Caribbean Hotels Offer Best Fall Rates in Years

Autumn Caribbean bargains blossom like bougainvillea in tropical resort areas, and this year’s pickings look like the best in years.

Some hotels have held their prices since last fall, and at least one even rolled them back further. Most off-season rates are good through mid-December and represent 40% to 50% savings from peak-season costs. A few islands also have gimmicks such as coupon booklets that offer additional discounts at participating merchants.

Here is a sampling of current specials in the Caribbean. Unless otherwise noted, prices are per person, based on double occupancy, and don’t include taxes and service.

Packages usually offer unbeatable value to these destinations, since most air-fare discounts recently ended for the season. Package rates, too, sometimes rise during the December holiday period. Major hotel chains often offer similar deals at their other resorts.

Regional tourist offices and travel agents can provide information on all of the following, as well as on villa rentals for larger groups.

ANGUILLA

Anyone who books three nights or more on this quiet isle will be eligible for a 10% discount at participating restaurants, car rentals, boutiques and grocery stores. The Mariners, Anguilla’s only all-inclusive resort, has a $600 per-person, five-night package that includes waterfront accommodations, breakfast daily, three gourmet dinners, two days’ car rental, water sports, service charges and government taxes. Three-night stays begin at $375. Rates are good till Dec. 20. In winter, per-person daily rates start at $210. (800) 848-7938.

Fall rates at the luxury Cap Juluca start at $295 per day, double occupancy ($655 for a one-bedroom suite), till Dec. 20. From Dec. 21 to April 19, the rates are $390 double occupancy, and $875 for a one-bedroom suite. Complimentary amenities and facilities include a daily continental breakfast, entertainment, tennis and water sports. (800) 235-3505.

ARUBA

Through Dec. 20, a three-night stay on this island popular for its casino night life is available for $669 per person through Gogo Tours. A seven-night package is $1,149. Included are round-trip air fare either from Miami or New York City, ocean-view accommodations, three meals daily, activities and all hotel taxes and gratuities. Other packages are available with varying amenities. (800) 862-7822.

BARBADOS

Before Dec. 15, double occupancy at the Grand Barbados Beach Resort for a three- or six-night package runs $100 to $175 per day; off-season guests also get a fourth or seventh night free. But the resort is touting its new minimum winter rate, good Dec. 15 to April 14. The price, $140 for two people, is 35% below last winter’s starting rate. This rate is available in 10 garden rooms that don’t have a sea view. Superior and deluxe rooms remain at last year’s levels of $220-$245 per couple, but the cost of the meal supplement has been reduced to $60 per day. Youths under 12 years can stay in their parents’ room free; otherwise, an added person is $35 daily. Some free water sports are included in the rates. (800) 223-9815.

BEQUIA

A five-night fall package at Plantation House on this little island that’s northernmost in the Grenadine chain costs $1,000 for two adults and one child under 11 ($100 less if the child is under 2; $1,350 for two connecting deluxe rooms to accommodate larger families). Beginning Dec. 15, there’s only a daily rate, starting at $295 for two people. The package includes a private cottage, two meals daily, a taxi tour of the island, free baby-sitting one night and a free dive outing. (800) 223-9832.

CURACAO

This Dutch island’s “Bon Bini Free Spree” packages, valid through Dec. 20, provide seven-night stays at a choice of nine hotels. The per-person rates run from $154-$602, with the highest including three meals daily. All plans include a discount booklet for island attractions. (800) 332-8266.

JAMAICA

In conjunction with off-season rates good through Dec. 14, this island nation’s five all-inclusive “SuperClubs” offer savings of up to 84% on air fares. A $99 round-trip fare from New York City is available with seven-night stays. Rates for seven nights at the clubs are as follows: Boscobel Beach, $1,050-$1,250 per person, one child under 14 stays free per parent, a third child under 14 per room pays 25% of the adult rate; Hedonism II for couples and singles only, $900-$1,100 per person; Jamaica-Jamaica, $1,000-$1,150 per person; Couples (no singles or families), $2,300-$2,900 per couple; Grand Lido, for couples or singles only, $1,500-$2,160 per person. (800) 858-8009.

