The Insiders' Guide to St. Barths: Anguilla Trip Report

I am doing this report in stages because if you have too many pix in any one report, it goes FUBAR. Here is part one.

First of all, what Anguilla isn’t: The New St Barth.

Instead, it is an entirely different island, pursuing an entirely different future. There is no doubt that many of The Glitterati flock to its shores, and for good reasons. The beaches are spectacular, the food is phenomenal and the people are some of the friendliest you will meet anywhere. In short, Anguilla has much to commend itself and we enjoyed our time there immensely.

The arrival is pretty straightforward and there actually are more options than getting to St Barth. Winscair had cancelled their service to Anguilla and had instead transferred us to Anguilla Air Services, a small airline with a spanking clean Britten Norman Islander which zipped us over in 7 minutes. We would not know until the end of the week the Winscair had entirely cancelled the flight back – saying they had refunded that portion of the trip. Hmmmm.

There are many ways to get to Anguilla. American Eagle has a plane from SJU, there are several local airlines that fly out of SXM (Anguilla Air Services, Transanguilla Air…), there is a twenty minute ferry and there are even boats for hire that pick you up at the airport and take you over as a turnkey operation. So getting there is no problem.

The island is flat, the highest point being 130 feet or so above sea level. For those who don’t know, Anguilla is not volcanic. Indeed, it is essentially an ancient coral reef which was exposed after massive global cooling lowered the sea levels. Because of this, the waters around the island are shallow. Crystal clear, warm and calm, the water around the island is great for swimming.

We stayed at Malliouhana on the leeward side of the island, down near the western tip. Built in the 1980s, Malliouhana has long been considered The Standard for Anguilla. Newer hotels have sprung up, dazzling palaces to be sure. Cap Juluca, Cuisinart, and Temenos are early entries in what is becoming a Glam And Glitz arms race the likes of which few Caribbean islands have seen. More Wow Places are on the drawing board and construction abounds, even on heretofore quiet Mead’s Bay (home of Malliouhana).

While the newer hotels are eyepoppers to be sure, Malliouhana is a serene oasis that transports a person so far from anywhere else that nowhere else exists. Set in a tropical garden shaded by trees, Malliouhana has soaring ceilings, white columns and terra cotta floors in all the public rooms, marble floors in the bedrooms and bathrooms. The view from the dining room is gorgeous, the property is stunning yet soothing and the staff can not be friendlier. This was the first of many trips we will make to Malliouhana which to me is exactly what a hotel should be.

I shall conduct the rest of my report in pictures with captions as appropriate. Here goes:

Here is the main building of Malliohana from the water:

The main beach:

The main building from the beach:

Going to the restaurant in the main building

One of many nice sitting areas:

Mead's Bay from our room's lovely terrace. Note the construction on the bay as well as the rhum in the drink with which I saluted you all

The pirate's ship at one of three pools (this one at the beach)

Yours truly coming down the slide at the pirate ship. Note the unfortunate presense of swimming trunks, the only real knock against Anguilla: