It was never likely I’d let more than 3 months go by between monsoons (unless there’s a pandemic). But as always, I’ll let the universe decide whether I should travel or stay put.
So when I got a notification 3 days ago that my Hyatt points was about to expire unless I do something with them, my curiosity led me to poke around. Within minutes I discovered how 25,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points could transfer 1:1 to a single night at a Category 7 Park Hyatt property in Saint Kitts & Nevis; it usually goes for 30,000 points a night!
And without any hidden strings attached, I transferred 50,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points to my Hyatt account which also reactivated my status and resetting the clock on my already existing miles in that count. Then, booking the rooms directly on Hyatt.com, and then using my $300 Capital One travel credit towards a $272 roundtrip JetBlue flight from NYC to Saint Kitts, and voila, we had our next monsoon!
Thanks to the automated e-mail bots of Hyatt.com:
And those budget basic Blue economy $272 roundtrip JetBlue flights weren’t so bad either; this one flew direct from NYC JFK Terminal 5 at 9:30am, landing about 4 hours later at 1:24pm.
The great thing about Caribbean airports is that if you’re sitting in the back, you can also quickly exit from the back.
Once we arrived at passports, we were told to fill out an entry and customs declaration form online. They take this very seriously and they won’t hand out these forms on the plane.
I first tried to fill them out on my 4G LTE data T-Mobile offered, but many of the dropdown answers weren’t available so staff told me to go on their WiFi to finally see and complete the answers. It sounds like connecting to the airport WiFi is probably the only way you can do them!
After showing the passport office our form confirmations, we were stamped in and then interrogated thoroughly at baggage claims about whether we were bringing in any meats, plants, animals products or foreign vegetables into the country.
Outside arrivals we were picked up by our pre-arranged cab services by our lodgings at the Park Hyatt. . . .
However, I’m going to structure this blogpost in reverse beginning with our 1 hour walking tour of the capital city of Basseterre after we had checked out of Park Hyatt.
From our third and final night’s lodgings at the centrally located and pleasant Seaview Inn we began our tour of the capital walking west along Bay Rd:
Depending on the tide, you can see a few remnants of wreckages in the Bay Front of Basseterre:
The Basseterre Market sits right across from the Basseterre Ferry Terminal and will be on your right if walking west along Bay Rd:
After about 10 minutes of walking along the Bay under the sun, we reached the Cenotaph, commemorating the 20 or so from these islands who died in both World Wars.
Climbing up to the Cenotaph, you can turn around for this view of Basseterre:
We then continued south another 10 minutes along Bay Rd. past the the War Memorial Stone Pier and towards the remains of Fort Thomas. You can tell you’re on the right path if you notice the decorative cannons (probably from the Fort) on top of these condos:
We walked past a few unguarded barriers to reach what appeared to a paintball field:
Note that they call this area “Fort Thomas Grounds” and not “Fort Thomas.” That’s because there’s not much left here to see from Fort Thomas itself:
We then curved our walk back up north and hopped this unguarded, low-lying stone wall:
Walking back along the wall after a quick bug check on our legs, we noticed the remains of a hotel.
Fittingly now that the “Fort Thomas Hotel” seems to also be no more, it looks like they got rid of “Hotel” from the sign to rename the whole abandoned building back to just “Fort Thomas.” Irony.
We then returned back the 20 minute walk to Basseterre, beginning at The National Museum of St. Kitts which entrance is located within the cruise ship area of Port Zante. It was also once the Old Treasury building, built in 1894 and originally the gateway to Basseterre.
It’s currently closed for renovations:
The Amina Craft Market lies a few steps ahead from the museum:
We walked through the market and into Port Zante (currently empty since right now is out of season for cruise ships to stop by). I can imagine the potential.
