Salterra Resort and Spa Turks and Caicos Hotel Review

As the small propeller plane I was in soared over the clear, cerulean waters off South Caicos, I spotted four pods of dolphins frolicking among the craggy reefs below. Once a hub for the salt industry in the Caribbean, the island, located 45 miles from Providenciales, is now home to Salterra, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Turks & Caicos.

My butler for the week, Tony Kisna, picked me up at the airport, and after a 10-minute drive filled with sights of roadside donkeys, windmill skeletons stretching from rows of salinas, and Crayola-colored concrete block houses, we arrived at the resort.

Here, the history of South Caicos is woven into every element—from the lobby’s grand acacia wood doors, carved with Taíno pictographs, to the pair of duho chairs and the expansive fossilized coral stone walkways and walls.

“It was important to us to display the island’s heritage in our design. The duho chairs are similar to some found in caves throughout Turks and Caicos. They are ancient ceremonial chairs,” said Michael Tibbetts, Salterra’s managing director and the chief executive officer of JEM Worldwide, the property’s developer. “The fireball sculpture in the pool area was designed by an artist named Sandra Vlock from my stories and wildlife photographs of South Caicos. The donkeys, the euphorbia plant, the windmill, bonefish, flamingos, an abstraction of the Turks and Caicos Island archipelago—each image tells the story of this place.”

After a brief stop at my suite, I set off to learn the art of bonefishing, joined by my two guides and boat captains. Anchored in the shallows of Caicos Bank, we jumped out with fly fishing poles in hand and waded through the gin-clear water, searching for bonefish. A lemon shark casually swam by, but no bonefish appeared. As we motored back to the resort, I spotted an eagle ray larger than my arm span, a sea turtle, and vibrant orange sponge corals.

Back on land, I headed to the pool area for my first South Caicos sunset. The resort’s general manager, Santiago Senega, lit the fireball, and I raised my kiwi cooler, prepared with local Bambarra Rum. “This is a place where we can gather daily, share the island’s history, and celebrate the stories we create here,” Senega said.

Read on for a full review of Salterra, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa.

The Rooms

Salterra has 100 ocean-facing rooms, including deluxe guest rooms, one- and two-bedroom suites, and the palatial premier’s penthouse on the top floor with raised ceilings, a butler pantry, and a brass telescope for stargazing.

I stayed in a 1,135-square-foot one-bedroom king suite with a stocked wet bar, a comfortable living room area, a massive bathroom with a soaking tub and tumbled stone shower, and an expansive outdoor area. Handcarved furniture, throw pillows and rugs in sea and sand hues, and textured wall hangings all reflect the surrounding landscape. The attention to detail by designers from the Gettys Group and EoA is impressive, extending to the curated selection of books—a copy of “Salt: A World History” by Mark Kurlansky laid on my coffee table.

Over half of all accommodations are suites serviced by butlers available around the clock. It made my days so much easier to send a quick WhatsApp message to Tony to adjust meal times and move excursions around.

“They [the butlers] get to know each of our guests to help customize an itinerary as active or relaxing as they want,” Senega explained.

Food and Drink

Regatta, a two-story restaurant with an open-air terrace, serves daily breakfast with panoramic views—a cup of peppermint tea and a hearty breakfast burrito overlooking the ocean were a highlight for me. The restaurant also doubles as a dinner option serving British Caribbean cuisine. During my stay, the culinary team prepared daily menus showcasing dishes from the six on-site restaurants that hadn’t opened yet.

Highlights included the tender conch fritters and tangy tamarind chutney from Cobo Bar & Grill; the cream of callaloo soup from fine-dining eatery Brine; Sisal’s key lime meringue tart—the best this Florida girl has ever had; and all the Caribbean lobster dishes—I’m still thinking about the platters of tender, smoky grilled lobster at our final meal. Flamingo Café offers grab-and-go fare and smoothies, gelato, and espresso drinks.

Each restaurant has distinct design motifs—from the pink tile at Flamingo Café to the antique ship’s wheel at Brine to the woven chandelier above the bar at Cobo. Jack and Jenny’s, the food truck stationed by the pool, is named after the Spanish donkeys brought here during the height of the salt trade.

Activities and Amenities

Four pools, private cabanas, hot tubs, and plenty of beach to explore stretch across the property. The Macori Boutique (macori is the Taíno word for merchant or trader) offers handcrafted pieces like the pair of conch goblets I brought home.

“[Jewelry designer] Carolina de Barros is designing ocean-inspired pieces made from recycled gold and metals. There will be sustainable swimwear, Fair Harbor menswear, various salt products, and a portable salt raking experience you can take home to remember your time here. We focused on tying in local touch points and sustainable boutique brands,” explained Salterra brand curator and associate director of marketing Dahlia Lilleslåtten.

