Turkoise Turks and Caicos

This was a really nice relaxing vacation. Unfortunately it rained the first couple days, but the staff was so nice that it didn’t really matter. We loved the atmosphere. Although we love family resorts, it was really nice being at an adults only club. Much less noisy. We were able to relax. Everyone was super friendly. Erik the sailboat instructor was amazing! We will be 100% coming back and hopefully he will be there for our lesson. He was super knowledgeable and hung out with us for a bit.

They did a great job. Service at the resort is excellent. Dealing with Club Med for any issue, continues to be a problem. Getting resolution requires lots of follow up.

Location - on Grace Bay is excellent. Nice wide and very long stretch of beach with plenty of chairs. Beach is walkable for long distances in either direction. Flour white sand – as everyone says – one of the nicest beaches in the world.

Rooms - we stayed in one of the basic rooms and they were functional, clean, AC worked well (bit too well), were very sound proof excepts for the scraping of chairs across the floors. Beds reasonably comfortable. Plenty of storage space. Convenient plugs for charging on the main counter. Nice TV. Lots of storage space (two large cupboards). Never any issues with hot water even at prime shower time (although the temp did fluctuate between warm and scalding at times). Water has an interesting “burnt” smell – not a problem – just different. Wrist band access (vs card-key) to rooms is a game changer... can't remember how many times I've had to go back to beach to get key left with my wife... having it always on your wrist is awesome. We did not have a view nor a balcony but the point is not to spend time in your room. No complaints at all.

Food - we are not fussy about food and have been everywhere from Cuba (seriously basic) to quite fancy and I must say that the food here was very good – maybe the best we’ve ever had. It certainly justified some of the extra price. Rather than do the normal buffet thing, they have plates with various dishes on them and it's a bit odd at first but I really liked it in the end. I had the best steak I've had at an all-inclusive by far and the were plenty of nights with seafood and all sorts of dishes. Hard to go wrong. Hand made pizza, great soups, omelet stations, amazing breads (white chocolate bread has been a Club Med specialty for decades and it does not disappoint). Bacon for breakfast every day... it had it all - If you don't like the food, you're too fussy :-). Sharkies, the beach shack that provides food outside of normal hours was also great - the fish tacos, nachos and club sandwich were all great. You will not go hungry.

Bars/Drinks - we're not big drinkers but love to try stuff on vacation and the bars at CM Turkoise were never overly busy, the staff really friendly and happy to accommodate your needs. Had a great selection of beach drinks as well as a great espresso Martini... they have pop machines (Coke, Diet Coke, Fanta, soda water, Sprite) and coffee makers (coffee, espresso, cappuccino etc) in both the main restaurant and beside the bar so you can fill up anytime. The coffee machines at breakfast can be a bit of a wait.

Activities - this is my 11th Club Med vacation but it's been 25+ years and while you might wonder how they have stayed relevant in an area they invented (all inclusive food) they seem to have carved out a really good niche with their attention to active vacations. If you are a person that loves to be busy from morning until the bar shuts at 2am - this is the place for you. People are enthusiastic about activities, jump up for line dancing, the tennis courts are full, there are lots (8?) of Hobbie Cats out at the same time... it's lovely to see. We are quiet keep to ourselves types and we never felt like we had to do anything but knew if we wanted to, we'd find lots of people to have fun with.

Staff. As Club Med is primarily staffed with GOs who are young folks from North America, it has a different feel to many Mexican or Cuban resorts. Club Med really encourages their staff to engage with the guest and it really does help to improve the experience. They seem to genuinely want to make you have a great time. Where at other resorts it sometimes feels like you're being attended too for tips, I did not get that feeling here. I did tip at the bars occasionally but I think the enthusiasm felt genuine and not transactional... Its a good model and I think it's another thing that sets Club Med apart and justifies some of the additional price.

Snorkel Trip – is run by another company and runs twice a day – complementary and good fun.

Shows - were pretty cheesy, a lot like I remembered from the old days but they try hard and frankly its not something I care much about. There were a number of live bands at various places during the week and that was quite fun. I would say that I’ve seen better shows in most of the Mexican/Cuban resorts. But these folks are amateurs so you need to cut them some slack!

Scuba - we did not dive this time but others said it was good and some of the video I saw looked quite good.

Kite Surfing - I'm a new kiter and brought my board and two kites down. Club Med is on the leeward side of the island so much of the kiting is on the opposite side (a short taxi away) but if the wind is from the north (ish), you can kite from Club Med. If it's from the east, you can walk about 20 minutes down the beach to the first point and kite from their. Most of the kite shops are on the other side of the island which tells you it's the best location. I did not go for various reasons but met a local who said it's quite good and folks are friendly and will help you launch etc. The other side is quite shallow especially at low tide so ideal for beginners. The beach on the far side is quite narrow there so that's a potential problem. The beach in front of Club Med is very wide so made rigging and launching quite easy it’s busy enough with people but you could pick your times and do things safely.

Weather – we were there Nov 21-28 and the weather was by far the worst I’ve ever had on a beach vacation… maybe 4 hrs of sun in a week. Maybe it was a 2024 thing but it sounded like much of November was marginal at best for sun so I’d think really carefully about that time of year. We’re good with a day or two of cloud and some rain but it was overcast almost the whole week. Obviously not Club Med’s fault but something to consider. The air temp was 25-28 the whole week and the ocean was very warm, so that was good.

App – Club Med has a really cool app that tells you upcoming activities, themes/dress code and it’s surprisingly good – another indicator that as a company they care about the details.

Bottom line – I was REALLY impressed with Club Med Turkoise and would not hesitate to recommend. It was a lovely vacation despite the weather and I think most people will find it a good value for money. I will definitely be adding Club Med into my possible vacation locations for future trips.

Excellent resort with excellent food, ambience, vibe and activities. Highly recommended. Would definitely go with Club Med again - seamless arrangements and all details were professionally looked after.
Shout out to Raphael, Eric, Luc & William, Sophie (Sports Lead), Mia, and the trapeze crew, also Edith (Yoga).