The Caribbean island

The Caribbean island where stress blows away on the breeze

Just a few yards away, out of the early afternoon heat, Charley, six, sits under the shade of a palm tree sorting his latest collection of shells. Amelie, nine, is sketching a lizard she has been photographing all morning as my husband, Stuart, 44, snoozes under the same tree. Even I am sitting still, albeit wondering why no one is kicking off about anything.

This idyllic holiday tableau is shattered seconds later when Charley decides he wants to go to the pool, therefore requiring the entire family to accompany him. No change there, then… Even for a few moments the classic holiday R&R is something we seem to find very hard to maintain. But that, of course, is why we are here.

Like many people, my husband and I find it hard to take more than a week off at a time between us, so a holiday is often nearly over before we have started to relax. We are hotel junkies, often choosing to stay in two or three across a one-week holiday. We like doing stuff. And we have young children who, as any parent will testify, are not conducive to the classic “fly and flop” holiday, being more of a “display boundless energy, while making incessant demands on their weary parents” mindset.

So, what’s different this time? Well, Carlesle bay, that’s what. Not only is Antigua a long way to go for a week before you start moving accommodation but, despite the lure of 364 other perfect beaches on the island, there was something about this sparkling turquoise bay that made us want to linger. 

Turns out our hunch was right. Carlisle Bay absorbs you – and your stress – the minute you arrive. There is no tentative shuffling down or settling in – instead, the casual ebb and flow of island life is reflected in the rhythm of the resort and engulfs you in its easy, breezy approach.

There’s nothing to offend in its interior design either: the tastefully muted greys and creams characteristic of Campbell Grey properties introduced thatch-free, twee-free uber-luxe to Antigua that is almost horizontally tasteful. It won’t necessarily wow your inner aesthete or trigger its own special memory bank, but nor will it raise your hackles, take anything away from the shimmering bayscape that frames it or entice your attention away from the very serious matter of relaxing.

During our stay, the signature Caribbean breeze is, admittedly, more of a wind (boat trips are off early in the week, yet the choppy oceans attract a lot of fascinating vessels into the bay for us to ponder from our sunbeds) but it keeps the temperature down and even if it means that the turtles we might otherwise have hoped to see in the shallow bay waters aren’t playing ball, there really is no need for all the apologies coming our way from the staff.

And anyway, Amelie has developed an obsession with lizards, and the wind doesn’t quite reach their leafy flowerbed homes, nor the shady paths that wind their way through the resort providing daily “nature walks” complete with  exotic-looking birds, tropical flowers and oversized conch shells. (As the week progresses, so does the thrill of independence as the kids are allowed to wander without us – albeit they are never more than a few yards and a lot of smiley staff away.) Mongooses take over in the hall of fame when one cheeky specimen runs over Amelie’s feet.