I recently stayed at Point Grace Resort may be the best points redemption hotel option in Turks & Caicos, less than 600 miles from Miami in the Caribbean.
Point Grace Resort is an SLH hotel, and Hyatt points can be redeemed there. (And Chase and Bilt points can be transferred to Hyatt.) It’s a category 8 property, and cost me 40,000 points per night – against room rates were $920 – $1640 (varying by night) over the weekend I was there.
Turks and Caicos is well known for its gorgeous soft white sand beaches, none more prized than Grace Bay where Point Grace Resort is located. It’s expensive making points options desirable, but decent options on points are limited. Many will consider Marriott points at the Ritz-Carlton (Turks is stocked with high-end resorts). I’d prefer this.
I often find the Caribbean overpriced for what it delivers, and you aren’t getting what I think of as a $1600 per night hotel. This is not Amanyara or Parrot Cay, but the truly top places in-season might run $5000 per night. Well outside of my price range! Point Grace Resort, using Hyatt points, makes a nice Turks & Caicos stay possible for me.
Checking Into Point Grace Resort
The property has just 28 rooms, all of which are suites. The one bedroom suites tend to be pool view, though I did see the water from my bedroom and looking right off my balcony, since we were on the second floor. Any other property I wouldn’t want pool view – too noisy oftentimes. But here with just 28 rooms there are usually just a few people at the pool, a few people at the beach, some off property and some in their suites.
We arrived at the hotel and check-in was processed in our room, but first we were given a brief tour of the property. Directly across from reception, where the hotel’s breakfast and dinner restaurants are housed, is the pool area. And just past the pool is beach.
We stopped at the pool bar, for a complimentary drink, while our host explained the property to us. One small interesting quirk is their spa allows children to have treatments. My wife and daughter talked about having their nails done but didn’t wind up finding the time.
Another oddity during the welcome tour was being told that people put out books at the pool and on the beach before 8 a.m., which was odd for such a small hotel. It seems like telling people this is necessary encourages this behavior, which isn’t a luxury experience. It turned out not to be needed at all, in fact I never saw anyone do this and we never had difficulty finding great space.
Point Grace Resort Suite C203
We were taken to our room, C203. It was bright and large, with a kitchen, dining area, and living room in addition to bedroom and bathroom. The sofa folds out, perfect for our four year old.
The bedroom was small, but had a closet and window with a modest view and king sized bed. One of the outlets beside the bed wasn’t working.
The kitchen was fully-stocked with dishes, utensils, paper towels, a dishwasher and the like.
The living room was bright and comfortable, and looked out at the balcony which overlooked the pool but still had privacy because of the trees.
The balcony was large with multiple seating areas.
My only real complaints about the room were about the bathroom. There was no counter space. The floor was in poor shape, sinking in some parts. The toilet gurgled up before flushing each time. And there were shared bath amenities rather than new bottles for each guest.
There were four bottles of water in the room. Our host to brought us to the room suggested that normally all we’d get each day was two and we could go to the store for more, but the hotel was happy to provide as many bottles as we asked for complimentary.
Service at the property was generally good but still Caribbean. We were asked if we wanted a second key for the room and said yes. I was told it would be delivered, but it never was despite asking for it two more time. Pool service was a bit confused when it came to getting towels when they’d run out. And service at breakfast was a bit haphazard. Still everyone was exceedingly friendly and most of the time even prompt.
Complimentary Breakfast
Breakfast at the resort is complimentary for all guests. That includes the buffet, which includes coffee and juices, and also an egg dish. There’s also a menu to select from which is charged. And ordering room service, which is available, comes at a cost including if ordering items that are available on the buffet.
The food at breakfast is.. fine. There are pastries and breads, meats and cheeses, smoked salmon as well. There was also a daily hot item in addition to bacon, sausage, and potatoes. Breakfast reminded me of a nice club lounge offering at a premium (but not luxury) U.S. hotel. Everyone at breakfast was uniformly friendly.
It’s worth noting, though, that the coffee was quite good – no need to cut the bitterness with creamer, and certainly no reason to add sugar (please tell me you don’t do this anyway). That was true in the restaurant and also coffee provided for the in-room coffee maker.
Other Meals On Property
We ate dinner at the hotel’s restaurant one evening. There are plenty of places an easy walk down the beach at the Grace Bay Club. I found the food at the hotel restaurant to be.. mixed. Some quite good, other food less so. My steak was disappointing (the thinnest piece of meat I could imagine, and overcooked as a result), while my wife’s fish was excellent.
On the other hand, a room service lunch was prompt and excellent.
Point Grace Resort: We’d Return
Given the price of rooms here, the high cost in points represented a value. And being able to use points at all for a nice property, with large rooms and access to fantastic beach, is something unique. I’d return to Point Grace in a heartbeat, though hopefully they’ll do some maintenance on the bathroom in the room to which I’d been assigned, and the admittedly ‘free’ and certainly good enough breakfast could have been made a bit less mundane.
