If a hotel owner wants to win my heart, definitely give me a room that comes with its own cat.

Tommy the cat doesn’t actually belong to the Sand Castle on the Beach resort in St. Croix: he’s really a resident of the Cottages by the Sea hotel, next door. But since he’s a cat he really doesn’t respect boundaries, so when we checked into our Sea View Suite, Tommy was there to greet us, curled up on a chair on the semi-enclosed patio. Later, he would find his way inside and be sleeping on the bed when we returned to the room. Awww, kitty!

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

Click Here to read the full article on The Caribbean Journal 

The US Virgin Islands is reporting “strong” tourism numbers amid the pandemic, significantly outperforming much of the rest of the Caribbean. 

In an environment that has seen deep declines in tourism arrival numbers, the USVI has weathered the pandemic storm well, says US Virgin Islands Tourism Commissioner Joseph Boschulte. 

The US Virgin Islands welcomed 415,749 air arrivals in 2020; while that was a 35.1 percent reduction compared to 2019, it was a far smaller decline than the 65.5 percent visitor decline the wider Caribbean saw last year. 

Click Here to read the full article on The Caribbean Journal

Cancun and Punta Cana are seeing strong demand for summer travel among American travelers, according to a new report from CheapOair. 

The online travel agency says Cancun is the top Caribbean vacation destination among its U.S. traveler base, and the third most popular destination overall after Miami and Las Vegas. 

Click Here to read the full article on The Caribbean Journal

It’s always been a rarefied, exclusive beach destination; and as more and more travelers seek seclusion and privacy amid the pandemic, the Turks and Caicos Islands is seeing a surge in villa rentals. 

And with top Caribbean villa destinations like St Barth currently closed (although that’s likely to change soon), travelers are increasingly looking to the luxurious sands of Providenciales. 

“A vacation in the Turks and Caicos islands is a great option right now, and renting a private villa is the ideal way to enjoy the destination and stay safe,” says Stiles Bennet, president of WIMCO Villas. “There are direct flights from many US hubs, everyone who visits is required to produce a negative test result so you know everyone on the plane recently tested negative, and there are very few cases on the island.”

Click Here to read the full article on The Caribbean Journal