Oh dear. Since writing this review we've discovered that Allegro Resort was bulldozed flat shortly after we left. The review comments about the hotel are now therefore irrelevant. However, there's plenty more about the beautiful beaches and the fantastic diving to be had in Turks and Caicos, so do read on....
We enjoyed our stay at the Allegro Resort on Grace Bay on the island of Providenciales (known as Provo). We had seen mixed reviews of the resort on the web - half the people who'd stayed there loved it, the other half said it was dreadful. Having stayed there for a fortnight, I can understand why views seemed so polarised, and I hope you will too as you read on....
Many reviewers on the Web claim that the resort's 4 star rating is unjustified, and while it may have been justified a few years ago, it probably isn't any more. Thomas Cook rate it as 3 star in their brochure. Unfortunately, it's still highly priced - our holiday wasn't cheap. And when you've laid out that much money, you have certain expectations. If the resort then fails to live up to those expectations, then you feel let down.
The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Crown Colony at the end of the Bahamas Chain, about 100 miles north of Haiti/Dominican Republic. They drive on the left although most of the vehicles are left hand drive. The islands are supposedly tax free in that there is no Income or Capital Gains Tax. However, almost everything has to be imported - and Import Tax means that in effect prices in the supermarkets are much much higher than in the UK. Property is very expensive, especially where you have views over the ocean.
Our British Airways flight to the resort was good - a scheduled flight means more room in cattle class, and free drinks all the way across. The scheduled stop in Nassau, Bahamas, was mercifully short, and we soon were flying low over the sensational Caicos Bank. The island group sits on the top of this Bank - a huge flat-topped column rising sheer from the ocean bottom for over a mile, with the top of the column just a few meters below sea level. The sandy top means that the sea glows in every gorgeous shade of blue imaginable, with the low, flat islands just poking above the surface. This also provides fabulous wall-diving where the vertical drop-off passes close to the islands. There are some thirty significant islands in the Group, with Provo towards the western end of the chain, and Grand Turk at the east.
The island of Provo looks unimpressive as the plane lines up on the runway - a flat, scrubby, inhospitable landscape of hard coral limestone rocks and fetid-looking swamps, with building sites scattered all around.
The airport is fairly small, in keeping with the island's size (19 miles long). A long queue to get through immigration - and there were no luggage trolleys available by the carousel. Customs inspection on the way in was cursory (completely the opposite on the way out - on leaving the island our suitcases were opened and thoroughly rummaged through by a lady in rubber gloves).
Then our first major disappointment with Thomas Cook. They had provided us with a voucher for the transfer from airport to hotel - but the taxi drivers all turned their noses up at it, and Allegro certainly hadn't sent anyone to pick us up. We sat outside Arrivals wondering what to do. Eventually a taxi driver who was taking a fare to an hotel next door took pity on us.
The roads are badly potholed, although something is now being done to improve the main trunk road that runs the length of the island. The view from the taxi as we drove across the island was of a grubby building site, littered with empty beer bottles, with occasional smarter areas. The inhabited parts of the island are not generally attractive - until you get to the tourist strip. Then it's very different - the bare earth and scrubby fetid swamps and building sites give way to lush manicured green lawns, tinkling fountains, marble and polished wood.
Allegro looks most attractive as you pull up to the door. Check in was swift, but rather embarrassing as it was plain that they had no intention of paying the taxi driver when he presented the voucher. We had assumed that the hotel would do so, and then claim from Thomas Cook. The receptionist became rather curt when we took the taxi driver's side. Eventually the driver gave up and wandered disconsolately off. This left a bad taste in our mouths - our very first experience of Provo and the Allegro had been bad.
Our second disappointment with Thomas Cook's was that their brochure implies you can choose to eat at the "specialty" restaurants whenever you want. But on arrival we were issued with three tickets per week for these restaurants.
We were taken to our room, number 4308, which was very pleasant on the top floor (of three), with a good view over the pool, and a rather distant view of the sea between buildings. Since we had paid extra for a sea view, this was rather disappointing. The furniture was fine, and the room was reasonably-sized, clean and well appointed.
