A Wonderful Small Seaside Lodge in St Croix Caribbean Journal

If a lodge owner wants to acquire my coronary heart, unquestionably give me a room that will come with its possess cat.

Tommy the cat does not in fact belong to the Sand Castle on the Seaside vacation resort in St. Croix: he’s genuinely a resident of the Cottages by the Sea lodge, upcoming doorway. But considering the fact that he’s a cat he seriously doesn’t regard boundaries, so when we checked into our Sea Check out Suite, Tommy was there to greet us, curled up on a chair on the semi-enclosed patio. Later on, he would obtain his way inside of and be sleeping on the mattress when we returned to the area. Awww, kitty!

I know cats aren’t everyone’s meow, but to me, Tommy was the best ambassador for Sand Castle: heat, common, and just a touch sassy, far too. Owned and operated by Chris Richardson and Ted Bedwell, Sand Castle has developed a name as one of the most LBGTQ-friendly resorts in the Caribbean.

The optimistic vibe starts off with the omnipresent owners. Even though Sand Castle is huge ample to slip into impersonal provider, with 25 rooms positioned both equally beachfront and across the avenue, that under no circumstances would seem to come about. In truth, just about every time I’ve visited this Fredriksted resort, I have been individually greeted by Chris and Ted, who not only choose a keen fascination in their attendees but look to have a 2nd feeling about when anyone new has dropped by.

The couple, a previous hairdresser and flight attendant, bought the lodge together with partner Dan Metzger on New Year’s Eve 4 yrs in the past, but their baptism in hospitality has been something but a party as St. Croix has been battered in latest decades by Hurricane Maria and of class the pandemic. “We’ve never ever experienced a usual calendar year,” says Chris, “but we’re nevertheless residing our dream.”

Sand Castle is the furthest thing from a cookie-cutter vacation resort, with its two-dozen guest rooms sorted into five area categories. Whitewashed structures and LED lighting that glow to lifetime just after dark give the hotel a thoroughly clean, fashionable experience that carries in excess of into the brightly adorned gust home interiors, exactly where beds with waffled comforters and batik-impressed shams sit on great tiled flooring and are surrounded by colourful, framed island artwork.

Most rooms are roughly laid out close to a courtyard swimming pool and adjacent to the hotel’s preferred (and aptly named) cafe, The Seaside Aspect Cafe, which serves three meals every day and is specially identified for brunch. In addition to common rooms and suites on the ground and 2nd ground of the most important developing, the hotel has numerous beachfront villas, such as the prime-end two bed room, two-tub Dolphin Villa, which has twin sets of French doors opening onto a private patio.

Sand Castle is a rather compact resort, so the villas are less personal than practical, with direct entry to a nice strip of sandy seashore as effectively as being contiguous to the other resort amenities. But that doesn’t imply the place lacks for surprises.

Across the avenue from the major advanced is a next, larger sized swimming pool surrounded by extra visitor quarters, such as king and queen rooms and some equipped with kitchens. If the sea facet is for social butterflies, the courtyard rooms all around the pool are for great cats and kittens who want to maintain additional to them selves (it’s also a terrific choice for teams who want a minor separation from the crowd). The pool right here also is clothes-optional, with superior fences screening out inquisitive eyes.

The hotel’s oceanfront tiki bar is where friends get for sunset cocktails, and there’s also a fireplace pit for night gatherings. Other resort amenities include things like a small exercise center, a Buddha fountain that greets arriving visitors, and sufficient lounge chairs and umbrellas on the beach.

A stroll of a mile or so together the shoreline in entrance of the resort will take guests to Frederiksted’s famous pier, acknowledged to divers for its populace of uncommon seahorses, and the bars, dining places, stores, and historic fort downtown. Ted and Chris are relative newcomers to St. Croix but are significant boosters of the largest of the 3 principal U.S. Virgin Islands, touting the island’s pure beauty, outstanding eating, and a rising listing of points of interest, including a new zip-line.

“We see St. Croix as our dwelling and our neighborhood,” states Chris, and if attendees at Sand Castle really do not very feel transplanted to St. Croix, you could perfectly conclude your vacation experience quickly adopted — just like Tommy.

For a lot more, take a look at Sand Castle on the Beach.