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Biras Creek, tucked away at the eastern limits of the BVI, is one of the Caribbean’s trustiest and most understated retreats. There is an effortless calm about the place, which will envelop you the moment you step onto the jetty on arrival. With a spa, watersports and an excellent dining room, the hotel has many of the facilities of a resort, but in spirit it is extremely un-resort like. Biras is a small Virgin Gorda hotel, consciously low key and unostentatious, but it offers its well heeled visitors the tranquil retreat and the good food and wine that they want, with unassuming style. It amply fulfills the criteria of the Relais & Chateaux, of which is a member: Character, Courtesy, Calm, Charm and, important in the Caribbean, Cuisine.
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KEY FEATURES
| A secluded and extremely low key Virgin Gorda hotel in the British Virgin Islands, 31 suites in cottages, Sailaway programme / BVI yacht charter, dive bvi, swimming pool, spa, yoga, watersports, hiking trails, Boston Whalers, tennis courts, Caloi bicycles, kayaks, wireless internet access available, TV and DVD room, fitness area, helicopter pad |
STYLE
| Understated elegance in unfussy, natural surroundings, stone walls and pretty tropical gardens |
CLIENT PROFILE
| Off-duty elegance, well heeled travellers, happy to travel the extra mile for something special, quite British |
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Biras Creek lies at the eastern limits of Virgin Gorda, about as far flung in the scattering of Virgin Islands as you can go. And it is this remoteness, and its beautiful physical surroundings, that gives it its charm and privacy and much of its character as a hotel. Getting there involves at least a small plane ride and then a boat trip, so less adventurous travellers aren’t going to bother. And then it is a striking area. Its gardens are a pretty and colourful enclave cut into the barren and slightly wild surrounding country of steep, cactus covered hillsides. The views are quite wild, unexpectedly so for such a comfortable place. At dinner you sometimes have a view of the Atlantic, with the moon glinting silver on the ocean chop.
Once you arrive at Biras, the atmosphere of place gets to work on you. It is truly calm and quiet, while still being sophisticated, and it is so secluded that it is effectively private for the guests of the hotel itself.
The hotel looks in three directions, over three bays, each of which has a completely different character. There is a Caribbean beach, which is hot and usually still, with calm shallow water in which to cool off. Just a few hundred yards away is an Atlantic facing cove where there is always a sea breeze and the waves run ashore one after the next, white lines etched on the shallow water. And then there is the lagoon, a calm stretch of the North Sound, where yachts and small boats sit moored to the wooden jetty and the frenetic activity of sailing boats takes place in the distance.
The jetty will be your landfall at Biras. As you cross the North Sound the hotel comes into view beneath the steep sweep of hillsides and the pointed roof of Biras’s dining room. It is a delightful way to arrive. It gains definition as you draw closer, until it stands above you and you step out onto the wooden landing stage. From here you walk up on the gravel path to the small cluster of open-sided buildings, passing the Billiards Room and the Arawak Room before arriving at the Reception. Above here is the main house, with its bar and dining room with a view.
The buildings at Biras are clad in cut stone, local rocks in light brown and grey that have been rough-carved. They have broad stretches of louvred French doors that open right back between stone piers, or are simply open to the view anyway. On them sit the feature double-pitched roofs clad in weathered wooden shingles, which rise almost pagoda-like to a central point, sweeping down to reach over terraces of stone.
The dining room sits at the top of the rise. You enter the bar, with its terra cotta coloured tile floor and wicker armchairs, and then walk into the main dining room. Mostly you dine overlooking the glass-flat, jade green stretch of the North Sound, but when the hotel is full you can dine in another section, down a few steps, which looks out over the Atlantic Ocean. The dining room at Biras is one of the real pleasures of staying here.
The Arawak Room is just below the dining room, in the same style of stone and shingle buildings, and also has an equally lovely view through its open doors. Furnished with wicker armchairs, it is used as a reading room (there is a small library) and games room. There is also a television on which DVDs and videos can be screened as well as occasional sporting events. Afternoon tea is served there at four.
