Mustique:
The Caribbean's Best Kept Secret
A Private Hideaway
In The Caribbean ~ By Heather Prince
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| Gazing
out the twin propeller plane window the jagged emerald island seems to
float in the tri-colored turquoise Caribbean waters.
This is the
first site of the illustrious private island of Mustique: The upper crust’s
best kept secret.
Tommy Hilfiger,
Mick Jagger , Princess Margaret and Viscount David Linley, just to name
a few, all
have enjoyed
the splendor of the small 1,400 acre island in the located in the Caribbean
Grenadines.
Luckily for
me, this was the location of my best friend’s wedding, so I became one
of the few who
been able
to sneek a peek into the secret life of the rich and famous.
The best way
to reach Mustique is from Barbados. From there you can charter a flight
from $179-$200 per person each way. The 45-minute flight touches
down at the quaint Mustique airport where the short landing strip looks
more like a ramp. Accommodation arrangements must be made ahead of time,
especially since most Villas on the island require minimum of one-week
stay. Most of the villas in Mystique can be rented. Prices range
from $5,000 per week, for a two bedroom, to $27,000 per week, for a nine
bedroom, depending on the villa and the season. There is one hotel in Mustique,
The
Cotton House, which rents rooms for $410 to $1,300 per day.
The mode of
transportation is a Mule cart, which resembles a golf cart. The carts rattle
and bounce
along the
semi-paved paths scattered with hazards such as slow moving tortoises,
fallen branches, potholes and deep ravines, which keeps the little island
gem a non-commercialized retreat.
Each villa
on the island is equipped with a cook, butler, maid and gardener.
It was a little
uncomfortable
for me to get used to being served. My butler laughed at us when
we would help clearthe table after meals we also refused to ring the silver
service bell: until the last day when we did it as a joke to see how our
butler would react. |
| The Grenadine
Islands of which Mustique is a part were orginally called "Los Pajaros"
- the birds. The islands were a favorite hiding place for 16th and
17th century pirates who used the hidden bays of Mustique to hide from
the Spanish. The most famous pirates were the buccaneers who poulated the
island of Hispanola. After Hispanola was abandoned by the Spanish at the
end of the 16th century, due to the depletion of gold and the extermination
of the natives, the island was overtaken by predominantly French and Dutch
castaways and deserters who suvived in the interior of the island by hunting
cattle. From time to time they would set sail in order to raid; these raids
- directed for the most part againist the Spanish - were often
supported by the British. The raids were sometimes executed at sea, but
more often than not, they were conducted on land. The buccaneers would
overtake a Spanish town locking the local population up in the church and
then drink, rape, torture and burn their way back to sea. |
| Probably
the most famous of the buccaneers was the Welshman Henry Morgan who blundered
Panama City and later became deputy governor of Jamaica. |
| The buccaneers
died out after the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697 which committed the English
to a policy of executing buccaneers and denying them a safe port in the
West Indies. |
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Our butler
explained that often his job is tough. They get very uptight visitors who
want perfect
service. For
this reason, the house staff are professionals. Most of them will have
this job for life. Fromthe moment I arrived at my villa, I was greeted
with a silver tray holding glasses of frothy, fruit drinks garnished with
fresh flowers from the yard. We got very close to our villa staff, on the
last day we left our staff hugged us all goodbye as if we were their long
lost relatives. When leaving, all staff members must be properly
tipped. Suggested tipping guidelines can be faxed to your villa if you
request them from the Mustique Comp. Tips can be steep, around $150-$200
per staff member, but
definitely
earned.
.
| The Island
of Mustique was made private when it was leased for 99 years from the British
Commonwealth by Scotsman Colin Tennant aka Lord Glennconner in 1958. He
turned the island into a hideway for British royals and celebrities. He
lost the island in the 1970s, but lives in nearby St. Luca. Check out the
movie The Man Who Bought Mustique to learn more about Tennant. |
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“Downtown”
Mustique consists of a grocery store with a massive selection of rum and
two tourist
shops. One
of the gift shops has affordable items such as tee shirts, post cards and
beach toys, the other, sports the island’s true side with expensive
merchandise like La Perla swimming suits, Tommy Clothes and bright, big
brimmed hats.
Basil’s Bar
is one of the two bars on the island. It looks like something out of a
Gilligan’s Island
episode with
thatched grass roofs and constructed of wooded planks on stilts three-feet
above the ocean.
After the sun
falls below the ocean horizon the disco ball at Basil’s begins to sparkle.
At night, Basil’s is a jumping nightspot with a “who’s who” list that would
make most big city night clubs envious. While sitting drinking Basil’s
unique drink called “Mustique Grin” I spot some models sitting in the booth
next to us.
An average
day in Mustique begins with a dive in your villa’s pool, plucking a flower
for your hair and
meeting in
the open dining room under a waterfall of yellow buttercups hanging on
vines. Then the
rest of the
day is yours to read books by the pool sipping run punch, until lunch.
After a while I
started to
loose sense of time even the date. |
...
The cooks
of the villas prepare delicious gourmet breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
Breakfast usually
consists of
a bowl of juicy mangos, pineapple and bananas followed by eggs and bacon,
fresh
squeezed juice
and bread. Lunches can be packed for day excursions.
Typical dinners
are large and exotic followed by dessert. Curry and coconut are used
a lot in their
cooking. Barbecues
near the beach can be arranged ahead of time. Callaloo soup is a must!
The olive-green puree soup is made of a local plant similar to a dandelion.
It’s not pretty to look at, but it is delicious and full of nutrients.
Macaroni Beach
is the most well known beach on Mustique. The clean almost deserted
beach has
stunning,
warm turquoise water and hammocks strung in its palms that fringe the sand.
I happened tobe enjoying a day on the white sand the same day Tommy Hilfiger
was doing a photo shoot. While my friends and I were getting nerve
to go ask Tommy if we could be background models one of the photographers
came over to us and asked if we would mind moving down the beach out of
the shot. Oh well, Tommy doesn’t know what he is missing.
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If poolside
lounging and beach combing get tiresome, Mustique Company offers plenty
of other
activities
for all ages such as, catamaran and deep-sea fishing tours, horseback riding
(thoroughbred of course), canoeing, wind surfing, tennis (and private tennis
lessons), snorkeling and scuba diving.
Every Tuesday
night Mustique Company hosts a “get-to-know-you” cocktail party at the
Cotton
House.
Hors d’oevres and Champaign are passed around as locals stick in tight
cliques and
vacationers
in hushed whispers talk about celebrity citings while their eyes dash around
the room for someone famous.
After a week
in Mustique, I know what it is to be completely relaxed. I looked
at my watch only once, to make sure I got to the wedding on time.
Regretfully I must pack my bag and head back to New York. A week was not
long enough. Now I plot my return. Possibly as a Tommy model? I doubt it,
but they might need a stable girl. |
| Rooms go
for $500 to $1400 a night on Mustique. A private villa can run up to $17,000
a week. |
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