Appreciate all the good information in this subforum and especially the trip report from
@shlomoandtam since it basically sealed the deal in terms of choosing which SLH hotel to use my Hilton points for and I will say right off the bat that Sail Rock was a great resort. We wanted beautiful beaches, a relaxing atmosphere but also some outdoor activities and it checked all the boxes. Additionally if you book 3 or more nights at Sail Rock, they will include the flight from Providenciales to South Caicos complimentary.
Will keep this in more of a mini-TR format but happy to answer any questions. I will say this trip wasn’t my best in terms of CPP but we really needed the getaway so all’s well that end’s well.
Flew with my wife from JFK to PLS on Jetblue. Booked flight using points, flight was uneventful. We landed in PLS and although I read all the reports about how bad the situation is to clear customs, I've never experienced anything like that in my life. It literally took us 2 hours to get through and in hindsight I would absolutely recommend purchasing the express immigration option (I think it's $75 per person) because it's really an awful way to start a vacation and can really sour the experience.
Due to flight schedule from PLS to South Caicos where Sail Rock is located, we weren't able to catch the afternoon shuttle flight, so I splurged and booked 1 night at the Ritz in Grace Bay using points. It was obscenely expensive (either points or cash) and I wouldn't have normally done it but we were celebrating our 10-year anniversary, so I wanted to make it special. Unfortunately, the hotel failed spectacularly. After our taxi shuttle missed our stop, we finally got to the hotel at 4pm and the room was still not ready, so we had to change in the lobby bathroom. The staff was very unfriendly and didn't seem like they wanted to help welcome guests in any way. I don't know why they are in the hospitality business.
We spent some time at the beach and finally the room was ready. Used the hot logic to warm up dinner and called it a night.
Caught the early morning flight the next day from PLS to XSC. It was cool being on such a tiny plane as you are essentially sitting in the cockpit if you're in the front row and it's a beautiful flight over the water. We noticed staff also on our flight who were going to the newly opening Salterra resort (bookable with Marriott points) so that will be an additional points option for South Caicos. Sail Rock provided a complimentary airport transfer to the resort. The staff and service at Sail Rock were all top notch. They were very helpful with kosher questions and the service matched the level you would expect at a resort of that caliber. We specifically were looking for a resort surrounded by nature and I would say South Caicos provides that experience because the island is not very developed yet (other than Salterra which just recently opened up). Apparently American Airlines is also adding flights from Miami to South Caicos which will be a much easier way of getting there instead of transiting through PLS. We booked 3 nights using Hilton points (140k HH points/night) and got a very nice villa overlooking both the Atlantic and Caribbean so you could see sunrise and sunset (Ridgetop Ocean View Suite). Did yoga, biking, canoeing and other activities at the resort. They also offer a snorkeling excursion which other guests said was very fun, but we didn't book that since we had limited time. We got rain for a full day which they said was very uncommon but c'est la vie. It’s pretty cool how common conches are in Turks & Caicos, and the hotel will clean and wrap up a shell for you to take back home if you ask them.
Thursday morning, we took the morning inter-island flight back to Providenciales. We arrived at PLS around 10AM but none of the car rental companies were open so we couldn’t rent a car for the several hours we had that day. Instead, we took a cab to the Ritz and just left our bags there for a few hours while we walked around the little shopping district. There was also a kosher smoothie place so we stopped by and got a snack. Spent some time at the Ritz pool and then headed back to the airport for our flight home. Flew with United to Newark and booked using the Travel Bank stash and had a turbulent but safe flight home.
Turks & Caicos was a great recommendation based on the trip reports I read. The main island is a bit busy and feels like any other Caribbean island but the water and beaches surpassed any other island I’ve been to thus far.
Hope this is helpful for anyone else considering Sail Rock. You could also use Hilton points to book South Bank which is a new resort on Providenciales and looks like a great redemption option as well.
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