Biras is not over-manicured. The hotel’s gravel paths are lined with low stone walls, behind which you will hear iguanas and lizards scuttling in the dry leaves. The buildings themselves are surrounded by tropical flowers and shrubs, ixora, cactus, hibiscus and sprays of bougainvillea. Different plants again are chosen to cope with the salt-laden sea breeze down by the bedrooms, neem trees, turpentine trees, sea grape trees and sea hibiscus.
Guests are given bicycles to get around Biras Creek. Golf carts wouldn’t really suit the quiet and style of the place. The longest run you can make is to the beach, about seven hundred yards, slightly downhill, past the mangroves and helicopter pad. Secluded from the Atlantic by the hills above, Deep Bay is always calm and usually it is sweltering hot. There is a watersports hut and bar and lunch is served there five times a week, grilled meats cooked at the beach with salads brought down from the kitchen.
The rooms at Biras are all suites and they are all located in the third, Atlantic-facing bay, where they are leisurely spaced out over about 500 yards of seafront. They stand in stone cottages with some gingerbread trim and they each have a large balcony with loungers and a low wooden balustrade. Inside they are unfussy with a calm base colour of blue and light furniture onto which is cast bright fabrics. They have outside showers and the decoration includes versions of the Biras lizard, the hotel logo.
There are a couple of central points among the rooms on the Atlantic bay. The pool is set on its own deck and close by is the spa, which has two treatment rooms with views out to the Atlantic, a beauty salon and a relaxation area. They offer massages, wraps, personal yoga sessions and certain beauty treatments such as facials. The spa is reserved for guests of Biras Creek.
While it is easy to spend a lazy time at the resort itself, enjoying the beach and the company of other guests, there is quite a lot to do around Biras, in the North Sound and beyond. There are trails on the hills around the resort and if you want to know about tropical plants then the head gardener offers a weekly tour. There is a weekly scuba introduction session. There are also 26ft Folkboats with which you can borrow to sail around the North Sound. Many people say that the highlight of their trip is a day sail and Biras offers trips to Anegada and Jost van Dyke. Finally they offer a sailaway programme in which you can exchange up to two nights for nights aboard a yacht.
Biras is not glitzy or overplayed, and if you arrive hyped up it may take a little time for it to get to work on you. There are no televisions in the rooms (though there is a phone line with dataport) and there are not many group activities. It is best suited to guests that want good facilities and enjoy good food and wine, with unenforced company, but who do not see a need for snap finger service. They prefer it to be lower key, even quite subdued and quiet. |
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Beach & Swimming
Biras’s main beach, in Deep Bay, is a short ride away from the heart of the resort. The sand is blindingly white and fine and shelves very gradually out into the water. There is a bar at one end of the beach. Some watersports equipment is provided, including sit-on kayaks, windsurfers, Boston Whalers and small catamarans. There is an instructor on hand if you would like a lesson.
There is a small stretch of sand and rocks on Bercher’s Bay on the Atlantic side. It is not for swimming because the water is rocky and shallow for forty or fifty yards, but it is fine for sitting and enjoying the view and the breeze.
If you want to take off a little farther afield, then you can head for the North Sound, where there are nice beaches at Prickly Pear and on Mosquito Island. |
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Sports & Recreation
Besides the watersports on the beach, there are two tennis courts on property at Biras. The resort arranges a weekly walk through the gardens to learn about tropical plants with the Head Gardener Alvin Harrigan (10am on Mondays). There are also trails all over the peninsular so you can set off on your own if you would like to explore. A new fitness area features Nautilus elliptical and treadmill machines, and Caloi bicyles are available for use around the resort.
If you are feeling slightly less active then you can spend a little time in the spa, which offers massage, wraps and beauty treatments. They will also arrange personalised yoga sessions. The Arawak Room has a television (the rooms at Biras do not), where you can watch videos, DVDs and American satellite channels.
