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The Four Seasons Resort Nevis is the only full service, international standard hotel on Nevis. It has 196 rooms in low-lying tropical blocks set back slightly from the sand among the tangle of tall palms of Pinney's Beach, Nevis's loveliest beach. There is a busy core to the resort, around the foyer, restaurants and the main pool, but it is laid out over large grounds so the rooms, and the villas, which are set inland on higher ground, have a delightful tropical tranquillity. There are extensive sporting facilities, watersports, tennis, golf and a full service spa. The Four Seasons brand is well known and the Nevis resort lives up to its exacting standards.
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KEY FEATURES
| One of the exclusive Caribbean resorts. Big, international standard beachfront Nevis hotel, 196 large and luxurious rooms and suites, 3 restaurants, excellent golf course, full service spa, full watersports, 10 tennis courts, villas in the grounds for Nevis rentals. |
STYLE
| Brisk, lively beach resort with plenty of sports, attentive service |
CLIENT PROFILE
| Four Seasons devotees, well heeled businesspeople, many from North America, some Europeans, quite strong on groups |
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Pinney’s Beach on Nevis, home of Four Seasons, is one of the Caribbean’s classic settings, a lovely strip of sand backed by a tangle of tall palms, set against the stunning, deep green backdrop of Mount Nevis. And for many of the guests this is their first sight of the resort, as they arrive on the hotel ferry from St Kitts. They pull up to the pier, are greeted by the resort employees and escorted straight to their rooms from there (registration takes place before you get on the ferry).
As you arrive at the pier you see the resort stretched along half a mile of beachfront, at the centre of four miles of beach. For a large resort the Four Seasons is sympathetically built, with (maximum) two-storey buildings clad in wood that sit comfortably among the palms. At its centre, set back slightly, you will see the foyer, and either side of it the blocks of rooms running north and south. Strong on service, the resort has an efficient air which is a little untypical of the Caribbean, particularly of gentle Nevis. It is also large, with 196 rooms, but it doesn’t feel crowded because of its leisurely layout. The grounds are full of open spaces and they are equally attractive looking towards the beach and inland. Behind the rooms you will find the neatly trimmed fairways of the golf course. The few rooms that face the mountain have a wonderful view over the golf course and up to Nevis Peak.
Of course you might arrive in a more traditional manner, rather than by boat from St Kitts. Nevis’s air services have improved recently and so about half the guests fly direct into the island. After a short drive from the airport you ride up the main drive, an alley of trees between the fairways of the golf course, and pull up to the main foyer. Bellmen leap forward to help you out of your car and escort you to Reception. This, with its dark stained panelling, has a sophisticated, unexpectedly urban aspect. There are touches of plantation life in the reproduction antiques and the use of dark stained wood, but the upholstery and decor give the atmosphere a stateside polish. The bar, off to one side, is like the snug in a private metropolitan club.
The impression is brief, though, as the tropical ambience returns the moment you soon look out towards the Caribbean Sea. You are looking at the busy heart of the resort. To your left are two restaurants. The smarter is The Dining Room and the more casual Neve, their Mediterranean restaurant (see below for Dining). Ahead you look down over the main pool, which is set in tropical greenery. Next to it stands the Pool Cabana restaurant. To the right of the foyer are shops and beneath them are the Children’s Activities Centre and Games Room. And back on the left, beneath the restaurants side are the Business Centre and the conference rooms.
The rooms and suites are ranged in ten blocks either side of the foyer. They are dressed in unpainted wood, with white cross-hatched balustrades and screened balconies, all fringed with gingerbread fretwork. Set slightly back from the beach they look over the palm lawn (the buildings are dwarfed by the original palms, some of which survive from before construction) to the pools and watersports areas, or simply to the beach. Most of the rooms look out towards the sea. Just 36 face back the other way, over the golf course to the mountain (their view is equally spectacular in many ways).
Inside, the rooms are called deluxe but they are large and have sitting space towards the front that makes them almost equivalent to suites. They have stone tile floors and light coloured walls in coral yellow, teal and peach. The furniture is antique reproduction mahogany, again with hints of the old West Indies, but once again stateside comforts and standards prevail, with all the modern amenities that you might need, including a cable TV and DVD as well as high speed internet access. Cotton mats are laid out for you to stand on at your bedside. The bathrooms are large, with the same stone tiles, twin basins in the marble vanities and a bathtub as well as a shower.
