By Alexander Britell
It’s up the steps and past the pool tables and behind an unmarked wooden door on the second floor of a covered plaza in the heart of Old Christiansted.
There’s no name, no sign and it isn’t open all the time.
But what’s inside is something rather special.
This is the secret cigar speakeasy at the old Club Comanche hotel in Christiansted, a legendary, historic boutique property that once hosted the likes of Jimmy Carter.
The oldest in Club Comanche’s collection of historic structures dates back to 1756, built with Danish ballast bricks and planks salvaged from shipwrecks and wood from St Croix’s mahogany forests.
The cigar lounge opened its doors about six months ago, but it feels far older (in a good way), with stately leather chairs, warm lighting, wooden floors and an impressive bar — along with a full humidor.
A one-of-a-kind humidor.
You’d simply never expect something like this to be behind that creaking wooden door.
This is the sort of elegant, luxurious place that does justice to what is assuredly one of the coolest towns in the Caribbean — and one that only seems to be getting cooler, with a host of creative new restaurants and bars (including another one coming to the bottom floor of the hotel called The Rum & Wine Bar).
The cigar speakeasy is now the island’s best place to smoke cigars, both for guests at the hotel and eager travelers — and it’s a new pilgrimage spot in the Caribbean for lovers of the leaf.
That is, if you can find it.