It is well worth exploring the North Sound. There are several good stops, one at the beach bar on Prickly Pear Cay and the other at Leverick Bay, where there is a restaurant and bar in the marina. Biras offers an introduction to scuba diving each week in their pool. Of course if you are qualified, or wish to dive further, this is possible through one of the diving companies in Virgin Gorda. The hotel can also arrange snorkelling trips at some of the offshore islands in Sir Francis Drake Channel, including Salt Island (for the RMS Rhone), Fallen Jerusalem and the Dogs.
Finally there are full and half day sails (which usually include a guided snorkelling section) on Biras’s 62ft yacht Crystal Clear. You can choose to spend the day chilling out at one of the small offshore islands, say Cooper Island or Marina Cay, or you can take a full day’s hard sail to Anegada. Half day trips tend to visit the beaches, including the Baths and Savannah Bay. |
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The Spa
The Biras Creek spa is set on the Atlantic side, looking out to the ocean. There are two treatments rooms and a beauty salon and a relaxation room overseen by three therapists, who offer a series of massage and beauty treatments using the Decléor line of products. They also use juice from aloes and neem trees in the gardens at Biras too and salt from nearby Salt Island.
Massage is also possible in your cottage or on your veranda.
Treatments include aromatic massages and Swedish, Indian and hot stone massages. You can also have a couple’s massage on beds side by side that look out to the ocean. There are also salt scrubs for exfoliation, followed by a herbal or cream massage for moisturisation, or an exfoliation with plant extract followed by an envelopment and then an essential oil massage. Finally there are ladies and mens facials. |
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Staff
Over half of the staff at Biras have been there for over 20 years and some for over 30. The continuity of the welcome is one of the things that visitors enjoy on their return. Yvonne in the dining room has been there for over 30 years, Cynthia at Reception has been there for more than 28, as has Donald, Head of Housekeeping. Clinton the barman has been there for 24. The General Manager is Rick Blyth who originates from Wisconsin and joined Biras in spring 2008 following time as President of the US Virgin Islands Tourism Association. Prior to that Rik was Managing Director of Caneel Bay Resort on St John. Other members of staff you will come across are Capt Blondie who runs the ferry and Alvin Harrigan, the gardener. |
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The Rooms
The rooms at Biras, all suites in fact, are set in cottages stretched along the front of Bercher’s Bay. There are two different categories and a small number of two bedroom suites. The 22 Ocean Suites sit right on the seafront. Set slightly behind them are the six Garden Suites, with views between the trees and other cottages to the sea.
The Ocean and Garden Suites are all in the same shape and design, built partly of the same cut stone as the other buildings at Biras, and with a touch of gingerbread trim. The main room looks out (and can open out) onto a large balcony with a lovely view of the sea (in the case of the Ocean suites). The floor is terra cotta tiled and the furniture wicker, but the background colour is a subdued light blue. On top of this is thrown bright, hand-painted fabrics (with motifs of tropical flowers, palms, the Biras lizard and light touches such as reclining frog doorstops. The rooms are air-conditioned, but they can also be opened up to catch the sea breeze. There is a small fridge (contents complimentary) and a coffee and tea maker. The bathrooms have an outdoor shower with greenery and fish decorations and Biras lizards, and the shell shaped basins are set in hand-carved vanity units. The soaps are by Crabtree and Evelyn. Several of these suites interconnect, making a two-bedroom, two bathroom unit.
At the end of the beach on Bercher’s Bay are two newer and larger Grand Suites, which offer huge space looking onto the Atlantic and a private plunge pool. You enter via a large sitting room with planters’ chairs and wicker armchairs. They are furnished in the same style as the other rooms but they have rounded arches and windows of tropical hardwood. The bedrooms have their own furnished terrace and a view onto the ocean from the bed. The bathrooms are large and have a large tub with an ocean view. There is room in the sitting room for a rollaway bed. Finally there is a two-bedroom Premier Suite, which also sits right on the waterfront. The bedrooms also have their own furnished balconies overlooking the waves. |
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Dining
The Executive Chef is Jermain ‘Monk’ George, who was promoted in 2007 following 11 years as Sous Chef at Biras Creek. Previously he has worked at Lake Placid Lodge and White Barn Inn, both Relais & Chateaux properties. He is continuing Biras’s tradition of top-notch cooking with a Caribbean slant and uses fresh ingredients wherever possible.
