.
perched overlooking white sand beaches
Villa Group Therapy
A vacation in the Caribbean conjures up visions of a pure, distilled essence of sun, sea and warm breezes. Our family vacations have become an important function of maintaining our family’s health, well being, and lifestyle. So why settle for small hotel room when you can rent a villa with your family, near the resort amenities but above it all and overlooking the Caribbean Sea? That’s what we did for my daughters 11th birthday party as a family with our 10 year old daughter, her best friend 9 and our 6 month old son at Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands over the 4th of July weekend. And the girls did celebrate all weekend laughing in their own room, splashing in our private pool, singing in the outdoor showers and having bubble baths in the oversized bathtubs. We never felt compelled to quiet down the laughter for fear of disturbing our neighbors (ok we did have them keep it down when the baby was trying to have a nap in the day). This is just one of the reasons we loved about having our own villa – you feel like you are very much at home while on vacation.
A vacation in the Caribbean conjures up visions of a pure, distilled essence of sun, sea and warm breezes. Our family vacations have become an important function of maintaining our family’s health, well being, and lifestyle. So why settle for small hotel room when you can rent a villa with your family, near the resort amenities but above it all and overlooking the Caribbean Sea? That’s what we did for my daughters 11th birthday party as a family with our 10 year old daughter, her best friend 9 and our 6 month old son at Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands over the 4th of July weekend. And the girls did celebrate all weekend laughing in their own room, splashing in our private pool, singing in the outdoor showers and having bubble baths in the oversized bathtubs. We never felt compelled to quiet down the laughter for fear of disturbing our neighbors (ok we did have them keep it down when the baby was trying to have a nap in the day). This is just one of the reasons we loved about having our own villa – you feel like you are very much at home while on vacation.
Villas are hidden into the hillside.
After a short ferry ride from Tortola, we were greeted by our driver Mula from the resort who collected all our luggage that families tend to travel with and squeezed us along with the baby stroller into a mini van for a short ride to the resort. As we checked in the kids played in the activities room, Mula dropped our overloaded bags in the villa for us while we sipped iced lemon water in bar by the beach. Virgin Gorda has often been a favorite stopover with the yacht-chartering set, the hilly, arid, lightly developed Fat Virgin is increasingly being discovered by land based vacationers. Casual, open-to-the-trade-winds villas in many different resorts offer access to sublime boating, fishing, and hiking, plus extraordinary beaches.
When one considers the demographic profile of a traveling family, statistics show that 90% are in a long term marriage, 80% are over the age of 45 and the average age of their children is 8 years. [Kang et al. “FAMILY TRAVELER” , April 2009, p.p. 454-455]. Resorts in the Virgin Islands and throughout the Caribbean have realized this trend for many years and have been and still are building villas for rent or sale as fully functional vacation homes within the standard hotel rooms they’ve traditionally offered. As the architect who had worked on the designs and constructions of the villas many years before with a local firm, I was excited to see how the spaces worked out and how the place had faired over time. My daughter and friend were excited to see the pool and how big their bed was (it was huge – so huge that they ended up sleeping together in one of the beds each night!).
When one considers the demographic profile of a traveling family, statistics show that 90% are in a long term marriage, 80% are over the age of 45 and the average age of their children is 8 years. [Kang et al. “FAMILY TRAVELER” , April 2009, p.p. 454-455]. Resorts in the Virgin Islands and throughout the Caribbean have realized this trend for many years and have been and still are building villas for rent or sale as fully functional vacation homes within the standard hotel rooms they’ve traditionally offered. As the architect who had worked on the designs and constructions of the villas many years before with a local firm, I was excited to see how the spaces worked out and how the place had faired over time. My daughter and friend were excited to see the pool and how big their bed was (it was huge – so huge that they ended up sleeping together in one of the beds each night!).
author and family at the pool
We stayed in a 3 bedroom hideaway that was for sale thru, rented and managed thru the resort, perched above Little Dix Bay near the east end of the resort. Contemporary style combined with rustic finishes of a simple palette of wood shingles, stone columns and plastered walls in a green which made the building nearly invisible in the surrounding landscape from the outside. Inside a blast of cool AC was a welcome greeting from the mid day sun. The décor is to a very high standard in all the villas creams and whites in the walls, floors and furniture with splashes of blue accents in the throw pillows and the original nature inspired art that adorned the walls . There are astonishing views of the beach, bay and islands beyond thru mahogany windows in every room, including the outdoor showers and pool! Personal touches of sea shells, adventure novels on shelves along with fresh flowers in a large glass vase with a hand written welcome letter from the manager of the resort were a nice touch. I glanced over the books but remembered I’d brought my own Graham Greene novel that I’d been stuck on page 33 for weeks due to lack of time to get to page 34. In our own room, a large crib with a hand made quilt had been delivered for our son, and in the living room a fresh bowl of (real!) tropical fruits (I made fresh squeezed juice the next morning during my sons 5am feeding) while the kitchen sported a refrigerator filled with complimentary beer and champagne (ok there was water too) really made us feel special and reminded us why we had chosen to vacation in this special place.
