Looking for Luxurious Vacation Spot? Back from Sheriva on Anguilla

[BobD]

I just returned from an incredible vacation on the Island of Anguila. Figured I would share some of the details if anyone has been looking or planning to take some time off. Its not for every occasion but I would highly recommend this after my experience. If you're looking for a place just to relax this is premium. It is somewhat quaint so I don't think this is the place to go if your focused on activity.


Anguilla is a Caribbean island (its own country/ British Territory) a short boat ride off the north coast of St. Martin. Its east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Anguilla is full of incredible scenery and amazing food. The waters are as crystal clear and warm as anywhere I've visited. The island is quite small and offers some great panoramic views of the coast.


Native foods include lobster, crayfish, chicken, goat and and a variety of fish. We kept our dining fairly simple and stayed more with fresh low key offerings than some of the higher end restaurants.


I stayed at a the luxury villa estate Sheriva. It has property, travel, and recreation management on site as well as staff for food, housekeeping and laundry services. The property contains three separate villas and two unique styles. The Infinity and Harmony are modeled about the same and the Mystique is completely different.


The Infinity and Harmony are both 14,000 sq feet, each with 4 grand suites, 1 loft suite, garden suite and 2 guest rooms fully furnished with wifi, plasma tv's and indoor/outdoor sound systems. They both have 8.5 bathrooms. The Mystique is the largest villa on the island at 21,000 sq ft. It has 4 grand suites, a loft suite, garden suite and 9 bathrooms. It is furnished with similar amenities and has a built in gym on the bottom floor.


The property is massive and overlooks the Caribbean Sea. There are 8 seat golf carts for transportation directly to a private beach area. The grounds are staffed with security that oversees the property through the night. Housekeeping is in at least three times a day to clean up and restock. The service is outstanding, the staff was timely, helpful and respectful.


We were fortunate enough to have had all of the villas vacant for use . They total 49,000 sq feet with 3 infinity pools, 4 traditional and 5 outdoor hot tubs.


We stayed primarily in the Infinity Villa and had the other two at our disposal


Front of Infinity Villa

Back of Infinity night

View from top floor pool overcast

View from bottom pool deck

Main floor living room

Another bottom floor living area with poker table

Additional living area on bottom floor

Front entrance of Mystique

Under front catwalk of Mystique

Back of Mystique

 

[BobD]

Some Additional Perks:


Private chef available


Private Beach Access at Cap Juluca: shaded lounge chairs, stocked coolers, beach gear (snorkeling, tubing, boating, waterskiing etc...) towels folded and placed in bins by swim areas. Soiled glasses, plates, towels etc... were retrieved by staff.


Transportation: 8 seat golf carts, 12 seat vans... Whatever you request


Restocking: multiple towel bins around pools and beach front. Beer, wine, liquor and bottled water with par stocks were replenished.


Travel, dining and activity reservation and planning: They plan and reserve everything as well as pack necessities (goggles, towels etc...)


Game tables


Indoor arcade and gym inside lower level of villa




Some food pics...


As I mentioned before, we kept the dining experiences fairly simple but the majority of the food was remarkable. There are several islands that house only single restaurants/bars (no residence).


Scilly Cay Island: some of the best lobster and crayfish I've ever had. These crayfish are indigenous to Anguila, massive and nothing short of incredible. They only prepare 3 dishes here: Lobster, Crayfish and Chicken so what they've done is perfected. Great drinks and live music as well

Another island with just this food shack... More good drinks and music

And, their lobster...

From here, this was the restaurant Spice and was attached to the corner of our section of beach front. The seats were only a couple feet from the water. Atmosphere was a bit more than the other places we visited

 

[BALLISTIC]

Very nice, what did it run per night? How are the other costs on the island?

 

[BobD]

Ballistic,

The prices vary DRAMATICALLY depending on the time of stay. Prices are significantly cheaper during the summer months. December-January prices are the highest in the Caribbean followed by the late winter-spring.

At Sherviva, there are single bedroom suites that start around $1,000/day for summer and range up around $10,000/day for a single villa in the holiday season with 10 day minimums.

We lucked out and stayed in the Infinity Villa in an open week for the other two so we had the additional amenities of the Harmony and Mystique without extra charge. We had the entire property to ourselves. We fit 19 Very comfortably, with almost 750 sq ft per person in the one home.

Food and fun on the island isn't cheap. The food costs have become inflated as it has grown in popularity amongst some high profile tourists. I'm sure with searching there are some better prices where the locals eat and I would have been happy to eat there as well. I think we could have been better prepared for daily expenses from better research at home. The estate finds and arranges places for you to go based on your preferences and needs.

Eg. Much of the food can rival NYC prices where you are sitting on only a bench to eat. The seafood is as fresh as it gets and some of the meals were so good the money meant nothing. On the other hand, if you spend $30 on an appetizer that's mediocre it's very frustrating. There were a couple of those... If I did it all again I would plan a few nice meals I could count on being amazing and look for some more street food (like in Jamaica) which is not as prevalent.

Odd things are relatively cheap as the American dollar is much stronger. My better half needed a doctor on our last day... The visit, shot and 3 medications came in under $150 without our health insurance.

As I understand these villas are not rivaled by much else around. They really are unique. There are some very nice resorts close by as well.

My last vacation was to Atlantis in the Bahamas. It was also great and much less expensive for the room. We spent money on other activities and finer dining, very different experiences. Only two of us on that trip. It was nice having the villa with so much family there.


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