Biras also has a small café and deli down on the lagoon side called the Fat Virgin Café. Here you can get a drink or a simple meal, barbecued chicken or a burger, on the waterfront deck on the lagoon side. |
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Useful Hints
You might find on your first night in an Ocean Cottage that the noise of the waves is quite loud. They break quite far out and then wash in over the shallow sea floor. The staff ask you to persevere, because almost everyone gets used to it. And apparently they go home asking for a recording of it.
For all its low key atmosphere, Biras has a certain formality about it, one that the older and often quite refined guests are happy with. Also, the hotel can feel quite English at times because so many of the clientele are from there. |
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Practical Facts
Annual Closure dates: 2010 to be advised
Dress Code: Elegantly casual. Shorts or dry bathing suits with cover-ups are permitted in the dining room during the day. Men are requested to wear trousers and a collared shirt at the bar or dining room after 6pm, whilst ladies are asked to wear suitably elegant resort attire - no shorts, jeans and tennis shoes.
Facilities: Reception with concierge services, Spa, restaurant, café and deli, watersports with instruction, guided snorkel trips, lit tennis courts, bicycles, use of the Boston Whalers, 6 nature trails, yoga, Arawak Room with TV, videos and DVDs
Complimentary: Beverages in your suite upon arrival, tennis, bicycles, use of Boston Whalers, windsurfing, Sunfish or Hobie cat sailing including instruction, yoga classes
Other Services: 62ft yacht, Crystal Clear for day sails and trips, sunset cruises, overnight sailing, special snorkel trips, scuba diving, waterskiing, sports fishing.
Accommodation: 31 cottages
Room Types: All rooms have a sitting room, separate air-conditioned bedroom, outdoor showers, ceiling fans, direct dial telephone with data port, CD player, refrigerator, tea and coffee making facilities, hairdryer, in-room safe, furnished veranda, and two bicycles for touring the property. Ocean & Garden Suites each have iHome Players; Grand & Premier Suites also have Bose iPod Sound Docks and Sony LCD TV & DVD players. All suites have king size beds, unless twin beds are requested. Three interconnecting suites are available to make two-bedroom, two-bathroom suites. 22 x Ocean Suites (475 sq ft) give uninterrupted views of the sea from their bedrooms and private verandas. 6 x Garden Suites (475 sq ft) are set behind the Ocean Suites with glimpses of the Atlantic ocean. 2 x Grand Suites (1325 sq ft) have a large entry area, with extra half-bath, opening to the living room with enough space for a roll-away bed, a furnished veranda/sun deck with private plunge pool, separate bedroom with king size bed, large walk-in closet, desk, dresser, bathroom with oversized soaking tub with a ocean view. A separate garden shower room opens to the skies and is large enough for two; a unique "open air" toilet and bidet room are nearby. Two vanities flank the "picture window". Grand Suites can be inter-connected. 1 x Two bedroom Premier Suite (900 sq ft) with two bedrooms with shower rooms en suite, sitting room between the two bedrooms, furnished outdoor veranda with views of the ocean
Children: No children under eight are permitted at Biras Creek. Add US$175 per night for one child sharing a suite. If more than one child, a second suite is required, except in the Grand Suites where two children may be accommodated for $175 per night, per child.
Weddings: The Biras Wedding plan costs US$1,500 and includes a marriage license/stamp, registrar's fee, bride's bouquet, wedding cake, champagne, and photographer (couples receive 3 rolls of undeveloped film.) A Wedding Coordinator is available on-site to assist with all the arrangements. Please see here for full details of a BVI wedding at Biras Creek.