Guests at Ciboney Ocho Rios who stay seven or more nights before Dec. 19 will get a coupon entitling them to free consecutive Friday and Saturday nights at any participating Radisson or Colony property. Off-season rates at Ciboney Ocho Rios start at $170 per person in the Great House, $260 (one person) and $340 (two adults) for a room with garden view; garden view studio or junior villas for one person cost $360; a garden-view, one-bedroom villa is $390. With three or four people in a two-bedroom, garden-view villa, the cost is $880. Air fare is included by some wholesalers, so be sure that your travel agent shops around for this one. (800) 333-3333.

MARTINIQUE

If you are looking for French flair, you can find it here in seven-night packages at many hotels with round-trip air fare from New York City. New rates for hotels, from economy to luxury, run Dec. 13-19 and Jan. 3-Feb. 13. Travelers can save $200 per couple off the prices, which are $1,005-$1,325, if bookings are made through Nov. 30. Other economy-hotel packages cost from $800-$1,325. (800) 765-6065.

NEVIS

This little island in the British West Indies offers two sports options. Seven-night golf vacations are $1,625 per person till Dec. 14 at the new Four Seasons Resort. From Jan. 1 through April 26, the rate is $1,000 higher; it then drops to $1,725 from April 27 until Nov. 14 of next year. Seven-night tennis packages are $1,685, a rate that jumps to $2,500 on Jan. 1. Prices of both packages include lodging, a daily breakfast and dinner, clinics, instruction and unlimited play. (800) 332-3442.

PUERTO RICO

Participating hotels on this action-oriented island offer a free coupon booklet to visitors staying three nights (others can buy it for $8). It is worth $120 in savings on attractions, restaurants and shops around the island, including a new Puerto Rican music-and-dance performance, “San Juan by Night.” For information on Puerto Rico packages, call Puerto Rico Tourism at (800) 223-6530.

Until Dec. 13, Empress Travel has Fiesta Puerto Rico packages to a selection of 13 hotels priced from $325-$1,316 for four- to eight-day stays. Packages include round-trip air fare, cocktail party, taxes and individual features that vary with each hotel.

Family packages are available at a number of resorts on the island, including the Holiday Inn in Ponce, Puerto Rico’s second-largest city (two nights, daily breakfasts, disco entry for $89 per person for two adults and two kids under 18 all in the same room, through Dec. 31); the Carib Inn Hotel Tennis Club and Resort (three nights with daily breakfast and an hour of free tennis daily for $129.50, through Dec. 22); the Dutch Inn Hotel and Casino, three nights with welcome drinks and casino chips, $196.20 for one or two people and two kids under 18, through Dec. 16), and the El San Juan Towers (three nights, use of health club for $199, through Dec. 18).

The Sands Hotel and Casino has a three-night Diamond Club package through Dec. 19, from $155-$170 per person daily. That includes all meals, all beverages, one nightclub show, $25 casino match-bet coupon daily, some water sports, taxes and gratuities.

The Caribe Hilton has a three-night San Juan “Escape” package till Dec. 22 that features a daily American breakfast, welcome drink, T-shirts, a daily activity program for adults and children and a $50 value in match-play casino chips. Per-person rate is $540, extra nights $180 each. (800) 223-1146.

A three-night package at Palmas del Mar in Humacao on the east coast has a scuba-diving package through Dec. 14 starting at $383 per person at the Candelero Hotel. At the more intimate Palmas Inn, rates are $450 per person. Golf, tennis and horseback riding packages also are available. (800) 221-4874.

ST. LUCIA

Information on all St. Lucia packages is available through the island’s tourist board. Call (800) 456-3984.

Le Sport, the only property with spa facilities on the island, offers free round-trip air fare for guests staying a minimum of seven nights through Dec. 15. Rates are $185-$280 per person, per day, and include all meals, spa treatments and water sports.

