Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort Villages & Spa

You won’t find romance, exclusivity, or peace and quiet at the sprawling 65-acre Beaches Resort on Grace Bay. You will, however, find just about everything else you can imagine -- from the spectacular (a huge spa, a 45,000-square-foot water park, and ten pools), to the unique (an Xbox Games Garage for kids), to the downright ridiculous (a DJ-spinning academy).There are really four Beaches resorts on Turks and Caicos: the Caribbean Village, which opened with the resort in 1997 and received a refresh in 2015; the French Village, which has a Riviera-style atmosphere; the Italian Village, which is the most expensive and has the nicest rooms; and the Key West Village, opened in 2013 and formerly the Veranda Resort. Each village has its own pools, restaurants, and room types, but all of them have one thing in common: crowds. No matter where you go, you "will" be surrounded by other guests -- at the pool, you’ll be splashed by children; at the bar, you’ll be elbowed by guests clamoring for drinks; and even in your room, you’ll see and hear people walking just a yard or two away from your window.All-inclusive rates are one of the biggest appeals at Beaches. Guests can challenge themselves to eat at all 20 restaurants, drink at all 12 bars, and relax at all six pools before their vacation is over. Of course, in those 20 restaurants, you might not find one that truly wows with its cuisine, but you will have the opportunity to eat brick-oven pizza, jerk chicken, sushi, and crème brulée all in one day, should you be so inclined.Of course, you shouldn’t expect personalized service at this size resort unless you upgrade to a room with butler service. 

Beaches spans over 65 acres, though its portion of beachfront isn’t much larger than that at the much smaller (and more sophisticated) Grace Bay Club. And because the resort’s large expanse of land can take hours just to tour, very few off-site attractions are reachable by foot. Luckily, if you head to the beach, you can find a few nearby restaurants in either direction, but for everything else, be prepared to find a taxi or rent a car.- 15-minute drive from Providenciales International Airport

• 1- to 5-minute walk to Grace Bay (property is located on the beach, but depending on the location of your room, you might have to walk a few extra minutes)
• 5-minute drive to shops and restaurants at Regent Village and Salt Mills shopping centers
• 7-minute drive to Smith’s Reef for snorkeling
• 10-minute drive to Provo Golf Club
• 10-minute drive to the Caicos Conch Farm, the world’s only conch farm
• 15-minute drive to Da Conch Shack and Rum Bar

Spread across its four villages, there are more than 40 different room types. There are no “standard rooms,” however, the cheapest options in the French and Caribbean Villages are small, with uninspired interiors and unpleasant views (usually of a busy walkway or fence that separates the guest room buildings from the pools). Twelve rooms in the Caribbean Village section received a renovation in 2015, but it remains the cheapest section at the hotel. - Flat-screen TVs with satellite cable

• Furnished balconies or patios
• Four-poster king beds
• Red Lane bath products
• CD player/clock radios
• Free Wi-Fi
• Features and decor in rooms vary greatly.
• Caribbean Village rooms start at a 398 square feet -- quite small by Turks and Caicos standards.
• The French Village was completed in 2007. Its rooms start at just 378 square feet -- the smallest at the resort – but are located in a quieter area than the other two villages.
• The Italian Village was completed in 2011. Rooms here are supposed to be the most impressive, with 14 different types ranging from 640 square feet to 1,368 square feet.
• All section have the option for personal butler service.
• The Key West Village, formerly the Veranda Resort, was added to the resort in 2013. It features bright, comfortable rooms, starting at 500 square feet.
• All suites feature “suite concierge service,” which is just a fancy way of saying that guests can visit the concierge desk at the Caribbean Village lobby.
• All suites include bathrobes; smaller rooms do not.
• Some units come with mini-fridges stocked only with water, while others come with scotch, gin, vodka, rum, beer, wine, and soft drinks. Still others are missing a refrigerator completely.
• In most Caribbean Village units, there are separate soaking tubs and showers. However, the tubs are located in an area open to the rest of the bedroom, as is the vanity.
• The Italian Village units are the largest and some of the newest, but for the price, you’d be better off heading to a nicer resort like Grace Bay Club.
• All Italian Village rooms feature Xbox 360 consoles with video games.

• Beachfront location
• Six pools, five with swim-up bars, two kiddie pools, and four whirlpools (including one adult-only Jacuzzi with ocean views)
• The largest resort fitness center on the island with tons of cardio machines, personal trainers, weight machines, free weights, dumbbells, yoga balls, and a fitness pavilion
• Free land sports include volleyball, soccer, tennis, shuffleboard, table tennis, billiards, basketball, and outdoor chess
• Free water sports include kayaks, windsurfers, snorkeling equipment, aqua bikes, and Hobie Cats.
• Free unlimited scuba diving
• A sprawling spa complex featuring Red Lane and Dermalogica products, his and hers saunas and steam rooms, a salon, a tropical nail bar, a relaxation patio with soaking pool, and a treatment menu featuring massages, facials, and body treatments.
• The resort has a strict no-tipping policy.
• All-inclusive rates include all meals and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic)
• PADI-certified scuba courses for first-timers (for a fee)
• Multiple conference rooms, each around 1,900 square feet, include 42-inch flat-screen TVs, Wi-Fi, video simulcasts, and projection screens.
• A 7,000-square-foot retail village featuring high-end jewelry, fashion, candies, souvenirs, and art
• Beringer wine and cheese tasting held on Wednesdays
• Free Wi-Fi
• View full list of amenities

Make no mistake, this is a family hotel at heart -- honeymooners and lovebirds should steer clear. Only a few adult-only sections exist -- and even those areas somehow end up with a kid or two in the vicinity. But if you want your little ones to be entertained while you head for a rum punch, you’ll certainly be taken care of with a Sesame Street Camp and nightly performances, a Martha Stewart Crafts Studio, a massive 45,000-square-foot water park, an Xbox games garage, and even a DJ academy.- A 45,000-square-foot water park with a lazy river, surf simulator, water cannons, a splash deck, two waterslides, and a negative-entry toddler pool

• An Xbox 360 games garage for kids featuring a dozen or so video game consoles and two Kinects
• A nightclub and lounge for teens
• Sesame Street camp for kids, weekly Sesame Street Live parades, and daily Sesame Street performances and activities

Food is an attraction unto itself at Beaches, where 20 restaurants and 12 bars round out the culinary and libation offerings. Of course, none of them are outstanding -- and none of them feature the celebrity chefs you’d find at similar megaresorts in the Caribbean, like Atlantis Paradise Island -- but volume and variety at least ensure that everyone gets to eat what they want and no one has to eat at the same place more than once.A few above average options include Kimono’s, a Japanese restaurant with exotic teppanyaki-style dishes that are prepared at the table; and Le Petit Chateau, a European a la carte restaurant that claims authentic French specialties. The gorgeous Café de Paris is also a great spot for coffee and afternoon snacks -- just beware of the always available and extremely addictive free cookies and pastries.- Twenty restaurants with cuisines that include Caribbean, French, Italian, Tex-Mex, Japanese, pub fare, brick-oven pizza, and seafood

• Twelve bars, including Five swim-up bars