Cricket, champagne and the charm of the Caribbean

Graham McKenzie is bowled over by his first ever overseas cricket tour…

"So the England cricket tour of the Caribbean is over, with honours even on the playing side. On the tourism front, whilst empirical evidence has still to be produced, one can only assume it has been a success.

I chose, for the first time in my life, to attend an overseas England tour and chose the itinerary of St Kitts, Nevis and Antigua. To me this offered a gentle introduction to the cricket through the warm-up matches in St Kitts, some chill time in Nevis before the first test in Antigua, and all that that entailed.

On reflection I think it was a wise choice. First off British Airways does a ticket that allows you to fly to St Kitts, fly to Antigua get off and then continue home to the UK days later. Secondly, the contrast between the three islands, despite the close proximity geographically, is quite remarkable. Finally, on each island the level of hospitality, humour and general bonhomie was outstanding.

In St Kitts we arrived to find a Porsche waiting on the tarmac for myself and my two friends. It’s quite a special service offered by YU Lounge and it’s available to be booked by anybody but normally used by the executive jet fraternity. Whisked into the luxurious lounge, refreshed with rum cocktails, cold towels and delicious snacks, our stamped passports duly arrived, together with our luggage….splendid! No sooner said than done, we were on our way to the newly refurbished Ocean Terrace Inn which would be our home for the next five nights.

Refurbishment of the ideally-located property, close to all the facilities and fantastic bay views, has been managed by the Caribbean hotelier and tourism expert Richard Williams. Richard told me that ‘the much-loved St Kitts institution’ would be turned into a modern hotel, with refurbished rooms, restaurant facilities and a sea view cocktail bar. "We want it to extol the virtues of everything that is good about St Kitts and the Caribbean as a whole," he said. Based upon my own experience, the target is well on its way to being met with clean simple rooms, friendly service, fabulous cocktails and heaps of potential.

As for the rest of St Kitts, there is no doubt it is a very cool place. On the Sunday morning we visited the Kittitian Hill property, held as a global model of sustainability in the world of hotel development. The lodges/rooms are fantastic with views across to the neighbouring island of St Eustatius and they are surrounded not only by the normal lush vegetation typical of a Caribbean island but also food!! Yes, vegetables and fruit abound around the property in an effort to be totally self-sufficient. Even the golf course is called a garden golf course, as many of the built in hazards and rough are, in fact, edible. We were invited to the Sunday brunch at Belle Mont Farm where all the food served is grown either on property or at other sustainable locations around the island ….it is good! And when you throw in the free champagne, it’s very good value too. Carlos, the top man, told me that within the next few months even the champagne will be from organic sustainable sources. With the amount our party drank it probably needs to be.

Sunset Salt Plage

After this we visited Salt Page, the very stylish beach/marina bar within the Christophe Harbour development (the England team turned up), ate at the excellent Spice Mill (courtesy of our host Roger), were entertained for breakfast at Palm Courts (it’s surprising how good Vanilla rum is at 9.30am), watched some cricket, and travelled on the old sugar train (more rum drinks).

The trip was concluded with a few days of rest and recuperation on Nevis at Nisbet Plantation and then the test match in Antigua, where we and half of the English cricket supporting public stayed at Jolly Beach, but that’s another story….