The Pink Sands Club

West of Barbados and south of St. Lucia, a string of nine volcanic islands make up St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Where the sea is pale turquoise and the sand soft and white, the yachties and the jet-setters have a new address to consider: the Pink Sands Club on Canouan Island.

Friendly staff welcome guests to their wee slip of an isle, barely five kilometres long and even skinnier across. The 26-suite hotel with four private villas is less than half an hour via SVG Air from nearby Barbados, and only 10 minutes from the airport.

Formerly a Raffles Hotel (and a Donald Trump project), the Pink Sands Club officially opened in fall 2016 after a $200-million (U.S.) renovation that elevated the property into a luxury league of its own. Upon entering its light-filled lobby, one encounters the first hint of the property’s signature Italian design: its hot pink PSC pink benches, marble floors, hand-blown glass light fixtures, as well as the atmospheric pièce de résistance, a view of the rosy sand and azure ocean.

White shutters allow guests views of landscaped gardens and beach as they follow open-air hallways towards their suites. These passageways are cozy themselves, featuring settees and chairs in signature PSC pink or indigo blue, decorated with polka dot, stripe, and ikat-patterned pillows.

Spacious, 120-square-meter ground floor suites are replete with beautiful details. A lavish dressing room features a marble table with chic leather stool perch, while the walk-in closet sees mirrored doors and oversized leather handles and of course plenty of space for ball gowns, beach cover-ups, and baubles. Bathrooms feature deep Kohler tubs and multi-jet marble showers with fixtures by Perrin & Rowe, and are tiled in a delicate pattern of cream, hand-cut marble petals. Edible sundries are regional and fun—think rum cakes, plantain chips, and local Agapey chocolate bars ready to be enjoyed on your screened-in porch as the waves roll beyond.

Stress doesn’t stand a chance—this is secluded island luxury at its loveliest.

Bedrooms, too, are regal: a king-size bed is adorned with crisp white sheets, monogrammed in signature pink with PSC, custom-made for the hotel by Rivolta Carmignani. A cream linen headboard, with a surrounding swath of pink linen drapes, compliments the pile of oversized pillows, a pink-patterned bolster, and accent pillows. A side table, storage bench, night tables, and desk are in chocolate brown wood with silver hardware. All the kingdom can be controlled from the tablet: two televisions are hidden behind mirrors, one in a sliding wall.

Another set of sliding doors leads to a stone path, through a garden to the beach path. A few more steps and a guest can claim an oversized lounger on the beach or walk to the north end of the property towards the infinity pool, Jacuzzi, and swim-up bar (the latter for a fruity Canouan Passion cocktail). There are several outdoor seating areas, as well as the pretty, blue and white Lagoon Café for breakfast, and the marine-inspired bar Turtles for sundowner cocktails. The resort boasts five varied dining options in total—at night, guests can indulge in Mediterranean-meets-Caribbean cuisine in the yellow banquettes of Romeo restaurant or the serene enclave of café Juliet, while gazing into the overwhelming expanse of stars above.

If any tension still needs to be released after a few days spent at the beach or golf course (the resort boasts one of the world’s best greens), follow a wooden walkway to discover the Pink Sands Club Spa, with treatment rooms embedded in a nearby hill surrounded by lush landscaping and accessible by funicular, and two glass-bottomed overwater spa palapas, allowing one to enjoy a massage while watching fish flit through the clear waters below. Stress doesn’t stand a chance—this is secluded island luxury at its loveliest.

Pink Sands Club, Carenage Bay, Canouan Island VC 0450, St. Vincent & Grenadines

Images courtesy of Pink Sands Club, Canouan.

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