Anguilla Villas

Anguilla is a small sliver of an island, only 16x3 miles. Her name, Anguilla, is said to have been given to her by Christopher Columbus. As he sailed by taking note of her long and flat topography he named her Anguilla, which is Spanish for "eel".

You may wonder how just 35 square miles can hold so many rental villas. The rental villa market on Anguilla is filled with every kind of accommodation you can think of, and it's growing by leaps and bounds. From a romantic and cozy one bedroom villa overlooking St. Martin, Saba and St. Barts, to mega-villas with five bedrooms situated high on bluffs overlooking the sea Anguilla has something for every need and every pocketbook.

It's not uncommon anymore to see large villa complexes built on Anguilla. One such complex is the St. Regis Temenos Villas. This three villa compound sits on the beach at Long Bay on the northwest end of the island. These villas are for those with very deep pocketbooks. One of these 4 bedroom villas will run you $5142 a night, off season.

For those of us who can only dream about an accommodation like Temenos, there are many other smaller villas available. There's the romantic West Indian style villa called La Petite Maison d'Amour. Small and secluded and very reasonably priced at $205 a night, off season.

Besides more than 60 private rental villas of all sizes there are several hotel and condo accommodations and several resort accommodations.

There are very nice beach front rental condos on Mead's Bay called Carimar. There is also the Royal Palms Apartments located in South Hill. New, fully screened, air conditioned and with a pool. Royal Palms Apartments isn't located on the beach but is a three minute drive to Rendezvous Bay. Anguilla Great House located directly on Rendezvous Bay is a popular spot.

Shoal Bay East is by far the most popular beach on Anguilla. You can get a drink or a meal at any number of beach bars that dot the shoreline. Shoal Bay East is the gathering spot for music on Sundays and where you can catch up with Junior and enjoy a glass bottom boat ride. There are a variety of accommodations on Shoal Bay East. The Allamanda, Serenity, Ku, Shoal Bay Villas and Maderiman are all located on Shoal Bay East. Luckily for right now all of these accommodations remain within the price range of most of us and these are great accommodations for those who like a self-catered holiday.

The big three resorts (as of June 2007) are still The Malliouhana on Meads Bay, Cap Juluca on Maundays Bay and Cuisinart on Rendezvous Bay. Each of these resorts have fabulous spas and restaurants. For those who desire a more leisurely pampered vacation these resorts offer packages that include meals. If you don't want to, there isn't any need to leave the resort.

At this writing St Regis is building villas and a hotel on the grounds of their newly opened golf course on Merrywing Bay, the site of the old Sonesta Resort (which will ALWAYS be in my opinion the most beautiful building on Anguilla). The Viceroy Resorts and Residences are being built on the beach encompassing both Meads and Barnes Bay. The Viceroy will include private villas, town homes and resort residences. In October 2007 Rendezvous Bay Hotel will close for renovations for two years. Planned are 5 bedroom beachfront villas, townhouses, condos and a beachfront hotel. Several weeks ago the Fairmont announced it will be building what it calls a "mixed-use resort" on Anguilla. It will include condos, villas and estate homes as well as an 18-hole golf course. The Cuisinart Resort is also entering the foray of villas and estate homes adjacent to its property. Shoal Bay East will be seeing it's first resort with "private luxury villas and residences" along with tennis court, spa and fitness center and much more.

There is a tremendous amount of building going on at this time on Anguilla. Doubtless the landscape of Anguilla will look very different in the next 3-5 years.