Villa Esencia

We stayed in the Karana Penthouse. I would recommend it because it is on the second level, higher than the trees so a breeze will flow on the veranda! It is air conditioned as well for those hot days with no breeze. Several villas around us are are lower to the ground on the first floor with no breeze blowing & only vegetation as the view. We have a beautiful view of the ocean from the large floor to ceiling windows. The beach is a one minute walk from the villa. The cabana is nice although we only used the beach chairs with umbrellas most of the time. We enjoyed taking the kayaks out to the beached ship, La Famille in the distance. There are a couple of restaurants & beach bar about a 5 minute walk from the villa. The beach bar is called H2O. Cocktails are about $15. each. Blue collectives kite boarding is about 1/2 mile up beach. People were very friendly. We booked a kayak tour with them from North Shore & learned about the mangroves & visited Little Cay- Iguana Island. So cool to see so many iguanas! They brought a yeti full of water water & a large snack of fruit, muffins, & chocolate cake for each one of us! The villa came equipped with an equipped kitchen & plenty of nice plush towels for beach & shower! We had breakfast on the veranda each morning! The villa we rented came with a car which is necessary if you want to go to any other restaurants, grocery stores, tours, or the Thursday night island fish fry next to Mr. Groupers. Most activities & the Grace Bay Gourmet grocery are only 5-10 minutes away! I would definitely recommend staying here in the Karana Penthouse!

Villa Encencia is a slice of heaven on earth! Our accommodations were spectacular! The cottage is completely private with our own pool. The beach is literally 75 yards away. The owners are lovely and made sure we had everything we needed. We couldn't be more pleased with our choice of resorts!

Best Kiteboarding vacation EVER! The Villa Esencia has every thing you will need for a ultimate vacation, kiteboarding or not. The beach is the best I've been to. Soft deep white sand, shallow water that goes on for miles, literally. You can walk 3 miles out to the ship wreck, at low tide and the water is only up to your hips. The beach walking at low tide is excellent too. For the kite boarders you will have all the luxuries posable. Compressed air on the beach, self launch posts, the use of the owners boards, a cubby to hole your wet gear, hot tub to rest your weary muscles and lots of space to relax on the beach. For the none kiters there are lessons a 5 min walk up the beach, pool, the feeling of seclusion as you relax on the beach starring at the amazing colour of the water feeling the warm Caribbean air. The place we stayed in was perfect for us. The condo we stayed in was in excellent condition. The bedroom is air conditioned and living room has a breeze that goes through it all day. There is a deck with a sitting area, dinning table and gas BBQ. The pool is a stones throw and the beach twice the distance. Not too far that you can't come back to get food and water for the beach. A car rental is a must. The driving is good on the main roads but off the main are coral roads. Can get very bumpy. This year they fixed them quite nicely though. For the amount of driving you will need to do on these roads I wouldn't worry about it. If you want a quiet, relaxing beach getaway, this is the place to stay. I'm a kiter and this week I've only been out a couple times because of the wind but when you have a beach like this it's hard to get bummed out. The colour of the water is unbelievable. I don't say the lightly. Every time I open my eyes from a nap on the beach I can't believe what I'm seeing. The grocery store is a 5 min car ride away. It's like shopping back home. All the same food but the groceries are about double the price from the price in Ontario so be prepared for that. Oh... The price of beer is double too with exception of the local beer, Turks Head. I usually drink the local beer anyway. I can't say enough about Villa Esencia. The accommodations are excellent and the location is the best I've ever been. If you are a kiter, you will be hard pressed to find a better location in all your travels.

Our accommodations were very nice! Our studio was private and secluded with a nice path to the beach. Ritama was very helpful and responded quickly when we had questions. We hope to return!

My husband and I were fortunate enough to stay at this villa. Our lovely hostess was amazing and available for anything we needed. Though we needed for nothing during our stay. Absolutely beautiful, well kept, perfect location to stay while visiting the island. We will definitely be back!

I mean looking for accommodation in another country can be kind of daunting. Amongst a selection of last minute stays we got a good vibe from the reviews so we called them directly and booked over the phone. Ritama and Kabir were super kind, friendly and accommodating and made our dates work at short notice, even though we had to change rooms part way through. It was the kind of thing where a bunch of web searching was resolved with a 5 minute phone conversation. When we arrived, obviously it was really beautiful - we went straight to beach where there are clusters of sun lounges with umbrellas, and with the relaxed vibe we started talking to other guests and realized that everyone was there for their 3rd, 4th, 5th stay. The place is a gem, honestly. It's carefully arranged so that each room has it's own outlook and character - The privacy of a hotel, the amenity of a good resort but with a sense of community that I think you actually really want when you travel to a new place. The rooms were very well appointed with grills, full kitchens and a blender for those important tropical fruit daiquiris and smoothies. There was snorkeling gear, tandem kayaks and paddle boards we were free to take out at our leisure. The location is right on probably the best kitesurfing beach I have ever seen, a short walk up the beach to a decent restaurant at the Shore club, and a 5 - 10 min drive over to Grace Bay and the other beaches. I did actually do some kiteboarding while there and for those who own gear - recommend bringing your own kite (or two). They provide compressed air supply on the beach so I don't think you need to bring a pump, and there is a rack with a bunch of different sized boards that you can take out depending on the conditions. This way you don't necessarily need to bring a board on the flight. Renting gear is also easy if you need to through one of the kitesurfing schools just a few mins walk up the beach, but in hindsight I wished I had brought just the backpack with my kite, bar and lines and harness as others did. We will definitely be back to this place, so fortunate to have found it in the first place and highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you are interested in kitesurfing or other water sports on the island.

We love it. We've been coming here for more than a decade. My wife comes every year and each year they fix it up a little more. Quiet place with magnificant beach. Ritama and Kabir are wonderful hosts. It's nice accomidations but you come here to sit on the beach, look out and unplug, watch the kite boards for your excitement.

Nice little resort with pathways right to longbay. Great accommodations for anyone who kiteboards. There is an air compressor on the beach as well as many self launching/landing poles. There also places to store kites and gear right next to the beach.