Our main outing, in a plethora of options including sailing, sunset cruises, diving, fishing, hiking, spas and a helicopter ride to a golf course on another island to name a few, was a trip to The Baths, where my daughter likes to run informal tours for the uninitiated tourists. The Baths are a jumble of giant boulders that form caves and secret pools and where the locals go to bathe, rather than swim, hence the origins of the name. The resort delivers you by small boat to the Baths with a picnic, snorkels and beach umbrella right up onto the beaches that flank the massive granite boulders. This patch of shade on the coarse white sand became our base for the day while the girls gathered beach stones to make sculptures, climbed thru the caves of the Baths and ran into the warm and calm seas where they tracked a sting ray which glided along just under the surface. The boat trip ride back was a wild ride and highlight to the kids as we were on the edge of a tropical rain storm. Upon arrival to the villa a deluge of rain followed by a mist covered the hills and cooled the air and we stayed inside, opened birthday gifts and we all played Clue board game, where I was invariably found guilty by the kids.
Our main outing, in a plethora of options including sailing, sunset cruises, diving, fishing, hiking, spas and a helicopter ride to a golf course on another island to name a few, was a trip to The Baths, where my daughter likes to run informal tours for the uninitiated tourists. The Baths are a jumble of giant boulders that form caves and secret pools and where the locals go to bathe, rather than swim, hence the origins of the name. The resort delivers you by small boat to the Baths with a picnic, snorkels and beach umbrella right up onto the beaches that flank the massive granite boulders. This patch of shade on the coarse white sand became our base for the day while the girls gathered beach stones to make sculptures, climbed thru the caves of the Baths and ran into the warm and calm seas where they tracked a sting ray which glided along just under the surface. The boat trip ride back was a wild ride and highlight to the kids as we were on the edge of a tropical rain storm. Upon arrival to the villa a deluge of rain followed by a mist covered the hills and cooled the air and we stayed inside, opened birthday gifts and we all played Clue board game, where I was invariably found guilty by the kids.
tennis anyone?
One of our favorite things to do was to go to the buffet breakfast every morning. Not just because it was a really great breakfast but because the villas came with electric golf carts which we never really got tired of touring around the resort in, going to the beach, the spa for iced lemon water or down to play some tennis on the grass courts. I even volunteered to go get groceries for the villa so I could relive those old go cart days as a kid (now a big kid).
Our kids didn’t mind getting dressed up once for a fancy oriental themed dinner when they heard there was desert buffet in the Pavillion restaurant with live music and amazing 5 star service. My daughter, with her birthday tiara on, got special service including a customized birthday cupcake with her name and candles (they did one for her friend as well to make sure she didn’t feel left out). All in all a great night out. However one way to get value out of your villa is to use the fully stocked kitchens and make your own food and drink. Besides good friends and families nuture their relationships and maintain closeness through participation and relaxed conversation. In our case, dad was in charge of making birthday dinner #2 which consisted of a homemade chocolate cake and spaghetti with garlic bread. In our typically busy schedules, this relaxed setting allowed us to interact in a positive way. Conversation consisted of happy memories of past trips together and making of future plans and simply just “being in the moment” in one another’s company.
Our kids didn’t mind getting dressed up once for a fancy oriental themed dinner when they heard there was desert buffet in the Pavillion restaurant with live music and amazing 5 star service. My daughter, with her birthday tiara on, got special service including a customized birthday cupcake with her name and candles (they did one for her friend as well to make sure she didn’t feel left out). All in all a great night out. However one way to get value out of your villa is to use the fully stocked kitchens and make your own food and drink. Besides good friends and families nuture their relationships and maintain closeness through participation and relaxed conversation. In our case, dad was in charge of making birthday dinner #2 which consisted of a homemade chocolate cake and spaghetti with garlic bread. In our typically busy schedules, this relaxed setting allowed us to interact in a positive way. Conversation consisted of happy memories of past trips together and making of future plans and simply just “being in the moment” in one another’s company.
precious family moments - my daughter turns 11 and my son is 6 months old.
Life is busy, work competitive and memorable times with family are precious moments which can not be replaced. So then too, the place that groups of families or friends choose to spend time together must provide them with a stage in which to make lasting memories together and yet provide them with activities to relax and enjoy their time away from work and school. Most couples make joint decisions about where the next destination for their family is going to be over the holidays. Of course the kids often have a say in where they are going especially if Disney World is the end result. And yes, these places have rides, shopping and fast food but is that truly the stuff of a great family vacation?
Besides feeling completely rested I also managed to finish my novel by Graham Greene I had brought along while lounging on the deck – an old dusty, hard cover book I’d found in a old book shop ( I still like the feel and smell of a book over a device). In the book Querry, an architect, escapes society to a remote village in the Congo. Near the end a priests asks “Are you a happy man?” he replies `I suppose I am. It's not a question that I've ever asked myself. Does a happy man ask it?” This vacation to this paradise villa with the people I love has raised my spirits and I understand that my contentment is not something I’ve needed to question during my stay – I just am.
by Richard Finnegan
http://richardfinnegan.brandyourself.com/
Besides feeling completely rested I also managed to finish my novel by Graham Greene I had brought along while lounging on the deck – an old dusty, hard cover book I’d found in a old book shop ( I still like the feel and smell of a book over a device). In the book Querry, an architect, escapes society to a remote village in the Congo. Near the end a priests asks “Are you a happy man?” he replies `I suppose I am. It's not a question that I've ever asked myself. Does a happy man ask it?” This vacation to this paradise villa with the people I love has raised my spirits and I understand that my contentment is not something I’ve needed to question during my stay – I just am.
by Richard Finnegan
http://richardfinnegan.brandyourself.com/
