Lifestyle

Life after Hurricane Irma spells super-luxury on the island of Anguilla



Irma was always going to take some getting over. In September 2017, she tore through the Eastern Caribbean, leaving a trail of broken hearts, homes and businesses in her wake. Even 18 months after the hurricane, many islands are still recovering. Throughout the Leewards — from the Virgin Islands to Guadeloupe — roofless domiciles, ruptured palm trees and rusting ship carcasses remain common sights. With one shining exception: Anguilla.

Here, on the British Overseas Territory just north of Saint Martin, it’s back to business in style, despite 90 per cent of the island having no electricity for more than three months. A large part of the island’s success has been the “Anguilla Stronger” campaign, which saw a collection of super-luxury hotels unite to speed the recovery effort. The homeless were housed, supplies were shared and beach-clearing operations were co-ordinated. 

It worked. Recently, Travel + Leisure magazine crowned Anguilla as the best destination in the Caribbean for the second year running, while the tourist board reported last month that visitor figures are now at a 26-year-high.

At the heart of this renaissance was a cluster of top-end hotels: secluded slices of tropical paradise beloved by celebrities from Beyoncé and Jay-Z to Leonardo Di Caprio, Lady Gaga and Kendall Jenner. All of these properties, from the CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa on Rendezvous Bay to the flashy Four Seasons overlooking Barnes Bay and clifftop favourite Malliouhana, have reopened in recent months. But the king of Anguilla 2.0 is the Belmond Cap Juluca, at the western tip of the island, on a perfect crescent of beach, capturing both sunrise and sunset. 

Belmond — the company behind the Orient Express and a number of the world’s finest hotels — bought the property weeks before Irma struck. Some 15 months (and a reported £91 million) later, the Belmond Cap Juluca officially opened, and the results are spectacular. Think Morocco-meets-Mykonos: a string of whitewashed, riadesque villas set against vanilla sands, never more than a few steps from the ocean.  

Anguilla has attracted celebs such as Kendall Jenner (Getty Images)

From its herbology-driven Arawak Spa (run by a herbologist called Cinthya, who grows fresh ingredients on site) to Cip’s, a new restaurant concept from the Cipriani group, this is a brilliant property — and worth the 25-minute boat ride from the airport on Saint Martin, or a flight from Antigua (new flights on Trans Anguilla Airways make this the smoothest route from London).  

It helps that the property runs the length of arguably Anguilla’s best coastal stretch, Maundays Bay. But that’s a close call, with 33 beaches on an island just 16 miles long. These golden sands, though, are pretty much the whole meat and potatoes (or rather steamed fish and lobster dumplings) here. There’s little else to do except enjoy the tropical beauty — although Belmond has this covered, with yachts available to take guests island-hopping around the Leewards, via stellar snorkelling (picture a multicoloured chorus of parrotfish, surgeonfish and lionfish as well as moray eels, hawksbill turtles and a barracuda or two).       

For the Caribbean, extreme weather conditions are an inescapable evil but Anguilla isn’t letting the small matter of a hurricane blow it off course. A bigger runway for the island’s airport is imminent, and with it the ability to land direct long-haul flights. 

Beyond the white sands, swanky hotels and gourmet seafood lies real Anguillan ambition — and that can only be a good thing. 

Details 

Anguilla

Deluxe Beachfront King rooms at Belmond Cap Juluca start from £568 a night based on two people sharing, including breakfast (belmond.com/capjuluca). ivisitanguilla.com.  



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