An Exceptional Caribbean Villa Experience   

 

Issue 62, December 2000

Chiller Villas

James Henderson tracks down Caribbean Villas offering peace, privacy and a mesmerising view.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, the West Indies was the most romantic place in British consciousness – it was a frontier land, threatened by pirates and marauding foreign navies, but it was also a place where fortunes were made.  It takes just a quick look at the Caribbean great houses, those diminutive tropical mansions set in fantastic gardens, to see the love and care, and not a little self importance, that their owners invested in them.

You can still see the same impulse at work today, because the 21^st century Caribbean is sprinkled with an amazing number of houses in a kaleidoscope of styles and sizes.  Some are dramatic, some historic, some up-to-the-minute stylish and some plain sumptuous.  And many of them are for hire.

As well as these complexes, Tobago also has some alluring independent villas.  From the mountainous slopes of the north coast, Villa Being gives on to a vast expanse of open ocean on one side and private organic gardens on the other (seasonal fruits and vegetables are served by the cook).  Villa Being is also a series of separate buildings, this time Gaudiesque pavilions, brightly coloured inside and out – sun-yellow, pink and garish green – and topped with fanciful, pagoda-like finials and wavy eaves.  Tucked in among the pavilions area dozen patios and courtyards bursting with bougainvillea and oleander.

There are original works from Caribbean artists throughout, as well as Caribbean antiques, including the impossibly comfortable Trinidadian Morris chairs.  Villa Being is also riding another new Caribbean wave, that of clean living and yoga – it offers itself as “Pilates for the soul”.  Massage treatment is arranged by the masseur to the Trinidadian Olympic team, while reiki and different sorts of yoga can also be arranged on request.  Of course the perfect Caribbean house must have the perfect tropical setting, and here Villa Being does well, with a meditation platform that looks out to sea.  It gets the best of the sunrise and sunset, but it also has fantastic views of the Caribbean moon and its silver tail reflected on the water.

Excerpt taken from:
Financial Times Dec 2000 - Weekend Edition - How to Spend It by James Henderson