It’s my favorite time of year again, Christmas with the family. This year, our three families visited the beautiful island of Anguilla. We were lucky to stay at the beautiful Ani Villas on the Northwestern part of the island. The flight from Detroit was very quick, when we landed we were taken through customs and it was about a 20 minute drive from the airport to the villa. I was so excited for a couple weeks of sunshine with my favorite people in the world.
Welcome to Ani Villas
When we arrived we were greeted by the entire staff, a band, and dishes of fresh fruit, cheese, and guac and chips. There were two villas on the property. Two pools and hot tubs, a tennis court, gym, a garden and multiple patio and sunbathing options. We were right next to Little Bay and Limestone Bay. We all were so excited to be in the sun, we quickly put on our suits and all hopped in the pool. We swam until the sun went down and then celebrated with our first night of dinner.
Little Bay was a popular spot where many tourists pulled up with their boats to swim and snorkel. The bay was filled with sea turtles and had a large rock you could climb and jump off of. Since our villa was so close, we would take the golf cart and scale the side of the cliff with a rope to get to the private beach. It was probably the most adventurous thing we did on the trip. Limestone Bay was also accessible by golf cart and had plush white sand and was a lot more of a private spot to sunbathe and swim in the large waves.
We were in Anguilla from December 21st to January 6th. As an active group, we all started our mornings down at the gym. The Villa had a full rack of weights, treadmill, Stair Master, elliptical and a Pelaton. We had a private tennis instructor, Denny, who we didn’t work with as much as we all would have liked – but man could he hit a ball. After our workouts, we would all meet at the dining table that overlooked the bay and have breakfast. We had two amazing chefs onsite that prepped delicious breakfasts and meals throughout the day.
Our main chef, “Sweets” created the most amazing dishes. None of our meals were ever the same, except for the Beef Wellington we requested multiple times because it melted in our mouths. We had large healthy salads for lunch, local dishes, Thai stir fry, burgers and fries or 6-8 course dinners. It was the best food any of us had ever had in our lives. I don’t know how, but I actually lost weight on this trip – that’s how good the food was! It was never too heavy and the portions were just right. Everything was fresh and had it’s own mouthwatering flavor. Sweets was also kind enough to prepare some Pig Wings that my dad had brought on the trip. Everything was delicious.
We also had a masseuse onsite with us during our stay. Her name was Selma and she really worked our bodies. The parents had her first and drooled over how amazing their sessions were. She did deep tissue massages and let me tell you – you don’t know that you need one until you are face down on the table and feel all your muscles fall off your bones. I have never felt more loose and relaxed in my life. She was amazing and having a massage every other day made the trip extra relaxing. I think if my dad could have gone everyday, he would have. Maybe this was a reason I saw such a difference in my workouts and body on the vacation. The Villa had a yoga instructor come for private yoga lessons as well.
Exploring the Island of Anguilla
When we weren’t hanging by the pool at the villa, we were grabbing lunch down by the beach at Da’Vida’s. It was about a 5 minute golf cart ride which made it easy to go to. We would order lunch, swim a little and then head back home. The water was so clear and the weather in Anguilla was so warm. We had a couple days where it rained, but we always had something to do. We also spent time at Meads Bay swimming in the ocean and eating at Blanchards Beach Shack (where we ran into Ray Ramano) and Ocean Echo. Both of these spots were walking distance to the Four Seasons, which had a beach shack bar which was great to visit. We also had dinners at a small TexMex restaurant called Picante. It was very casual and the food was delicious. Another night we had dinner at this make-shift Japanese flare/art gallery restaurant, Hibernia.
We also had a sunset tour on a catamaran with Calypso Charters. They took us around the west side of the island and gave us a beautiful tour of the hotels and beaches along the shore. Unfortunately, on our snorkel day the charter was unavailable. We were able to book a large speed boat with Garfield’s Sea Tours last minute and it was amazing. Garfield and his nephew, Jayden, took us snorkeling off Prickley Pear Cays island, served us rum punch and treated us like family. He also took us to a private island called Dog Island. We looked for sea shells, beach glass and buried ourselves in the sand. At the end of our tour, Garfield took us to Little Bay to swim at night. He turned on the underwater lights and played music. I recommend his tour to anyone who visits Anguilla.
There’s Nothing Better than Family
For Christmas we relaxed around the pool all day and at night wined and dined to celebrate with our family. We also all cuddled up on the couch and watched a couple of movies. That was the great thing, both villas on the property had space for everyone to sit together and enjoy. We were able to bond and have fun together as a family. We also had a private sushi making class with Chef Sweets. For New Years Eve we had a DJ dance party and a fireworks show. The staff made everything extra special and went above and beyond to make us all feel like we were at home for the holidays.
All of us enjoyed the house so much that we never wanted to leave. On the last day, our parents signed us up for Kite Surfing. All of us imagined us standing on the little surf boards with the sail attached. When we showed up at the beach to a wake board and large kite – we seriously had no clue what we were getting into. Some of us girls decided to sit out and watched the boys take charge. It was by far the funniest thing to ever watch. The instructors had the boys hold on to each other to ensure they wouldn’t blow away as the learned to control the kite. When they finally got into the water, the wind would dragged them across the bay. After about 2 hours, we decided we had had enough and that we wanted lunch back at the Villa. It was definitely an experience that needed a couple more days of training to conquer.
As I mentioned, the staff at Ani Villa were absolutely amazing. They ensured that everyday was special and that we had everything we could have dreamed of needing. But what made the vacation truly special was being with our family and family friends. Being away for the holiday’s can be rather hard, but there is something about this group of people that makes it so amazing. Our families have been so blessed to spend the past years together in foreign countries, tailgating at Michigan State games, visiting one another in our respectful cities or LG, and celebrating marriages. It takes a lot for 20+ people to spend over two weeks together, but we make it work. We all get along so well and support one another through anything. I am so grateful to call all of these people my friends and family. They are all truly amazing and I can’t wait for the countless other memories we make together in the future.
