ROOM - The Alexandra resort was great! There are many other more luxurious resorts (Palms), but also some dumpy looking places (like Beaches). It advertises as "understated luxury", which is pretty accurate. We had a 1 bedroom oceanfront, worth the extra dollars compared to the oceanviews. It was about 1500 sq. feet, 1.5 baths, full kitchen w/ stainless appliances and granite countertops. Plus a 435 sq. foot balcony - 2 sliding glass door entrances, one from the living room and 1 from the bedroom. The bed had a featherbed on top the mattress - VERY comfortable. Maid service was sporadic, but typically twice a day (one day they showed up at 2PM, then again at 5PM - only 3 hours between "morning" service and "evening" service). They seem to move at their own "island" time. Sometimes they mopped and changed sheets; other times not (the bed gets a little gritty once you've tracked sand on the floors, then get into bed). However, when we did call for specific service, it was prompt. Our battery died on our safe, maintenance came immediately. When we asked for more shampoo, we got several bottles. Bath towels seemed thick and newish, too. Even tho they said they don't replace towels if you leave them on the rack (reuse encouraged for the environment), they replenished them twice per day. Overall, grade A for the room!

The Resort - folks were very friendly. I thought Eldridge was rather annoying, making a big show of asking our names, repeating them as if to memorize them, then forgetting the next day. (There were only 34 guests in the entire place as it was off-season. And I said Guests meaning individuals, not 34 families.) He disappeared for most of the week, I'm not really sure what his job was other than to threaten me with mandatory karaoke. There was a mexican fiesta - only 8 of us went. It was ok, but too expensive, about $80 for 2. We had better and slightly less expensive food at the Palms, next door. The pool was great, especially since there were so few people there. There is a lot of construction in the area - but they are barely working on it, so not much noise. We wondered whether some of these development companies are out of money - there is a LOT of construction started, but not too many construction workers actually working.

The Beach. PERFECT.

Caicos Dream Tours - YUCK- we went on the 1/2 day snorkelling. We only got to snorkel about 25 minutes. Then another 10 minutes in shallow water to pick up some Conch. The boat did not work well, Captain Pop & his first mate kept installing steer fluid. It got all over their hands - then they cleaned conch and made conch salad. Nary a bar of soap or hand cleaner in sight - a quite unappetizing display of non-hygenic food preparation. The sky clouded up, and Pop kept saying "I don't like the look of that". Indeed, he brought us back an hour earlier than the other boat that left with us. He seemed lazy and eager to get his work day over vs. showing the tourists a good time. The Conch "dive" was right by the Conch Farm - we were probably just picking up the renegades. The Conch salad was primarily tomato & green pepper - hardly any Conch at all, I guess they did not want to clean more. Definitely would NOT go with this outfit EVER AGAIN!

CAR RENTAL - we got one for 2 days, about $90 total. Worth it to go to the grocery and see the island. Certainly don't need a car any longer. It was a teensy little car and quite an adventure to drive on the wrong side of the road. We spent about $230 on groceries for 2, yes things are pricey!! But, so is eating out. There's a nice bookstore by the IGA - the Unicorn. Check it out, lots of local books, too.

CONCH FARM - $6 gets you a tour, quite informative if you (like me) have not seen a Conch before. Try some Conch fritters or cracked Conch before you see the real thing that comes out the shell - not for the non-adventorous eaters.

DA CONCH SHACK - I thought it was a fun adventure - we had the Conch fritters here. They buy them from fisherman, not from the Conch farm - then toss the empty shells back into the ocean. I'm sure you can take a shell home if you ask!

I visited Provo form 5/24 through 6/1 and stayed at the Alexandra. This was my second visit to Provo having stayed at the RWI last year.

Resort

I was very pleased with my choice of the Alexandra… my priorities were a quiet resort with a peaceful beach and clean, comfortable, cool rooms. The Alexandra exceeded my expectations in all areas. The rooms were clean and the a/c worked great. The beach was beautiful and not crowded at all. I never had any problems getting a prime spot on the beach with an umbrella anytime I arrived, whether it was 10:00 am or 2:00 pm.

I was also a little concerned with construction noise and this was the main reason I chose the Alexandra over RWI this year. I was very pleased since I rarely heard any noise while on the beach this year. Also, I was told that the new (fifth) building at the Alexandra is on hold awaiting new management for anyone interested.

I also enjoyed the balcony at the resort… while it wasn’t oceanfront, I still had a great view of Grace Bay.

Dining

I had dinners at the following restaurants during the trip:

Coyaba – my favorite… had a fantastic meal again. Reminds me of Madam Janettes on Aruba.