Credit Cards: Visa MasterCard, American Express |
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Rates
| | 19 Apr- 17 Dec 2009 | 18 Dec- 03 Jan 2009-10 | 04 Jan- 21 Jan 2010 | 22 Jan- 18 Apr 2010 | 19 Apr- 17 Dec 2010 | | Garden Suite 2 persons | 700 | On request | 850 | 950 | 700 | | Ocean Suite 2 persons | 850 | On request | 950 | 1,150 | 850 | | Grand Suite 2 persons | 1,450 | On request | 1,600 | 1,750 | 1,450 | | Premier Suite 4 persons | 1,950 | On request | 2,250 | 2,500 | 1,950 | All rates are quoted in US dollars based on double occupancy and include breakfast, lunch afternoon tea, dinner and airport transfers (if you stay for 4 days or more) and are subject to an additional 18% Government Tax and Service Charge. For single occupancy, deduct $190 per night. For triple occupancy, add $190 per night. Maximum of three adults per suite except for the Grand Suites, which can accommodate two children each. Premier Suite rate is based on an occupancy of up to four people. DEPOSITS: A credit card deposit equivalent to the cost of three nights (or 50% on the package total) is required at the time of booking. This is applied to the first and last two nights. For reservations between 20 December and 4 January, a 50% deposit of the total value of the reservation is required at the time of booking with the outstanding balance due 60 days prior to arrival. Deposits are refunded (less 5% to cover credit card processing expenses) if reservations are cancelled in writing no less than 30 days prior to arrival (60 days notice required between 20 December to 4 January). In case of an early check out, the three nights deposit is applied to any cancelled nights of a confirmed reservation. |
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Special Offers
Winter Booking Special - 50% Off Second Room
For a limited time, Biras Creek Resort is offering an amazing deal to bring your friends, children, even your in-laws, at a significant savings. When you book your stay, a second stay is available at 50% off published rates. Offer is valid for minimum 3 night stay, is subject to availability, cannot be combined with other offers and is for new bookings only for stays from 19 October to 17 December, 2009.
Free Nights = 30% savings
Stay at Biras Creek Resort for 5 nights and receive 2 extra nights FREE, PLUS a US$100 Beverage Credit for use in resort. Offer valid for Ocean Suites and includes all meals, activities and accommodations for two people. Offer valid for new bookings only for stays 19 October to 17 December 2009 subject to availability and cannot be combined with other offers. |
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Special Packages
BIRAS CREEK ULTIMATE ROMANCE PACKAGE A 7 night package for two including accommodation, daily breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, a welcome bottle of Champagne, an off-site excursion and two half hour massages. | Ultimate Romance | 19 Apr- 17 Dec 2009 | 04 Jan- 21 Jan 2010 | 22 Jan- 18 Apr 2010 | 19 Apr- 17 Dec 2010 | | Garden Suite | 4,175 | 5,830 | 7,005 | 4,175 | | Ocean Suite | 5,690 | 6,930 | 8,415 | 5,690 | | Grand Suite | 9,360 | 10,380 | 12,650 | 9,360 | All rates are in US$ per couple for 7 nights based on double occupancy. Package price excludes 18% tax and service charge. All rates and inclusions are subject to change without notice. Other Biras Creek Special Packages include a five night GETAWAY FOR TWO package including accommodation, three meals a day and a US$200 spa credit per person from US$2,980 between 15 Jun-15 Nov 2010 in a Garden Suite. A 7 night FAMILY SUMMER FUN package caters for families with two (or more) children age 8-16 years and is based on two suites with the second connecting suite a discounted rate. The package includes all meals for 2 adults and 2 children for 7 nights plus a welcome bottle of Champagne, free snorkelling lessons, a half day snorkelling trip to The Baths from US$8,770 to US$10,620 between 15 Jun-15 Nov 2010. The 14 night SUMMER ESCAPE package for couples includes all meals, a welcome bottle of Champagne, a round-trip taxi trip to The Baths, two half hour massages per week, and one off-site excursion for two per week from US$8,090 between 10 Apr-15 Nov 2009. SAILAWAY in 2010, Biras Creek Resort is pleased to offer guests a Sailaway Option with the opportunity to book two or more nights aboard the classic sailing schooner Crystal Clear. Please see Biras Creek’s website for more details by using the link at the top of this review page. All rates include complimentary airport transfers (based on a minimum 4 night stay) and use of the resort’s Boston Whalers and bicycles. Beverages are not included. Package prices are subject to a 18% Government Tax and Service Charge, and to change without notice. |
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How to Book
If you wish to make further enquiries or a reservation, please use the WEB LINK or DIRECT EMAIL ENQUIRIES facility at the top of this page to make contact with Biras Creek in the BVI, or if you wish to telephone them, please click on TELEPHONE CONTACT to reveal the number. |
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UK Tour Operators
If you wish to book through a tour operator or travel organiser, please follow the link below.
