A short two-and-a-half-hour flight from New York (one hour from Miami), the Turks & Caicos Islands of the British West Indies consist of 40 different islands and cays, only eight of which are inhabited. The most well-known of the Islands is Providenciales (“Provo” to the locals), the center of the tourism industry, with a wide range of hotels, restaurants, attractions, and facilities. Among the consistently highest rated of the boutique hotels on Provo is The Somerset on Grace Bay.
One of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, The Somerset stands just steps from the azure waters and white sands of Grace Bay Beach on the Atlantic side of Provo. The Somerset’s 53 rooms (ranging in size from the 260-square-foot standard to the 5,300-square-foot five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathrooms penthouse suites), are spread among five buildings that surround landscaped swimming pools and a short boardwalk to the beach. The accommodations themselves are luxurious, featuring oversized master suites (some with wrap-around terraces); full marble baths; gourmet kitchens with Viking® appliances, wood cabinets, and granite countertops; spacious closets; marble floors; terraces; complementary wireless Internet access; and plasma televisions with cable, DVD/CD surround sound systems and iHome docking stations.
Corporate meetings and events take place in both the indoor and outdoor spaces at The Somerset. (With 350 days a year of sunshine and average temperatures of 75 degrees to 77 degrees Fahrenheit in winter and 82 degrees to 86 degrees Fahrenheit in summer, meeting outdoors is natural.) Most intimate, the resort’s O’Soleil restaurant (called “surprisingly compelling” by Food & Wine Magazine) can accommodate as many as 50 in its Zen Garden, and as few as 10 in the Wine Room. Outdoors, The Somerset’s croquet lawn—home to “extreme croquet” matches—provides a hibiscus bordered reception space for as many as 400 guests. Groups of up to 200 attendees can gather at the LunAsea Bar by the resort’s infinity-edge pool deck for casual outdoor dining enhanced with tropical breezes.