The third major disappointment was the bathroom, which was quite revolting. Everything other reviewers have said about the bathrooms is true (in this block, anyway) - they are faded, shabby, grubby. The fact sheet we were handed at check-in stated that the bathrooms have "...quality fixtures...", but they plainly do not. The bath and door hinges were badly rust stained. There was a hole in the door by the door handle which had been plugged by somebody stuffing old newspaper in it. Definitely not four star accommodation. We were tired by the long journey, so spent the first night there, and went back to Reception to complain the following morning. Ingrid at Reception could not have been more helpful - without any attempt to defend the hotel (she is probably used to these complaints) she immediately offered us an upgrade, and we were taken to see room 104, in a different block and with not only a sitting area, but a dining table and even a fully-equipped kitchen. We moved in immediately. Thanks Ingrid.
Sensational room, with a huge double bed, sofa (which converted into another bed), dining table and chairs, fully fitted kitchen - massive American fridge, dishwasher, kettle, toaster etc. We were happy to have this upgrade since the bathroom was far better, with no trace of rust streaks. There was a patio outside the huge french windows, surrounded by a low hedge crawling with lizards, and, unfortunately, mosquitoes at sunset, so we didn't use it much. Although the room was on the ground floor, and therefore didn't have a panoramic view of the sea, we could still watch the sun go down into the sea in the evenings.
Second room - and resort pictures.
There was a casino - we didn't use it.
The main restaurant, Topaz, scored full marks from us. The staff were pretty efficient, cheery and courteous. The buffet food was plentiful, with plenty of good fresh fruit and salad, a good choice of things to eat. Salad and fruit were stored over ice, the hot food was stored in the usual bain marie arrangement. There was always a fish dish, another meat dish, a pasta bar, often a roast with a chef ready to carve slices for you, half a dozen different hot vegetables and lots of sticky sweets from which I averted my gaze. Topaz was closed unexpectedly one night, so we were all able to have an extra meal at the specialty restaurants. There is a covered outside deck area as well as an inside area to the restaurant. Since we were at the end of the season we always were able to get a table outside with views across the pool and gardens to the ocean. On Thursdays Topaz was closed and there was a barbecue near the pool/stage area.
There were two other "specialty" restaurants.
Caruso's is an Italian Restaurant upstairs above Topaz, open in the evenings. We dined there six times. The atmosphere is more luxurious, the restaurant air-conditioned, the menu enticing, and the food good, although once or twice it was a bit dry as if it had been hanging about a bit. They try and raise the standards by imposing a dress code - gentlemen are expected to wear long trousers and shirts with sleeves, but on one occasion at the next table there was a gentleman wearing shorts, a singlet and a baseball cap turned back to front. Hardly the up-market atmosphere they were attempting to create.
The greeter was curt and silent. Instead of smiling and saying "Here is your table", she'd tap imperiously on your table top with her finger, unsmiling, before stalking off. Curiously enough, on our last night, she became all smiles, chatty and giggly. Perhaps she was aware that it was change-over day and was looking for tips. She didn't get one.
The waiter service was also a bit hit and miss. The order in which people's orders were taken bore no relation to the order in which they'd arrived. They are supposed to come around with bottles of wine to top up your glass. As an experiment I once waited 25 minutes twirling an empty glass in my fingers before giving up and going to the Piano Bar next door to get a drink. The restaurant also ran out of white wine one evening.
We enjoyed our meals here, but would have enjoyed them more without Caruso's little foibles.
The Coco Loco beach bar is open during the day, and serves fast food until 4pm, but at night closes and re-opens as Papaya's, a Caribbean restaurant. The menu did not seem particularly Caribbean - more international. The only local sounding product was conch fritters, which seemed to be entirely conch-free. The service was cheerful and quick. We only dined there once.
All the bars served bottled or canned Bud, Bud Lite or Coors Lite, frequently running out of one or more of them. The Suntan Bar also served the local Turks Head draught beer.
Suntan Bar - A bar near the pool open all day and into the evening - a couple of hundred yards from the beach. Not inviting. Loud music, video games, pool table, table football, unlimited popcorn. One of the barmen, Delroy, looked like, and had the manners of, Mike Tyson. He never spoke, never smiled, just gestured. He expected you to walk all round the U-shaped bar to where he was standing in order to collect your drinks - he wouldn't carry them across the bar to you. The other bar staff were much more cheerful and chatty. Delroy didn't get a tip either.