See List of UK Tour Operators
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Locality
Biras Creek is located in the eastern corner of the North Sound, a protected area of water at the eastern end of Virgin Gorda. It can only be reached by boat and it is relatively remote. The North Sound is quite a popular anchorage and so there often visiting yachts and sometimes crews taking time off.
There are a number of other Virgin Gorda hotels and villas on the North Sound. The closest is the Bitter End Yacht Club, a hotel that specialises in sailing (in yachts of every size). It is possible to follow a goat trail across the hillside to it. The hotel is stretched along the waterfront and there are a couple of bars and shops where you can linger for a drink among the action of the yachts and their crews. Just offshore here is Saba Rock, literally a blip in the water. Once a raffish and distinctly riotous bar made of shabby wood, now it is a more prim affair but it still has a bar and restaurant.
The islands behind here are Necker, which belongs to Virgin tycoon Richard Branson and Eustatia, where there are a number of private villas. The next island is Prickly Pear Cay, which has a good beach bar with some watersports. Farther round, over the reef protecting the Sound, is Mosquito Island, which has recently been sold and is private. Opposite there, across the main entrance to the Sound is Leverick Bay. This is a development with a marina, a bar and restaurant, some self catering rooms and then some private villas perched on the steep hillside above it. The last settlement in this area is Gun Creek, a local village and the ferrypoint to which the staff from Virgin Gorda cross to get their cars and head home. The road leads from here up the incredibly steep hill to the south of the island and the Valley or Spanish Town. If you fly into Virgin Gorda and catch a cab this is where you will catch the ferry across to Biras Creek resort. |
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Meet & Greet
You are most likely to arrive via the airport at Beef Island off Tortola, where you will be met by staff from Biras who will take you the short distance down to the dock at Trellis Bay. From here Captain Blondie will ferry you to the resort.
Private air charters can also be arranged from any point of entry (St Thomas, St Croix, Antigua, St. Martin, Puerto Rico) as well as helicopter transfers direct to Biras Creek.
ARRIVAL & DEPARTURE: Check-in 3:00 pm. Check-out is at 12:00 noon. Changing facilities are available for late departures. |
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Getting Around
If you would like to explore Virgin Gorda for a day or two, then you can hire a car, which you can organise through the hotel or in advance through your travel organiser.
The car hire company will deliver to Gun Creek, where they issue you with your local driving licence at the same time as the car. It is a twenty minute drive down to Spanish Town, where the first of the beaches start (Savannah Bay is the first) and where you will find Spanish Town, aka The Valley, the main settlement in Virgin Gorda. There are a couple of nice restaurants in Spanish Town, including Chez Bamboo. The Baths and the other beaches are beyond it. Also try Giorgio’s Table in Mahoe Bay.
The Folkboats are limited to the North Sound, so if you wish to sail farther afield you will need to join a day sail or hire a boat with a captain. |
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_normal.jpg "The pool set in decking by the sea, BVI hotel")
