedroom luxury beach villa start as low as $400US. Now that's a deal.

To Know:

For travel information on Dominican Republic visit Dominican Republic or call 1.888.494.5050 From Toronto, flights are approximately 4.5 hours. There are daily departure flights leaving To-ronto Pearson International Airport. For package information on the above see your nearest travel agent for details. Written by: Ilona Kauremszky