The Sofitel Bakoua in Martinique provides guests with a perfect "toes in the sand" beach location.
The 139-room Sofitel Bakoua is a tropical hotel, and was the first hotel on Martinique built for the upscale market. The hotel begins its gracious welcome in the reception area by offering guests cool refreshing cloths, and a glass of ice tea during the check-in process. The hotel is located directly on the beach; and during our stay at the hotel in April 2006, Edward F. Nesta and I took advantage of their prime beach location, by staying in one of the "beach rooms," where we could literally wake up and step directly from our large terrace onto the sand.
We enjoyed waking up in the morning, and deciding how we should begin our day. We had to make the hard decision of sitting on our private terrace and gazing at the Fort-de-France bay, taking a walk on the soft sandy beach, swimming in the sheltered bay or swimming in the large infinity pool overlooking the bay, where we felt like there were no borders between the pool, the sea, and the sky.
Our room featured a king bed dressed with a white, fluffy down duvet, inviting pillows, and adorned with pretty beige and brown stripe decorative pillows that matched the striped throw at the end of the bed. There was a bay window covered with wood shutters and a multi-pillowed window seat. A tropical floral arrangement of pink and red torch ginger, anthurium, palm, and philodendron leaves added a gracious touch, along with a welcome basket of tropical fruits, candies and other delicious goodies. There was a desk and chair where guests could use the WIFI Internet access, a Sharp television, a mini-bar, and a safe in the closet. The stone bathroom featured a combination tub/shower where a vase of anthurium graced the ledge of the tub. The hotel thoughtfully provided robes as well as Roger and Gallet amenities from Paris.
The hotel has two restaurants, Le Chateaubriand, their gourmet restaurant, which features culinary creations of Chef de hotel and Master Chef of France, Francis Dulucq, and La Sirène, which features casual afternoon fare. In addition to providing a culinary taste of Martinique, the Sofitel Bakoua provides guests with a taste of Martinique culture with their folklore ballet on Friday evenings. We had a wonderful dinner at Le Chateaubriand, which you can read about in the Restaurants and Chefs’ Recipes sections where I convinced Chef Francis Dulucq to share a few of his Caribbean secrets, (in English and in French).
The hotel has two bars, the Coco Bar and Le Gommier. The Coco Bar, located directly above the bay, accessible by a wooden walkway, gives you the feeling that you are on a boat and is the perfect location to watch the sunset. Le Gommier bar, located just off the lobby, is where we became acquainted with various island cocktails with names like Ti-Punch, Vieux Punch, and Planteur, while being entertained by the amusing bullfrogs "singing" in the night.
If you seek exercise while on vacation, there is complimentary use of two tennis hard courts (there is a fee for night play), a boules court, ping-pong, windsurfers, kayaks, pedal boats, and snorkeling. The hotel has complimentary use of tennis and ping-pong rackets and balls, as well as snorkeling equipment. If you have always wanted to learn to scuba dive, there is a diving centre where the first lesson is free. If board games are more your style, they have a wide selection of games, and they have a billiards table (for a fee).
The hotel has a boutique and a florist where guests can purchase a romantic gift or souvenirs, and is conveniently located next to Le Creole Village, where guests can walk to the many shops, eat in the restaurants, enjoy the art galleries, or even take a boat cruise from the nearby marina.
Sofitel Bakoua
Pointe du Bout
97229 Les Trois-Ilets
Martinique, FWI
Telephone: +05 96 66 02 02
Fax: +05 96 66 00 41
Email: H0968@accor-hotels.com
www.sofitel.com
Read other articles on Martinique in the Destinations section, Destination: Martinique – The Atlantic Side, Hotels and Resorts, Restaurants, Spas, Chefs’ Recipes, Fashion, Gastronomy, Events and Liquor Cabinet sections.
For more information on Martinique, please contact the Martinque Promotion Bureau at www.martinique.org.
© October 2006. Luxury Experience. www.LuxuryExperience.com. All rights reserved.