All the rooms at the Four Seasons have outside space and it is delightful to look over the lawns in the peace of the morning, through the slender trunks of the palms. The view from the beach itself, along the length of St Kitts, is simply fantastic. Facilities on the front, mainly in the centre of the resort, include two pools (one a ‘quiet’ pool) and a watersports office that offers a full range of sports, from snorkelling and kayaking to waterskiing and scuba diving.
The Four Seasons in Nevis has excellent land-based sports facilities as well as the watersports. Most of them are located on the other side of the rooms, looking towards the mountains. Leaving the foyer you pass through the tennis courts and come to the golf pro shop and golf course, which is one of the finest in the Caribbean. Next to it is the fitness centre and the extensive spa (see under Sports and Recreation below). There is even a croquet lawn.
Tucked behind these buildings, visible around the first fairway, are several villas. Four Seasons has a number of them within its management pool. They are scattered around the estate, some on the lower level just behind the hotel and others that sit high on the hillside (on the other side of the main road), from where they have excellent views of course. If you would prefer to stay in a villa, with the privacy and the daily maid service, but with the use of the all the facilities of the hotel, then the villas can be booked as a regular hotel room.
Four Seasons Resort Nevis and has plenty of facilities for meetings, with conference space for up to 300 people, and it sees a successful incentive trade. Although it is not extreme by US standards (groups are not permitted to wear name badges outside meetings or use walkie talkies), it gives the resort a business-like feel at times. However, Four Seasons is large enough for you to be able to escape and busy yourself elsewhere.
The expectations of Four Seasons devotees, in terms of comfort and service, are of course extremely high. And the Caribbean is hardly an area that is renowned for its service, but the Four Seasons Resort Nevis has managed to reach good standards of service while still retaining most of the Nevisians’ natural warmth and hospitable nature. It took a while, but it is now a hotel at ease with itself.
UPDATE
Four Seasons Resort, Nevis, undertook a US$10 million renovation programme in the fall of 2005. Their new developments included a new, third pool, and a beachside restaurant called Mango's. It is located close to the 18th green of their golf course and has views out to sea. They also refurbished two of their suites - the Nelson Suite and the Hamilton Suite - and 80 of their sea-facing guest rooms. |
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Beach & Swimming
Four Seasons is set on Pinney’s Beach, one of the classics of the Caribbean, a four mile strip of golden brown sand that is backed by a lovely tangle of palms among much of its length. There are some revetments out to sea which help prevent beach erosion.
There are three pools, two of which are on the beachfront. The Ocean Pool was designed with children in mind and has toys and a shallow end. The other has been designated a ‘quiet pool’. It is infinity-edged and around it there are hidden nooks under the palms where you are able to sunbathe. The third pool is the plunge pool at the spa. |
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Sports & Recreation
There is a full range of watersports on the beach, for which the staff can offer instruction, including snorkelling, windsurfing, small boat sailing (Sunfish, Hobie Cats), scuba diving and others. There is a Fitness Centre with plenty of equipment and daily classes. Personal trainers are available for individual instruction.
The Peter Burwash tennis facility has a resident pro. Instruction can be arranged and matches and tournaments are also staged. Three of the ten clay and all-weather tennis courts can be lit for night play.
There is a fresh and soothing air about the spa, which is set in its own building close to the golf pro shop and gym. The main reception building has the changing rooms and a number of treatment rooms, including two for massage, two for facials, the beauty salon and two Vichy Showers, but there is a more charming West Indian feel about the six treatment rooms outside in the gardens. These are set in three wooden cottages with gingerbread pointing set in tropical greenery. The couples’ treatment room is particularly popular. Beyond the cottages you will find the Jacuzzi contained within a wall of Nevisian stone and the Sala, or relaxation area, where you can sit before and after your treatments. It is a covered ‘living’ area (hence the name sala), which has a cold plunge pool and a series of chairs for relaxing. The sala has the most magnificent view to the mountains.
