A Peaceful Getaway in Grace Bay
One of Grace Bay Resorts’ newest properties, Rock House, rivals the Mediterranean coast with its limestone villas, cliffside nooks and endless Caribbean views
When temperatures drop to nearly subzero in New York City, you know it’s high time to make a run for it. The Caribbean, with its azure waters, silk-colored white beaches and warm climate provides the ultimate respite to thaw out. A quick three-and-a-half-hour direct flight from JFK to Providenciales (also known as Provo) spits you out in the heart of the island. And a mere five minute drive later, paradise awaits.
Grace Bay Club, the luxury resort that has been a mainstay of Providenciales since 1993, has now debuted one of its newest properties: Rock House, a boutique villa resort that brings a touch of the Mediterranean to Turks and Caicos, opened in 2022. A sexier, quieter approach to the postcard-perfect Grace Bay Beach (regularly voted one of the best in the world), Rock House’s landscape instead features winding rock-lined paths paralleling cliffside “nooks” that dot the landscape. These secret alcoves feel like romantic hideaway spots, outfitted with daybeds and lounge chairs for guests to pretend they’re Italian movie stars hiding from paparazzi.
Though the resort features a contemporary coastal design, aided by the help of AD100 designer Shawn Henderson, who designed the room interiors, Rock House’s surroundings stay true to the island’s natural landscape. In keeping with the property’s commitment to remaining conscious of the environment, all of the foliage is indigenous, which include Joewood trees, native orchids and ancient lignum vitae. This consideration lent itself to preservation during construction, during which more than 4,000 native plants were replanted in an effort to maintain the delicate ecosystem that exists onsite. In keeping with Rock House’s sustainability efforts, limestone from the cliffside was repurposed throughout the resort, seen in the walls lining the main infinity pool area and villa exteriors, built by hand by local artisans.
Carved directly into the limestone cliffs below that rival the Amalfi coast, “Rock House is the Caribbean Capri, rivaling a trip to the Mediterranean without the transcontinental trip,” said Grace Bay Resorts’ chief executive officer and principal Mark Durliat. His vision for the resort was indeed “inspired by travels to Italy and the South of France,” featuring the hotel’s rugged, untouched beauty by design on Providenciales’ northern shore. Set along 14 acres of land, 46 beach-facing villa-style rooms and 10 larger reserve villas meet the Atlantic Ocean, where one of the world’s largest barrier reefs can be found just beyond the shoreline.
Even the dining options reference Italy’s mastery in cuisine—the hotel’s signature restaurant, Vita, features delicate Italian dishes that incorporate the best of the local cuisine. Lemon spaghetti is served with South Caicos lobster, and Madagascar Vanilla panna cotta is topped with a light touch of aged balsamic. The cocktail and small plates Cave Bar, located just below Vita, feels like a mermaid-worthy grotto tucked into the cliffs, featuring island riffs on classic negronis and spritzes.
But really, you likely came to Turks and Caicos for the beach: Rock House’s small-but-stunning stretch is private to the hotel, sanctioned off in its own cove unreachable by other properties. A 100-foot dock overlooks crystal clear waters below; water bikes, kayaks and snorkel gear are available for those that want a more active waterfront lifestyle. In the main pool and restaurant area, Rock House boasts the island’s largest infinity pool—the luxurious watering hole where guests congregate.
For a luxurious reset without having to travel too far, the beauty of Turks and Caicos beckons. “We are alone in the most beautiful place in the world,” the author Jean Rhys once wrote in her Caribbean-set novel, Wide Sargasso Sea. “It was a beautiful place—wild, untouched, above all untouched, with an alien, disturbing, secret loveliness,” she wrote. “And it kept its secret.”
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