Club Med

When my brother and I were flying to Guadeloupe, no one seemed to know where we were going. At the airport, even Delta employees were asking us where it was. So, Guadeloupe, French Guiana is an island in the Caribbean. Dominica is to the south of Guadeloupe, while Antigua and Barbuda are to the north. Guadeloupe is an overseas department of France. They use the euro and French is the language most commonly spoken. Guadeloupe is a little known tourist destination for Americans, as most travelers are from Europe. Less than 2% of travelers visit from North America, and still most of those are from Canada. The airport is located in Point-A-Pitra. The right side of the island is beach oriented, while the left side is more rainforest. Club Med is located on the right side of the island. The cab ride takes about 40 minutes from the airport. Like many islands, the cities are very poor, while some luxurious beachfront resorts exist for tourists.

The outside of the hotel rooms doesn’t look too great, but don’t let that fool you. The rooms are nice, as are the rest of the amenities. The food is excellent and the staff is friendly. It will be helpful if someone in your party speaks French. The resort offers kayaking, flying trapeze, archery, tennis, basketball, water aerobics, bocce ball, a gym, windsurfing, and more. During the day, everyone dresses casual and takes part in the water sports and beach life. Speaking of beach life, women going topless and men is Speedos is completely normal on the island. If you wear a tankini, you’ll be the most covered up person on the beach. Trust me :)

For breakfast and lunch casual dress is appropriate. All meals are served buffet style (except one restaurant that serves plated dinners) at certain times and you can come and go within those time frames. For breakfast and lunch, you’ll most likely be spending time on the beach or doing water sports. So, bring some clothes that you can throw over your bathing suit to grab some lunch.

Late in the afternoon, everyone takes a shower and gets dressed up for dinner. Keep in mind, most visitors are from Europe and the Europeans dress up more than Americans. So don’t bring jeans or some other casual outfit. You don’t need a prom dress; just wear something stylish. Keep the European thing in the back of your mind! After dinner, the staff performs nightly shows. Next, there’s dancing and drinks until late in the evening. The party continues even later (2-3 am) in the “night bar.”

The things I didn’t like about the hotel were the 40 minute cab ride from the airport and the outside of the rooms looks a little run down. On the positive side, when people say "go to your happy place," this is where I picture myself.