Whitecaps: Barbabos

Yes, this isn’t about San Francisco, but remember it’s my wild weekend where I get to talk about anything and today I wanted to talk about Whitecaps in Barbados. I have a couple of close friends who have purchased a three bedroom house there that when they aren’t visiting they rent it out. They needed a website to best display the house so who do they come to…me of course.

I have never visited Barbados, but from the looks of the pictures, I definitely will one day and I will be staying at Whitecaps. I was given a tour via skype of the house [yes, the house has wi-fi] and it is pretty spectacular. I could hear the waves crashing on the beach because you’re literally about 50′ from the beach. Barbados is definitely geared for tourists which if you look at the photos in the gallery you can see that there are many shows that go on for free at the local plaza that’s within walking distance.

The food is very inexpensive there and fresh the fish and Barbados goats are all over the place so chances are good that it was alive a few hours before you purchase it. When you bring it back to the house you simply hand it over to Waple who is your personal chef that will cook all your meals. You also have a personal concierge who will help you arrange your site seeing trips around the island. In the evening you don’t have to work as there are two security guards that will make sure the house is secure. You also have your own maid service so you don’t even need to worry about making your bed every day.

Just to give you the full blown what you get for your money, allow me to cut and paste from their website:

  • Three bedrooms for a total of six guests
  • Three private bathrooms: two with tubs, one with a walk-in shower
  • Wet bar
  • Flat-screen TV with Bose sound system
  • WiFi internet access
  • Your own personal chef
  • Your own maid service
  • Located on Mullins Beach
  • Lovely shaded garden area for entertaining

Whitecaps is right on the beach halfway between Mullins Bay and Gibbs Bay — a mere stone’s throw from the highly regarded Mullins Restaurant and Cocktail Bar on Mullins Beach.

There is a 24-hour convenience store within a five minute walk to the north and a fabulous little gift shop, the Shell Gallery, a fifteen-minute walk to the south.

Further north lies Speightstown, a picturesque old town with a historical museum, an art gallery, a small supermarket, shops, a four-star restaurant (Mango by the Sea), banks with ATMs and a fish market, as well as farm stands offering the freshest tropical fruits and vegetables. It is about five minutes away by bus or taxi. To the south is Holetown, a larger community with high-end boutique shopping, a large supermarket, cafes and gift shops, banks with ATMs and a number of four-star restaurants. It’s ten minutes by bus or taxi.

While there are regular buses to and from Bridgetown, and taxis can be reserved for dinner dates, most guests will rent a car to have full run of the island, including the night life of St. Lawrence Gap and the many historic and scenic points elsewhere.

Note that for what us Americans consider a time to take a vacation is considered the off season and is $345/night. If you get another couple or two to make trip with you it becomes downright affordable. It’s pretty much always in the 80’s dropping to the upper 70’s at night so you won’t have to bring a heavy coat. I suggest lots of tank tops and shorts and maybe an eye patch if you want the total Pirates of the Caribbean vibe.

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America’s Cup: What it means for San Francisco

Well, obviously we’ll have congestion around the city. While there are a lot of people who love to sail [I’m one of them] the America’s Cup people are more like Larry Ellison, maybe not as rich, but they’ll come here with money to blow.

There is also the rebuilding of the piers where the race will be based which will give us more nice areas to hang out at to watch the day go by. Now this will also cost the city big bucks to do this, most of it will be coming from corporate sponsors to have their names up during the race and from the last winner, Larry Ellison’s team that’s is giving $150 million to help cover the costs.

The changes to the piers that have been submitted so far look really nice so I’m hoping for the best. Anythings better than the wrecked state the piers are in at this point in the game. This upgrade will help to overprice the already overpriced SoMa condos and there will be more jobs created from this. I’m sure the downtown businesses will bring in more money from all the monied tourists that will be coming in for the race. It will probably take a while for the money to trickle down to places like the Sunset and Richmond Districts, but I’m sure some of the people will want to see Ocean Beach from the shore, not looking at it from their boats.

[mappress mapid=”5″]Some people dislike the idea that we’ll have all these smug rich people taking over our city for a few weeks, but if they have money and their credit cards don’t get declined let them come and give me their money. I’ll be happy to take it from them. I’m happy that their money will go to help upgrade the city and I’m happy that we’ll have more nice places to see in San Francisco. Sailing isn’t only for rich people and there’s a group out at South Beach harbor that gives kids a chance to learn how to sail without having to sink millions into a boat. I can’t remember their name, but I’ll have to go down there and check it out and see if I can find them.