The parking lot here looks like a cemetery with their cross-like signs:
We soon left the port and walked up 5 minutes north to Independence Square, once formerly the site of a slave market:
The Immaculate Conception Catholic Co-Cathedral is right in front of the square:
We then stopped at the Round-A-Bout:
Take a closer look to see Queen Victoria’s face on it:
Then, walking west along Cayon Rd., we reached the beautiful St. George’s Anglican Church:
After exploring the church, we walked south towards Basseterre’s Berkeley Memorial and Circus, modeled after London’s Piccadilly Circus:
And after an hour’s walk underneath the heat of a Caribbean sun, we were back at the National Museum.
Since all the restaurants here seemed to be shuttered due to it being both a Sunday and Mother’s Day, we picked up snacks at a local grocery store, walked back to Seaview Inn where we checked out early and headed back to the airport for our return flight home.
Now going back in time to our first 2 nights at Park Hyatt St. Kitts Christophe Harbour, we took the 25 minute’s drive southeast from the airport in the peninsula of Saint Kitts, facing directly across from Nevis island.
The entryway alone is enough to convince you that you’ve stumbled upon luxury:
We enjoyed the open concierge concept, where staff comes to wherever you are with a fresh, scented cool towel and a choice of complimentary fruit punch, rum punch, or water.
After checking in and being ferried by golf-cart to our rooms, we walked around the property. It’s pretty big:
They have 2 pools. The lower, main one is for families and has a pool bar serving both food and drinks:
The second, more elevated pool area overlooks the main one. Leave the kids behind at the property’s kids playground area; this area is only for adults:
During the day we enjoyed their free water sports cabin by their private beach, such as my FIRST TIME finally STANDING UP on STAND UP PADDLEBOARDING!
Other sports on land include a pickleball court open on Saturdays for $75 USD:
And a reconverted Sugar Mill that now serves as a soundbath and yoga studio inside:
This and the 24/7 gym is connected to the Sugar Mill Spa Sanctuary in between, open until 6pm:
The relaxation areas are separated by gender; each has a fully equipped bathroom and lockers with your own robe and towels inside, complimentary unlimited tea, outdoor showers, amenity area, both a wet and dry sauna, and outdoor waterfall pools:
As for dining, you can choose from the seafood-focused Fisherman’s Village.
They have a $75 USD per person buffet every Saturday evening:
You can sit as far out as you like, so we chose to eat as far out as possible in front of Nevis island. The only catch here over sitting inside: the bugs come out in full force in this area, feasting on both you and food!
We also happened to come on the World Cocktail Day, where Fisherman’s Village hosts an annual bartending and cocktail competition:
The Great House is the other main restaurant at Park Hyatt outside the Pool Bars (which serves from the same kitchen anyway). This is where breakfast, lunch, and dinner is served everyday on the property:
Finally, we couldn’t pass up the only night Stone Barn would be open during our weekend here.
The Stone Barn at Park Hyatt St. Kitts recently had won “Best Caribbean Fine-Dining” at the 2022 World Culinary Awards. Their menu is designed in an “elemental” theme, beginning with…
wood. Brioche with Citrus | Jerk Spices | Sea Salt butter
stone. Amuse with Crab Johnny Cake – Red Onion | Mango (NF) Beef Tartare – Horseradish | Caviar (NF) (DF) Quinoa – Red Pepper | Almond | Leek
earth. Green Gazpacho with Beetroot | Goat Cheese | Walnut | Avocado | Apple
water. Yellowfin Tuna with Aji Panca | Passion Fruit | Local Herbs | Radish | Jalapeño
smoke. Cedar-Infused Scallop with Celeriac smoke | Celery | Hazelnut | Largo
air. Corn-Fed Chicken Breast with Truffle Air foam | Corn Textures | Breadfruit
fire. Angus Prime Striploin, Short Rib | Pumpkin | Onion | Wild Spinach
The Vegetarian Option: Cauliflower Steak.
ice. Bush Tea, flavored like a Mojito ‘Gin-jito’
force. Piña Colada with Coconut | Pineapple | Rum
For our second day, we headed off to the nearby island of Nevis!
- At time of posting in Saint Kitts, it was 31 °C - Humidity: 72% | Wind Speed: 21km/hr | Cloud Cover: mostly sunny