The Halcyon Beach Club on the west coast, 10 minutes from the island’s capital, Castries, has a seven-day special till Dec. 15. It includes three meals daily, all drinks, water sports, tax and service for $826 per person.

Cunard Hotel La Toc and La Toc Suites are offering two extra nights free with five-night stays through 1992. Through Nov. 2 of this year, daily rates start at $150 for two people; from then through Dec. 22, rates start at $170 for two. Also through Nov. 2, if you book a one-bedroom suite, a second bedroom is free. Prices start at $215 with a sea view; it then goes to $240 through Dec. 22. (800) 222-0939.

French-based Pullman Resort Hotels is launching a new resort here in January. From Jan. 18 to March 27, a three-night stay is $735 per person, double occupancy; $885 for a single. Seven nights, $1,715 per person for a single, and $1,365 per person, double occupancy. Suites are $915 per person for three nights, $1,855 for seven nights. Rates are slightly lower from Jan. 4-17. (800) 221-4542.

ST. MARTIN

This part-Dutch, part-French island is one of the most popular in the Caribbean because it offers two good-size towns and more diversions than many larger islands.

Until Nov. 9, a two-bedroom suite for six (maximum of three adults and three children 21 or under) starts at $145 per night ($160 Nov. 10 to Dec. 20) at the Belair Beach, an all-suite hotel on Little Bay. (800) 933-326459.

The huge Pelican Resort and Casino has a spa package featuring lodging in a junior suite, spa treatments, $25 in casino chips, airport transfers, tax and service. Rates from $1,199 per person for five nights to $1,549 for seven nights through Dec. 21. Extra nights are available at a discount. (800) 327-3286.

Two new Bounty Resorts--the Flamboyant Bounty I at Baie Nettle and Flamboyant Bounty II at Cul de Sac, both on the French side, offer all meals and drinks, midnight buffets, poolside barbecues, sports, entertainment, taxes and tips starting at $90 a day per person through Dec. 21. (800) 46-268689.

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS

Through Dec. 20, a five-night “All-Inclusive Caribbean Vacation Package” is $918 per person, double occupancy, at Frenchman’s Reef on St. Thomas. From Dec. 21-April 14, it’s $1,262 per person, double occupancy; seven nights cost $1,257 per person, double occupancy, and it’s $1,731 per person, double occupancy, from Dec. 21-April 14. Five nights through Dec. 20 at the Morning Star Beach Club on the beach is $1,066--after Dec. 21 it’s $1,369. Seven nights cost $1,464, and $1,881 after Dec. 21. Packages include three meals daily, drinks (excluding in-room servi-bar), tennis, an introductory scuba dive or 10-minute helicopter tour, water sports, taxes and tips. (800) 524-2000.

Stouffer’s Grand Beach Resort on St. Thomas has packages offering 35% off winter rates till Dec. 19. Each “Grand Slam” package offers $100-$1,000 in values in “Paradise Dollars,” redeemable at many Virgin Islands attractions, shops, restaurants and hotels. Package prices, per couple, from $604 for three nights (including $100 in Paradise dollars) to $3,360 for seven nights. The top rate includes lodging in a suite, a three-day free rental car, $1,000 in “Paradise dollars” and three complimentary nights for two at any time at any of the six Stouffer resorts in Mexico. Parents whose kids are 17 years and under may book them in a second room for 50% of the regular room rate year-round. Youths can stay free in their parents’ room with existing bedding as part of the packages or at regular room rates. All offers subject to availability. (800) 468-3571.

Point Pleasant Resort in St. Thomas has revived its 1990 summer rates to apply through Dec. 22 of this year. Per-person rates in a standard suite are $175 daily, a superior suite $185, a deluxe suite $240. A six-night package with a seventh night free includes $200 in “Value Dollars” to be used at participating stores, plus a superior suite, transfers, full breakfast daily and two dinners for two with wine. Rates are $645 per person through Dec. 15. (800) 524-2300.