Turks and Caicos’ Newest Residential Resort Opens in November — and We Got a First Look

Over the last several months, I’ve been making the pitch to various family members that we should spend this coming Thanksgiving someplace warm — ideally on an island — that’s an easy, non-stop flight from New York City. On a recent trip to South Bank, the newest addition to the Turks and Caicos-based Grace Bay Resorts portfolio, I just might have convinced my mother-in-law, a crucial hold-out.

Here’s how it happened: Having embarked on an intergenerational trip over Passover to road test spending a holiday together, the family member, aka “holdout,” and I were standing in a four-bedroom Ocean Estate Villa. The villa is situated in one of four “neighborhoods” in the 30-acre development, looking out over Long Bay Beach. With the villa at our backs, we were totally mesmerized by the expanse of turquoise water that shimmered in a way that seemed like the best Hollywood lighting technicians had backlit it.

Then we discovered the ocean looks even more other-worldly close-up when you walk down your private steps directly to the shore, where the surf beckons you to jump in (before retreating to one of your three freshwater pools). While there is no beach at this residence, my mother-in-law saw that as a selling point for this specific location. “Not everyone likes sand,” she pointed out.  (Other Ocean Estate Villas will have direct beach access.)

When I ask, “Can’t you see having Thanksgiving here?” I don’t get a definitive affirmation, but the response wasn’t a straight “no” either. It’s not hard to envision coming back, especially when you have someone like Patrick, our dedicated butler. Patrick, originally from Jamaica, was the embodiment of the Japanese concept of omotenashi, or wholehearted hospitality. If we were running low on strawberries — a food group for my children, ages four and six — new boxes would magically appear.

Labeling Patrick as a “butler,” however, doesn’t quite capture the breadth of his role. “Fixer” is a more fitting term, especially for those traveling with multiple generations. In our case, our group spanned from four to 85 years old. Patrick’s efficiency made our stay seamless, from managing dinner reservations to magically producing an inflatable pool toy when he noticed my children squabbling over one. (Perhaps not the best lesson in sharing, but it certainly made for a more peaceful vacation.)

The entire $400 million development, which is opening in phases, was inspired by Port Grimaud, a fishing village in the South of France. “It’s a place with a series of canals and life is lived on the water,” Ingo Reckhorn, co-founder of Windward, the developer of South Bank, explains to me over lunch. Boats can pull up directly to South Bank’s dock.

If you don’t have your own boat (which we didn’t), don’t worry: You are in good hands. Our pre-arrival concierge, a new service offered by Grace Bay Resorts, arranged for a trip with Caicos Luxury Charters that took us out for an afternoon of world-class snorkeling — Turks and Caicos is encircled by the third-largest reef in the world — and to a sandbar in the middle of the ocean that felt like something straight out of Castaway, about 30 minutes from the mainland.

South Bank is so tranquil that when the waves are calm, you can hear a pin drop (that is, until my children arrived) and might not see another human being for days. It’s located on a quiet, low-density part of the island that’s zoned for single-family homes. The secret weapon is combining seclusion with access to all the other Grace Bay Resorts properties. If you want a change of scenery, say an afternoon at Grace Bay for a sail on the property’s catamaran or a gourmet Italian lunch at The Rock House, it’s all at your fingertips and easily arranged. (A water taxi service connecting many of these hotels is in the works.)

Meanwhile, back at South Bank, there is so little light pollution that you can see the stars twinkling brightly over Long Bay Beach.

If I had to bet, we’ll be back for Thanksgiving.

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