Above: the opening ceremony of the Beaches Turks & Caicos Key West Luxury Village (photos by CJ)

By Joshua Martinez
CJ Contributor

PROVIDENCIALES — The Beaches Turks and Caicos all inclusive resort officially unveiled its new Key West Luxury Village with a gala ceremony last week.

The star-studded affair included visits by Sandals Resorts International Chairman Gordon “Butch” Stewart, Sandals CEO Adam Stewart, Turks and Caicos Premier Dr Rufus Ewing and tourism ministers from across the Caribbean.

The new 156-room Key West Village is located at the former Veranda Resort, which Beaches’ parent company Sandals Resorts International purchased in 2012.

The village includes three new specialty restaurants: the Bayside, Sky Lounge and Neptunes, along with a mix of suites and individual villas.

The Beaches resort overall now includes 770 rooms on Grace Bay Beach, with a total of 19 restaurants, 14 bars and 10 pools.

Above: the Key West Village

Calling the Turks and Caicos Islands one of the most “extraordinary destinations” in the world, Sandals Chairman Gordon “Butch” Stewart said the journey to the property’s opening was “amazing.”

Above: the beach at Beaches

“Our success over the years has been our holistic approach to tourism development which includes aggressive training with the Sandals Corporate University, and strong community engagement via the Sandals Foundation,” he said.

It represents the first major expansion at the Providenciales-based resort since Beaches opened its Italian village in 2009.

Above: last week’s opening ceremony

“Butch is a man who pays attention to detail and that’s one of the reasons as a visionary he is so successful,” Ewing said. “I am so proud that as a Caribbean man he has stayed right here in the Caribbean and did an enormous job for all of our economies to thrive in the region.”

The Key West Village is part of what has been a significant expansion push for Sandals, which recently debuted its new resort in Grenada and has several other properties in the works within the region, including a new Beaches planned in Antigua.

“The Sandals/Beaches brand has certainly made an impact in the TCI as we have watched this resort grow from one to now 4 premiere villages, each year helping to not only increase tourist arrivals to the TCI,but also in raising awareness through phenomenal marketing of this destination,” said Acting Turks and Caicos Islands Governor Anya Williams.

— CJ