I found a wonderful surprise last month when I stayed for a week at “Aqua House” on Grand Turk, Turk and Caicos. It’s a perfect retreat from the fast pace of the outside world.

I was traveling with an old friend and her 17 year old daughter. Two years ago we went to Isla Mujeres, Mexico and through Trip Advisor had found some important amenities that we again wanted to find again: a good value, something right on the beach with lots of snorkeling and diving; but a big night scene was not important.

At Aqua House not only did we have a sandy beach at our doorstep, uninterrupted views of the ocean; we had 2 full bathrooms with plenty of hot water, a good sized closet with ample hangers, and, a coffee maker that was stocked with the gratis provisions (they also provided free popcorn), AND light bulbs in all the lamps! (What a difference from a previous room we had once rented for a week... before I found out about using Trip Advisor!)

We hadn’t thought... more