The Piano Bar - Air-conditioned bar next to Caruso's, and open only in the evenings. A welcome cool retreat from the mosquitoes, which were pretty rampant outside. Usually pretty deserted, ideal for a pre-prandial aperitif. On occasion there was organised entertainment - a quiz night, Karaoke etc. David, the usual barman, was a real laugh - always cheerful, chatty and clowning around. He always filled up your glass without being asked. David got a tip. There was a good balcony outside, with a view over the pool to the sea, but it laid you open to the local insect life.
Coco Loco - The nearest bar to the beach. Towards the end of our holiday (which was towards the end of the season), this bar was unaccountably often closed, meaning a longer trek to the Suntan Bar from the beach. Often ran out of things - particularly rum (at a Caribbean beach resort??!!!!??).
Sensational beach. A wide strip of powdery soft white coral sand, stretching for miles along Grace Bay. Warm sea, gently shelving. Occasional stingrays swimming past in the shallows. One neighbour on the beach claimed to have a seen a dolphin peering at him (too many Pina Coladas?). Lots of sunbeds, quite a few substantial wooden sun shades. We always managed to find shade to lie in - but in high season this might not always be possible. The favourite pastime seemed to be power walking along the seashore the length of the bay, or (in our case) watching people power walking along the seashore. There were three wooden walkways down onto the beach - the middle one usually had a keg of iced water with plastic cups attached.
We weren't pestered, the only time we were approached was by the watersports guys. There were the usual watersports available - banana boat rides, jet-skis, parasailing, water-skiing and so on. I intended to take out a Hobie Cat, but somehow I just didn't quite get around to it......
Hot and sunny. The beach was easy to walk over, even at noon. We were there in early/mid May. We had about 5 days of the 14 when it rained - at worst for a couple of hours before the sun came out again. Some spectacular thunderstorms. We chose to dress for dinner (long trousers and a short-sleeve shirt for John, a sun-dress for Linda), but really it was warm enough for shorts and T-shirt. During the day shorts and T-shirt were sufficient to walk around in outside the hotel.
This is the name of a small shopping centre right outside the resort gates. There are several tourist shops selling T-shirts, postcards etc, a shop selling booze, soft drinks and magazines, the main Dive Provo shop, car hire shop, a cafe/snack bar and an Internet Cafe.
TIP: use the Internet Cafe to make international phone calls. A card gives you 12 minutes to phone the UK for just US$10 - a lot cheaper than using the hotel room phone. And you get 15 minutes internet access for US$5.
We hired a crappy Chinese Jeep for a day from the Ports of Call Car Hire Shop at an outrageous price of about USD90 (and that was an end of season special offer) and drove out to Malcolm's Road Beach in the NorthWest Point National Park. This is a sensational almost deserted beach at the western end of the island. The last 4 kilometers of the road were a white knuckle ride - a first and second gear, bouncy, rock strewn, rutted dirt track. We understood why we had been asked to sign a disclaimer when we hired the Jeep stating that insurance didn't cover us on this road - other people told us that it would cost USD750 to be rescued from this road if the car broke down. Although there were a few other sun-worshippers during the middle of the day, by 4 pm we were the only couple on the beach. Take drinks with you as there are no bars/cafes here and also take some bread to feed to the friendly Turnstones that come to see you as soon as you lay out your towel.
At the end of the beach were several 'Tiki Huts'. These are the remains of wooden huts used in a 1980's French TV Game show, much like 'Survivor'. Contestants had to perform a series of tasks, occasionally underwater, in order to obtain food and water to survive in this remote part of Provo. The game show was cancelled after two contestants suffered lung damage when trying to carry out the underwater tasks without adequate scuba training.
We were horrified to hear from the dive staff that there are imminent plans to build a hotel on this unspoiled remote beach. Catch it while you can.
Grace Bay and Malcolm's Road beaches pictures.
Excellent diving from Dive Provo - very professional with lots of fast boats. The staff are mostly Brits, and they are all cheerful, chatty, helpful and courteous. They have a dive shop, an equipment store, a jetty and two boats on the resort site. They also have at least two other boats on the south side of the island for trips to the more remote southern islands of West Caicos and French Cay. They don't do nitrox.
