Biras Creek Resort (www.biras.com), a member of Relais & Châteaux, is located on a sprawling 140-acre Caribbean estate on the island of Virgin Gorda. Helicopter and launch service links it with the mainland (no roads reach it), Beef Island Airport in Tortola, other islands in the British Virgin Island archipelago and the adjacent Bitter End Yacht Club. Reservations Manager Cleopatra I. Bradley ([email protected]; 284-494-3555) is available daily until 4 p.m. to reserve lodgings; agents can also contact General Manager Jan Oudendijk directly ([email protected], 284-494-3555).
The resort’s 31 single-story suites face Berchers Bay on the Atlantic Ocean side of the property; they have tile floors, rattan furnishings, brightly colored fabrics and are equipped with air-conditioned bedrooms (as well as ceiling fans), king-size beds, direct-dial phone with data port for dial-up internet access, CD player, and verandahs. There are even bicycles for use on the property. Ocean View Suites A and B (on either side of the pool) are desirable for their privacy, spectacular views and proximity to the ocean. Insider secret: Suite 5B enjoys the very best location. The largest suites are the two Grand Suites, each of which measures 1,325 square feet, including a large bedroom, separate sitting room, two oceanfront verandahs and a 255-square-foot bathroom with a free-standing tub and outdoor shower for two. These interconnect, but families traveling with children often choose two-bedroom Premier Suites. Two of the oceanview suites were converted to house a two-treatment room spa.
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Sviva Spa at Leverick Bay operates the facility and offers a menu with East Indian Rituals and an exceptional choice of services: body wraps, scrubs, aromatic massages, reflexology and yoga. Therapists use Decléor and Biotone products, as well as locally made products that use Aloe and Neem leaves grown on property and sea salt harvested from nearby Salt Island. Spa Director Mitesh Banthia (284-495-7789) claims that the hour-long full-body Swedish Massage is the most popular and notes that some guests request outdoor massages under the thatched-roof palapa on the beach.
There’s Internet access in the stone main building which, under its three peaked and brimmed wooden roofs, houses a reception area, the chess den and library and Arawak Pavillion (with the hotel’s lone television). The stunning, peaked and beamed upper floor dining room and bar overlook the resort’s long pier out to Biras Creek and North Sound, and enjoys a reputation for fine dining and an excellent wine list. Lunch is served at Fat Virgin’s Café which, with its brightly painted turquoise walls and green awnings, looks like a perfected island cottage; it also faces the harbor, where guests take part in waterfront activities.
General Assistants Julia Kelk and Maria Birmingham arrange activities, tours and launch service to premier dining in other divine settings—at Little Dix Bay Resort on Virgin Gorda (284-494-5555) or The Restaurant at Leverick Bay (284-495-5197)—or shopping at Little Dix Bay or Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor.