VIP at TCI

Last week DWH was invited to Turks & Caicos for the grand opening celebration of the Italian Village at Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort & Spa. Upon arrival, I was greeted with some bubbly (they know the way to my heart) and a personal escort to my room overlooking the Italian Village pool. Designed with Tuscan romance in mind, the suite featured a mahogany four-poster bed, flat-screen TV, a fully-stocked bar, a separate room complete with bunk-beds and xBox, a whirlpool tub, and, my personal favorite, a spa-like rain shower.



Set on 12 miles of Grace Bay’s white sand, the all-inclusive resort features a variety of activities, and seems ideal for a destination wedding event. The property boasts 16 themed restaurants, each representing different areas of the world, including the French Village, Caribbean Village, a sushi bar, and an English pub. For some downtime, we especially loved that the sand was just steps away, plus the eight pools were equipped with swim up bars brimming with margaritas. As a diver, I loved that watersports were included; Grace Bay holds some of the Caribbean’s best dive sites and the blacktip sharks we spotted on nearly every dive were obvious-enough proof. The resort is definitely family-friendly (perfect since I brought my mom as my guest) and kids would love the Pirates Island Waterpark featuring two huge waterslides. (We even ran into Gordon from Sesame Street.)

Not only did we have every amenity we could wish for, we received the star-treatment: literally. Everywhere we turned there was a famous face — Debi Mazer with her family in tow, Jennie Garth sporting a cast and crutches, The Bachelor’s Jason Mensick with Molly and Ty. Lou Ferrigno floating on a raft, Maria Menudos interviewing Joey Fatone and even Bethany from Real Housewives of New York with her new boyfriend.

And the VIP-treatment doesn’t stop there. Beaches offers four wedding packages featuring everything from preparing the paperwork to organizing a beachside reception. And the fact that the packages were created by Preston Bailey, one of the world’s top wedding planners, doesn’t hurt either.