They have morning two-tank dives, and afternoon one-tank dives. They also do a night dive on a Wednesday. You are asked to be on the jetty by 0815 for the morning boat, but you then have to hang around waiting for everybody else to turn up (many arrive on a brightly painted coach from other resorts). The boats rarely get away from the jetty before 0845. They usually don't know where the morning dive boats are going until about 4pm the previous day, and sometimes change them at the last minute. I had heard that French Cay was a good remote dive site, but it was never a stated destination - I found out that one day the skipper of the West Caicos boat decided to go to French Cay instead after he'd left the jetty. So I never got to French Cay - annoying.
I did twelve dives (six morning trips), and qualified for a package price. I hired a BCD and reg, both of which were good quality. The staff dress your tank for you, and even carry it to the back of the boat where you don it ready for the Giant Stride off the stern - they don't like you walking about the boat by yourself wearing fins and a tank, in case you trip and dent it. This does mean that it can take up to ten minutes to get all the divers into the water. Once all divers are in, the leader kits up and jumps in. You can either stay on the surface and wait for him/her, or if you're easy on air, drop down to the reef-top and potter about until he/she descends. You get the choice to follow the leader, or go off on your own in buddy pairs if they are happy with your ability. At the end of the dive, you slip out of your BCD at the top of the ladder, and they carry it back to the rack behind your seat.
The usual dive profile is to assemble under the boat as described at 12-15m, then swim over to the wall drop-off at around 15m, and descend vertically over the edge or down a vertical swim-through, emerging out onto the wall face at around 25m. You then swim along the wall at 25-30m for 15-20 mins or so, before rising back to the reef top and turning 180 degrees back along the top of the wall until you arrive back under the boat after 30-35 mins. You can then potter around under the boat until you run out of air or bottom time, or the leader gets fed up waiting for you.
Dive times are officially limited to 45 minutes, but there is some flexibility on this - some dive leaders are happy to let you stay longer. My longest dive was 66 mins (but that included 8 mins pottering about on the reef top waiting for the leader to descend - I was first in the water that day).
They go to Grace Bay (ie in front of the resort), Pine Cay (30 mins away), NorthWest Point (45 mins), West Caicos (1 bumpy hour) and French Cay (1.5 hrs). There are several sites at each of these locations. My favourite area was NorthWest Point. Nearly all the sites are buoyed, so that the reef isn't damaged by dropping the hook on top of it.
Remarkably little current. Lots of fabulous reef fish and corals and sponges on the walls. Plenty of turtles, stingrays, sharks (Nurse, Caribbean and Grey Reef), lobsters and morays. Other people saw eagle rays, dolphins and even a small hammerhead. Once, when returning from a West Caicos trip, we saw from the dive boat a couple of dolphins swimming on the surface.
Dive sites visited were:
The north west end of Provo island is an uninhabited scrub-covered area. The vertical wall runs a few hundred meters off of, and parallel to, the west coast. There are half a dozen buoyed dive sites on the edge of the wall.
For the West Caicos dives, you are taken across the island by bus over dirt roads to a marina at the south-east end of Provo. It's then a one hour, bumpy trip over to West Caicos Island, ending in a hair-raising high-speed dash, parallel to, and a few yards from, the northern coast's beach round to the dive sites on the wall to the west of the island. Sad to say, this uninhabited National Park island is also being developed into a resort. How do they get away with it?
The dive sites again concentrate on the vertical wall drop-off just a few hundred meters from the island's west coast.
Pine Cay is an island to the north-east of Grace Bay. The drop-off is not as vertical as at Provo's Northwest Point or West Caicos. This means more varied scenery, not just horizontal and vertical, but more "rolling hills".
Best dives were those on Northwest Point - not too far away, and with spectacular walls with lots of sponges and corals and reef fish.
My 12 dives worked out at about GBP31.50 each.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay at Allegro. Very relaxing - we could readily have spent another couple of weeks lying on the beach. The hotel's good points outweighed the bad points. Just make sure you get a room with a decent bathroom. Would we go again? Probably not to Provo as there are so many other places to visit. And it was pretty expensive....