Coco Bistro – another great meal. Definitely my other favorite restaurant on Provo.

Hemingways – was good. While I wasn’t disappointed with the meal, it wasn’t quite as good as my two favorites.

Anacaona – was ok.. I have wanted to try it since my first trip and was excited. In the end, I though it was a little too expensive for the meal. Doubt I will return.

Orchid – went to the Caribbean BBQ night on Monday. The food was fine but the advertising I had read said it was $16.50 pp but was charged $25 pp, which isn’t too bad but I am still confused on why the difference.

Tiki Hut – I should have saved this one for a lunch because I didn’t really enjoy my meal at all. But the setting was very nice (even though I forgot my bug spray and got bitten ~20 times).

Next time, I want to try Sharkbite, da Conch Shack, and Grace’s Cottage.

Weather

No worrries. A few quick showers every now but each time the sun was quickly back out. The beach was very calm the entire trip.

Diving

Dove with Caicos Adventures for a second time. We dove near West Caicos and French Cay. French Cay is definitely my favorites. I had a few close encounters with reef sharks.. three circled us for 15 minutes during one dive. It was awesome. No eagle rays or turtles this trip, which kinda surprised me. No complaints about the dive shop – they were very professional and I liked the ratio of divers.

Arriving/Departing

Travel

Flew from Atlanta on Delta.. no problems at either end. Flights were great and got through customs/immigration very easily both times.

That’s about it… no tours or anything. Just a lot of diving and beach time. I did visit Casablanca and the Players Club.. while I didn’t win at either place, I preferred the Player’s Club (mostly because I play 3 card poker and they don’t have it at Casablanca). Both offer pick up and drop off at resorts, which I appreciated.

All in all, it was a fantastic and very relaxing trip. I’m already looking forward to my third visit (probably next May).

My husband and I returned from Turks and Caicos Alexandra resort this past Saturday. Here are my thoughts:

The check in: Don't expect a sexy open air lobby, rather a front desk in the front on a unpaved lot of land near some trailers due to construction. The staff was welcoming and warm. They give out rum punch and the check in was smooth as can be. The front desk is the conceirge and the do all. Dave and Emily are wonderful. They all are really but I do not recall their names.

We stayed in a deluxe ocean view studio room in the Prima Donna Building. And I was very pleased with the room itself. It's updated with an understated luxury, queen with pillow top mattress, kitchen with granite counters, shower stand only with no tub but perfectly fine, and a small kitcen area with full size microwave, small fridge and sink area, again granite with stainless steel appliances. Housekeeping was not up to par, they did make bed each evening and provide clean towels but NEVER mopped the floors and did not notice until the last day that there was a energy saving card (on top of TV) that was supposed to be left on the bed upon arrival stating that if we wanted our sheets changed to leave it on the bed...no wonder I felt sand!

The pool area was nice and neat altough not lavish. But with an ocean like Grace Bay who needs a pool right? There was a towel stand although mostly unattended and at one time a sleeping worker it seemed to work out fine until the last day when they ran out of towels which seemed odd given the hotel was 20% occupied due to slow season.

Check out was at 11:00am, and with a 4:00pm flight I had asked for a late check out, they stated the room was going to be used (again odd given capacity) but offered to stow luggage at front desk and we could shower in an unused old office which used to be a hotel room. It was a room located in the Chelsea building, one bedroom not studio. The room itself was okay, older than the building we were in with white appliances, full tub in bathroom. The room was not cleaned at all, no towels and likely to have been used by staff during breaks. It was nice they accomodated us but they should have cleaned it or sent us else where.

The food at the hotel was average. We only ate there twice, breakfast was great and lunch was average, choices fine. I was a bit nervous about the food as it is a big part of my vacation, we love to dine and experience. There aren't as many options as St. Martin or Aruba but we were pleasantly surprised. We ate at Coco Bisto, Anacaona, Coyaba, Hemingways, Mangnolia and Tiki Hut for dinner. And I loved them all especially the first three which of course were the most expensive of the bunch. Be prepared to spend money, we spent on average $40 for breakfast, $60 for lunch and $150 for dinner. We like to have a few cocktails so less for those of you that do not drink.

We did not rent a car and I think you could go either way. We spent $30 on average on cabs daily for dinner. What we did not do and I highly recommend is the following; 1) go to the IGA supermarket and keep food/snacks in room, 2) bring a float the water is amazing and I didn't see them for rent out there and 3) bring your own snorkel gear. It's $5 - $10 to rent off beach and probably not too sanitary. The Coral Reef is great, just a 10 minute walk past the Beaches property. If you stay at the Regent Palms or some of the nicer properties all gear and kayaks, small sail boats are complimentary.