Treatments include massage, varying from Swedish to sports massage, including His and Hers Massages, herbal wraps, reflexology, aromatherapy, facials and manicure and pedicures. Sothys products are used for facials and JF Lazartigue is used for hair care. The spa café can provide light meals. Day packages are available.
The Golf Course is a championship 6766 yard 18-hole course designed by Robert Trent Jones II and is one of the finest courses in the Caribbean - good enough to be popular with visitors from other the islands in the area (people fly in from St Barths and Anguilla). Set in Nevis’s lovely green countryside, the course rises steadily to 450 feet, giving some cracking views of the sea across to St Kitts (particularly from the fifteenth hole) and then heads back to the coast. The eighteenth hole drives directly west towards the sea to the green just a few yards from the beach. Hotel guests have preferential tee times. |
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Staff
The Nevisians are charming people, but the outside world and its modern concepts of top flight service had hardly protruded into their island before the Four Seasons arrived at the beginning of the 1990s. They have worked hard and adapted to the Four Seasons’ style and now staff are a good approximation of international standards of service without having lost their natural charm. Their international experience is increasing. Long serving employees also get to visit other Four Seasons hotels as part of their incentive package.
The General Manager is Andrew Humphries. Originally from Jamaica, he worked for many years on the West Coast of Barbados, some of it as general manager of Royal Pavillion and Glitter Bay Hotels, and in London, at the Athanaeum Hotel, the Savoy and Four Season in London (1997- 2001). Most recently he was with the Four Seasons Hotel in Amman, Jordan.
Executive Chef Cyrille Pannier has been with Four Seasons Nevis since 1994 and has worked in their London, Austin Texas and Palm Beach hotels. |
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The Rooms
The rooms are ranged in ten two-storey buildings, eight of which are oceanfront and two (40 rooms) look back towards the mountain. They are large and very cool and comfortable and have some West Indian touches in the décor, including welcoming pineapple carvings on the king size bed headboards and dark stained mahogany reproduction antique furniture. The attention to detail in the presentation and preparation of the rooms is notable with excellent en suite marble bathrooms. They have ceiling fans but are really designed to be air-conditioned and they also have a safe, a coffee maker, minibar, ice maker and a large television with cable and DVD.
There are seventeen suites - ten Executive Suites, five Ocean Suites (both one and two bedroom) and the Nelson and Hamilton Luxury suites. Rooms can be also joined in many different configurations in case you are travelling with family members. |
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Dining
The Four Seasons has four dining rooms, two close to the foyer, one above the beach and the fourth in the sports area close to the golf course gym and spa.
The most formal is The Dining Room, which offers fine dining, international fare with Caribbean ingredients and inspiration. The layout is plush and fairly formal, with extensive use of dark stained wood in the polished wooden floor and glassed French windows, and with white tablecloths and upholstered chairs. Some tables sit on the screened terrace and have a lovely view over the gardens out to the moonlit ocean. Neve takes its name from the Italian for snow (after which the island is ultimately if unexpectedly named). It serves an unfussy Mediterranean menu. The Cabana Restaurant is located at the front of the resort between the Garden Pool and Ocean Pool and serves light fare at lunch and some buffets in the evenings. The Sports Pavillion, close to the gym and spa, serves lighter fare and pastries. Four Seasons offers Alternative Cuisine, for lighter, healthier fare. Room service is always available. |
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Children
Children are extremely well catered for at Four Seasons Resort Nevis. There are two dedicated areas for them. The Kids for all Seasons programme will look after children from 3 to 9 and has activities such as beach cricket, crafts and sandcastle and volcano building. There is a Games Room for older children. Please see here for more details on The Kids programme. |
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Useful Hints
Four Seasons Resort Nevis is large and has quite a brisk and efficient air by comparison to the dozier charm of the plantation hotels on the island and in the area. There are sometimes groups at the resort, so it can feel quite focussed at times. |
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Practical Facts
Annual Closure dates: None
Dress Code: Casual elegant
Facilities: 3 restaurants, 2 main swimming pools and a plunge pool in the spa, excellent 18-hole Robert Trent Jones II golf course, putting green, chipping area and driving range, pro-shop, full service spa, full watersports including snorkelling, windsurfing, small boat sailing (Sunfish, Hobie Cats), scuba diving and others, beachfront bocce, croquet lawn, 10 tennis courts, fitness centre, sauna, Library. Conference space up to 3450 sq ft.
