We are back from 8 wonderful days at the Peter Island Resort. Our first trip to the BVIs and PIR. I cannot say enough about the resort - especially the staff. If your looking for fine resort, excellent food, and great service - this is the place. Wonderful sense of being on a quiet isolated island with every amenity at your beckon call. We could not have asked for a better place to celebrate my 40th birthday. Here are some highlights.<br><br>Getting to PIR from Dallas is an adventure. We flew to San Juan via American Airlines, then transferred to Cape Air in San Juan. All went well - although one in our party of 7 did not get their luggage which was checked all the way through from NYC. The Tortola airport is an interesting place - chickens and all. PIR staff was waiting on us and quickly transferred us to their boat for our 35 minute trip to PIR. All said - we arrived from Tortola and were in our rooms at PIR within an about 1 1/2 hours. <br><br>After a quick welcome at the PIR dock, we were taken immediately to our rooms (beachfront and gardenviews). Nice comfortable accomodations. The gardenview rooms have undergone a recent upgrade and are very nice and bright. The beachfront rooms are scheduled for remodeling later this year (I think) which will improve them a lot. That said - they are very nice with lots of space. Also, plenty of amenities - small refrigerator stocked with complimentary water, soft drinks and yes, even a couple of beers, large closet space, CD radios, and telephones. A nice patio or balcony depending if your upstairs or down. And ... of course, an outstanding view of Deadman's beach. WOW! The beachfront rooms, unlike the gardenview rooms, are open air. They have screens on many of the windows so controlling room temperature is a challenge especially if it is hot. A small but efficient air conditioner above the bed ensures a cool sleep for those who desire it. The bathroom, however, is hot when the outside temperatures rise. Also, water temperature is a challenge - plenty of hot, I mean HOT water, just not much cold. We never mastered controlling the water temperature during the entire stay.<br><br>Before arriving, we had planned to take several day trips off the PIR. After arriving, we never left the resort except for a few in our party that ventured to Tortola for shopping. They reported a wasted trip with little shopping and wished they had stayed at PIR. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. <br><br>Don't plan on loosing any pounds during your stay at PIR. The food is excellent and their is lots of selections to enjoy. We tried them all - at least once. Breakfast can be ordered from the menu or a buffet at the Tradewinds resturant. Lunch at Deadman's Beach resturant. And - Dinner at either the casual Deadman's Beach or upscale Tradewinds. They do have a dress code for the resturants. Our reservation included meal plan so all meals were included. We only had to pay for drinks during our stay which ranged from $4 for a beer to average prices for mixed drinks ($7) and wine. If you love wine, they have a fantastic wine selection. Bugs which were only a problem at night kept us revisiting the Tradewinds resturant for dinner.<br><br>Plenty of activities for those who need a break from lounging the pool or on the beach. We tried windsurfing, snokeling and sailing. Lots of fun although we never mastered windsurfing. Good places for long (and healthy) walks. Seemed like everything was a uphill walk so bring your tennis shoes. A nice health club is located right on Deadman's beach to work off those meals. Tennis courts and a basketball court too. PIR provides all the equipment for your use including "basic" instruction. <br><br>The Sole Spa on PIR is very good. We took advantage massages, facials, wraps and more. They have an excellent staff. We made several appointments prior to arriving and had no problems making others once we arrived at PIR. <br><br>We cannot say enough about the PIR staff. They are postively wonderful. From retreiving lost baggage for our NYC guest to our picnic lunch on White Bay beach. The service is very attentive. In departing, we left lots of new friends at PIR. <br><br>The final test - would we return to PIR? absolutely. We are already making plans to return to celebrate two in our party's 50th birthdays in a few years. We are hooked on the beauty of the BVIs and the Peter Island Resort. Who knows - we might even venture off the island next time or ... maybe not. <br><br><br><br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 6/5/01 02:12 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
