PRICE:
Frommer's Exceptional

This $85-million boutique resort, which opened in early 2005, has already established itself as one of Grace Bay's classiest resorts, with some of the most beautifully appointed rooms on the island. But don't let its cool good looks intimidate you. Yes, it has a chichi South Beach-style pool scene and Provo's only croquet lawn, and the neo-Palladian centerpiece of the resort is referred to as the Mansion (fashioned after the classic Caribbean estates designed by Oliver Messel, the late British theatrical decorator who also created Princess Margaret's \"cottage\" in Mustique) -- but beneath that frostily elegant facade is a casual, congenial Turks & Caicos vibe and even kid-friendly amenities, such as the Conch Kritters Club, a daily activities program for kids 4 to 12 that might include lizard hunting, beach Olympics, or kite flying.

Although The Palms offers a few conventional, albeit well-decorated and large double rooms (popular in the off season), the majority (72) of its units are one-, two-, and three-bedroom suites, equally divided among five separate coral-stone buildings that form a horseshoe-shaped curve encompassing a grand view of the beach. The so-called mansion is home to a clubby wood-paneled bar and the resort's main restaurant, Parallel23, which serves what it calls \"tropical fusion\" cuisine from an open kitchen with a wood-burning oven; the restaurant's outdoor terrace fronts Palm Place, with shops on either side of a palm-lined courtyard. Plunge, the pool bar and restaurant, has a sunken dining terrace and a swim-up bar -- as you lie around the serpentine infinity pool, you can check your e-mail with the complimentary Wi-Fi and drink a toast to another tough day at the beach. The 2,323-sq.-m (25,000-sq.-ft.) Spa at the Palms features white tented cabanas limned by a reflecting pool.

White and bright define the interiors: Accommodations are big, airy, and stylish, featuring custom-made mahogany furniture, white linens in meltingly soft Egyptian cotton, beachy wainscoting, and white and off-white color tones -- the Hamptons meets colonial Africa. Bathrooms are luxurious retreats clad in elegant marble with large hydro-massage tubs and power showers. Five spectacular 279-sq.-m (3,000-sq.-ft.) penthouses feature three bedrooms, big, windowed kitchens, and travertine terraces with indoor and outdoor showers and sweeping Grace Bay views.

Facilities: 2 restaurants; conventional bar; pool bar; infinity pool; fitness center (personal trainers available on request); full-service spa; Jacuzzi; sauna; yoga, Pilates, and meditation studio; 18-hole golf course (5 min. away); tennis courts; croquet lawn; nonmotorized watersports equipment and kids' beach toys; salon (men's barbershop in the works); 24-hr. room service; babysitting/nanny service; Wi-Fi; 5 shops; Conch Kritters Club (cost extra). In room: A/C, TV (flat-panel LCD TVs in penthouses), high-speed Internet, full kitchens w/Viking appliances (suites and penthouses), minibar, hair dryer, safe, ceiling fan; daily butler services in penthouses.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Portable Turks and Caicos, 1st Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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