Temenos Golf Club Has Re-opened

Just before Christmas 2009 Temenos Golf Club on Anguilla re-opened. The par 72, 7063 yard course – the only one on Anguilla - was opened by Cap Juluca, the Anguillian resort, on 19 December.

Set in the west of the island, close to most of the resorts, the course, which was designed by Greg Norman and opened in 2006, sits on slightly sloping ground that falls away to the south coast. The shape of the land gives some lovely views from the open spaces of the fairways - five miles across to St Martin, which sits hazily green in the incredibly strong blue of the tropical sky. The sun is hot and strong, glancing off the crests of the swell between the two islands. It’s a spectacular
setting.

And the fairways are relatively open spaces. Or that’s what they say… Wide they may be, but they are not easy on ‘erratic’ players, as no two of them run parallel without scrub in between. Go even slightly off course and you’re in the rough, which is an unholy mix of sea grape, thatch palm, tamarind and neem tree. And loblolly – which is what you’ll be doing if you go in there. And then there are the ‘water features’.

Thirteen of the holes follow or cross water, particularly on the back nine. You have to be deft to pick your way through them... There’s a challenge, anyway.

Fir more information about the hotel, please see our Definitive Caribbean Guide to Cap Juluca.

For more information about the island, please see our Definitive Caribbean Guide to Anguilla.

New Year’s Eve – or is that Old Year’s Night? – on the Wild Side (of Barbados)

For many years it has been a tradition among young Bajans, after the West Coast parties on New Year’s Eve - or Old Year’s Night, of course, as they know it in Barbados - to make their escape to the east coast to catch the dawn and sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean.

But what if you were over there already? It’s certainly a possibility. There is a good new place to stay on the Atlantic side. In early December the Atlantis Hotel in Bathsheba re-opened after extensive refurbishment. Backed by the people who created Little Good Harbour outside Speightstown, the Atlantis should certainly make its mark as a stylish getaway in an unexpected part of the island.

And the Atlantis will be holding an Old Year’s Night party. It will be laying on a meal and drinks and a DJ who will play Old School hits. Ok, not so wild – and the guests might not still be awake at dawn - but there will certainly be breakfast and a hair of the dog with a cracking view - with the morning sun glancing off the sea swell.

And if you don’t quite make it for a New Year breakfast, then the Atlantis is well worth a stopover on a tour of Barbados, which every visitor should do during a trip. Perhaps go for the Sunday buffet lunch (for which the Atlantis was known in its previous incarnation) – which has already got the thumbs up from friends on their Facebook page. With the guys from the Fish Pot at the helm it is bound to be worth including in a trip this season.

For more information, see the Definitive Caribbean Review of Barbados Boutique Hotels.