Next door is the library that houses a collection of Assouline books. Just around the corner is the concierge desk where you can book excursions such as the South Caicos salt experience, which includes a guided tour of natural salinas populated by the island’s flamingos, salt raking, sea salt tasting, and salt blending. There are also ceviche-making classes, rum tasting, mixology classes, guided birdwatching, South Caicos history tours, and more.

I beelined for the environmental excursions. The water sports center offers a suite of boats and experienced staff to guide guests through all levels of PADI scuba diving classes. Joseph Plant, the director of adventures, facilitated diving for my husband at several dive sites. Diving gear is available for rent, too.

While my husband was exploring the deep waters, I joined Anna Zuke, the director of conservation and experiences, for a snorkeling activity. A portion of each trip supports the coral restoration work at the School for Field Studies (SFS) Center for Marine Resource Studies. Fledgling fragmented brain and staghorn corals filled the tanks as we went through the SFS lab to see examples of the nursery structures deployed in the ocean. After learning about the work they do to restore the coral population, we boarded the boat to make our way to Admirals Aquarium to see the coral plantings and check out some cushion starfish in Starfish Alley.

The Spa

The white-washed building with cocoa-colored buttresses to the left of Salterra’s entrance houses a secluded oasis of relaxation. Individual treatment rooms, a couples treatment room, and an aqua thermal facility with a steam room, a dry sauna, and a salt room complement the spa.

Guests can choose from an extensive list of treatments, but the 60-minute relaxation massage soothed my tired muscles after a day spent bonefishing, followed by a few quiet moments curled up on the couch sipping ginger lemongrass tea.

Family-friendly Offerings

Thoughtful touches for kids include an indoor and outdoor club with various educational experiences designed to engage young adventurers. Kayak and paddleboard clinics provide fun on-the-water experiences while snorkeling adventures along the Caicos Bank and field trips to SFS offer hands-on environmental learning.

At check-in, little explorers aged four to 12 receive a sketchbook filled with missions to complete during their stay. As they check off the tasks, they earn stamps, and if they finish all of them, they receive a copy of the “Story of Salt” picture book along with a Salterra stuffed animal or a bath toy. In addition to the daily program of kids’ activities, there are lawn games and a pristine beach for building sandcastles and collecting shells.

Accessibility and Sustainability

Most rooms feature roll-in showers, bathtubs with seats and grab rails, as well as lowered electrical outlets, deadbolts, and viewports. Elevators are available in every building. The lagoon-style swimming pool includes a sloped entry, and a beach wheelchair is available on-site.

When designing the resort, Tibbetts and the JEM Worldwide team prioritized sustainable operations and preservation of South Caicos’ natural resources and rich history. There are no single-use plastics in guest rooms, and food waste is composted. The property partnered with Fortis TCI, a power supply company, to build the largest solar facility in the Turks and Caicos Islands and now sources more than half of its energy from solar power.

“We purposely chose native plants like sea grapes and thatch palms—this is a dry, arid island. Instead of having big flowering bushes and plants we might see in other parts of the tropics, we have sisal, agave, cacti, and euphorbia,” Tibbetts said. “This reduces our water consumption, and using materials and plants native to the region reduces our carbon footprint on the transportation front.”

And those are just the onsite programs. In the community, Salterra collaborates with the SFS to restore the coral reefs surrounding South Caicos. As co-founders of the South Caicos Coral Reef Consortium, they financed the construction of a land-based coral restoration facility at the SFS campus, located just a mile down the road from Salterra.

Location

The resort’s remote location makes getting here challenging. Currently, guests can fly into Providenciales (PLS) and hop on a short 18-minute flight to South Caicos (XSC) via InterCaribbean most days and Caicos Express on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Keep in mind that flights may get canceled if not enough seats are booked.

However, new options are on the horizon to facilitate travel to South Caicos. This month, American Airlines will begin offering direct flights from Miami to South Caicos on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

In addition to the commercial flight options, the resort has partnered with EvoJets, offering round-trip private flights from across the US to South Caicos with VIP transfers to the resort.

How to Get the Most Value Out of Your Stay

Salterra is part of the Marriott Bonvoy program, and members staying here can earn points. The property also belongs to the Marriott STARS program, which provides guests with extra benefits such as complimentary breakfast, room upgrades, and flexible check-in and check-out times when you book a stay with select travel agencies.

Nightly rates start at $464 for a deluxe guest room and go up to $4,396 for a presidential suite. Rates vary by season.