Complimentary: Welcome tropical fruit or rum punch, non-motorised watersports, tennis, croquet, children’s programme, use of fitness centre and sauna, golf clinics, complimentary shoe shine.
Other Services: Reception with full Concierge Services, afternoon tea, golf lessons, tennis pro, express and overnight dry cleaning and laundry service, one hour pressing service, twice daily housekeeping.
Accommodation: 196 Rooms
Room Types: All rooms are air-conditioned and have a coffee maker, icemaker, a large television with cable channels, DVD with movies available from the Resort’s video library, a personal safe, stocked refrigerator. Each room has a large marble bathroom en suite with separate shower and tub, twin basins set in a marble-topped vanity unit, a hair dryer, bath robes and good toiletries.
The standard deluxe resort rooms all have a sitting area and are divided into 12 Mountainside rooms with partial views of the golf course and Nevis Peak, 24 Mountainview rooms which face the golf course and Nevis Peak, and 143 Oceanside and Oceanfront rooms with views to the Caribbean Sea. 10 one- and two bedroom Executive Suites, which provide a separate living room; 5 one- and two-bedroom Ocean Suites with sea facing patios leading out to the beachfront gardens and the 1-3 bedroom Nelson and Hamilton Luxury Suites with 370 sq. ft. verandas, separate butler’s entrance and pantry and dining service for eight people.
Additionally there more than 30 two-, three, four- and five-bedroom Private Villas and Estate Homes which take the form of duplex-style villas with wrap-around verandas close to the beach and main hotel accommodation or the more private Estate Homes, most with private pools, perched on higher ground with views to the sea.
Children: very good children’s centre including a young adult’s (teenage) entertainment room and computer room and excellent babysitting.
Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover |
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Rates
| | 01 Nov- 14 Dec 2007 | 15 Dec- 04 Jan 2008 | 05 Jan- 15 Feb 2008 | 16 Feb- 22 Feb 2008 | 23 Feb- 07 Mar 2008 | | Deluxe Mountain Side Room | 475 | 1,000 | 695 | 795 | 695 | | Deluxe Mountain View Room | 600 | 1,050 | 825 | 925 | 825 | | Deluxe Oceanside Room | 690 | 1,145 | 950 | 1,100 | 950 | | Deluxe Oceanfront Room | 725 | 1,225 | 1,025 | 1,175 | 1,025 | | 1-bed Executive Suite | 1,250 | 2,100 | 1,790 | 1,950 | 1,790 | | 1-bed Ocean Suite | 1,450 | 2,350 | 2,000 | 2,350 | 2,000 | | 1-bed Luxury Suite | 3,120 | 3,950 | 3,950 | 3,950 | 3,950 | | 2-bed Palm Grove villa + plunge pool | 1,400 | 2,775 | 1,950 | 1,950 | 1,950 | | 3-bed Sunset Hill Estate Home | 2,450 | 4,825 | 3,550 | 3,330 | 3,550 | | 4-bed Mahogany Hill Estate Home | 3,150 | 6,250 | 4,650 | 4,650 | 4,650 | | | 08 Mar- 28 Mar 2008 | 29 Mar- 18 Apr 2008 | 19 Apr- 30 May 2008 | 31 May- 31 Oct 2008 | 01 Nov- 12 Dec 2008 | | Deluxe Mountain Side Room | 795 | 695 | 490 | 335 | 490 | | Deluxe Mountain View Room | 925 | 825 | 600 | 405 | 600 | | Deluxe Oceanside Room | 1,100 | 950 | 710 | 515 | 710 | | Deluxe Oceanfront Room | 1,175 | 1,025 | 745 | 550 | 745 | | 1-bed Executive Suite | 1,950 | 1,790 | 1,275 | 745 | 1,275 | | 1-bed Ocean Suite | 2,350 | 2,000 | 1,500 | 1,055 | | |
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