Now the island of Provo is beautiful with lots and lots of construction. We fell in love with the Grace Bay and the the locals. Every one is super friendly. They are building everywhere you look and I imagine that over the next few years there will be a lot more activity. There are water sports if interested for a fee.

There are two casinos on the island, newer but small. We loved the Players Club and Casablanca, had a great time at both but Players Club in Turlte Bay was more lively, maybe because of the area not sure.

Overall if I were to return to the island of Provo (and I hope to see the end result of the developments) I would probably stay at the Posh Regent Palms or the Grace Bay Club. We ate at the Palms 3 times b/w breakfast and lunch, great food. Service is impeccable, staff walking around with cloth towels, misters and fruit, free bottled waters by beach and as I mentioned complentary snorkel gear and water sports. However they are building so much, Ritz I hear to open in 2009. Nikki Beach is supposed to be amazing but not near any of the other properties. The Alexandra is adequate if looking to save some money and know in advance there isn't any luxury here, just a decent place on a great stretch of beach.

We did walk by or in most of the properties on Grace Bay. And if anyone has questions or needs assistance booking a trip to Turks or any other destination feel free to contact me. I am in the travel business and would gladly help out.

My husband and I just returned from a week-long trip to Provo and had an amazing vacation. The beach was the most gorgeous beach I have ever seen - we are already planning a return trip.

We scheduled this trip at the last minute, with the sole purpose of the trip to lay on the beach and de-stress. With such short planning, we were budget conscious when booking, and picked the Alexandra knowing that it was not a luxury resort, but seemed to have enough of the amenities we required to have a great time. To save a little, we reserved the 1-bedroom ocean view room so that we could cook some of our own meals. Knowing that the view of the ocean was probably better from a higher up, we requested a room on a top floor, and as you can see from our pictures, the room from the 4th floor does NOT disappoint! Not that it mattered much anyway, since we spent most of the time actually on the beach, not looking at it from the hotel. The room itself was impressive. It had obviously been updated very recently, as the cookware, fixtures and appliances were all sparkling, as well as the granite countertops and tile flooring. As noted in a prior review, the teak furniture on the large deck did have drink stains, but that was hardly my concern as I sat in the cushioned chaise lounge, sipping on a Turks Head drought and gazing at the turquise seas.

The staff at the resort was very friendly, the front desk was very helpful with arranging taxis and car rentals, and Eldridge the activities coordinator was great! We always felt that if we were in need of anything, the resort staff would do their best to accomodate us. For what we considered to be a middle-of-the-road resort, we were very pleased with what the Alexandra had to offer and would probably stay there again.

The beach itself was unbelievable! No matter what time we went to the beach, there were always chairs with umbrellas available. The pool was also enjoyable, especially lounging under the shade of a palm tree after a lond day on the beach.

One downfall on the island.....the food and drink prices are outrageous. Beer is about $6 a bottle (for example, Miller Lite) and mixed drinks will run $7-$10. Depending on where you eat dinner, entrees cost approx $20 - $35. The resort has a van which will take you to the IGA on Monday for $8/person, which is very helpful, but you will probably need to make a second trip if you are there for more than a few days. If you want to get out and about, I would recommend renting a car for a day or two and going to the grocery store while you have a car of your own. Brace yourself though, the IGA prices are not great either. For example, a box of cereal was $6, frozen pizza was $15 and a case of Corona was $42. Take the advice of other reviews and pack what you can - sun block, condiments, coffee, snack, etc. I would also suggest packing a cooler to take your own drinks to the pool or beach.

Restaurants:

Beachfront Dining Deck - only ate there once. Grouper sandwiches were good. It hit the spot after a morning of traveling.

The Orchid - ate there for breakfast, dinner & the Carribean Cookout. Breakfast was ok and not too overpriced. Dinner was pretty good, but not outstanding and the Carribean Cookout was fun & a good way to try a variety of Carribean cuisine.

Da Conch Shack - great place to eat lunch. Fresh conch pulled out of the ocean right in front of you. Ate at picnic tables right on the beach. I highly recommend the cracked conch. You will need to rent a car or get a taxi to get there.

Hemmingway's On the Beach - ate there for lunch and dinner. Both great meals. Much better food at the same price as the Orchid. Conch fingers were great as well as the fish tacos.

If you need any miscellaneous food items while you are without a car, the Regent Palms next door has a "convenience store".

Overall, this was a fabulous vacation. If you are looking to go to one of the most beautiful beaches on the planet and don't want to spend a fortune on a room you hardly use, I would definitely recommend the Alexandra.