Fantastic service from Jessie and Callum
Customer service was excellent
Keep on doing what you do!
Bella arranged my flight at very short notice - if I had not had the luck to find her there was no way I would have made it to Barbados. I sing her praises every day and your company will be my first port of call for future adventures
Stevi and Fergus were excellent. Nothing was too much trouble for either of them - especially when I booked the wrong hotel at the beginning!
Superb once again. Thanks for all your help .
As always, a professional service with updates along the way as necessary. Always pleased with the service provided by DialAFlight.
The service by DialAFlight was great but British Airways has severely declined in quality. Seats were very cramped and poorly designed so the space under the seat in front wasn't clear for bag and feet due to metal structures. Will not be travelling with BA again. Unpleasant start and finish to our lovely holiday.
The usual excellent service. Wonderful trip went like clockwork
Great service, will absolutely be using again and will refer. Only feedback is that when quotes are given try to give an indication of if and when they may be subject to change.
Once I book with DialAFlight I can relax. Thank you Callum
It all worked perfectly thanks.
Am always happy with Bradley and his team. The personal touch is amazing and the prices are always the best.
Vinnie is consistently good with recommendations and organisation. Another memorable trip.
All OK except the transfers
Excellent service especially from Elisabeth Lidbury
We loved our stay in St Lucia - thanks to Lloyd as always for a good recommendation! That was our first time with all inclusive
Good service as expected.
Always good
Patrick, our customer service representative was excellent. He was available to answer any questions. He was professional, knew his products and knowledgeable. It was easy to contact him when abroad and all transfers went according to plan. I would book again with Patrick because of his consistent , reliable and outstanding customer service.
I have booked all my transatlantic holidays with you for the last 10 years. Tony Judge is very goodand never lets us down
Simply the best
Oliver Orr is a good agent with excellent customer service skills. Always goes that extra mile.
My adviser Oliver Orr was magnificent In arranging and keeping us up to date. No request was too much trouble for him.
Good communication and prompt action regarding flight changes
Always a good service
Bella has been amazing. Harvey was also very helpful. Have already recommended you to many of my customers. Looking forward to dealing with Bella again.
The hotel selected is in bad need of refurbishment
Damian provided a great service to us and we had a thoroughly enjoyable holiday.
There was a delay entering St Kitts as we had not completed the online immigration form, which is a requirement since COVID for all countries, as we were informed. It would be helpful to have this confirmed, as l have already booked and paid for my Brazil holiday.
The turbo-prop banks through pink clouds, revealing the island below: bottle-green hills, thumbnail crescents of sand, jade Caribbean shallows, wooden shacks and homes. And a crinkly coastline.
Bequia, half an hour by air from Barbados, is a prized dot in the archipelago nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines, which includes billionaire hideaway Canouan and celebrity magnet Mustique.
Our plane hits the cricket-pitch airstrip with a 'Whoa!' from the white-knuckled on board. The winding south-coast road to the hotel is steep and bumpy. People wave from bus stops, waysides are grazed by goats and the air smells of hibiscus.
When I last came, eight or so years ago, Caribbean old hands were already proclaiming Bequia ('bek-wy') the next big thing in the Windies. So I'm a little nervous. Has it changed? Or is it still unspoilt, unhurried and unassuming?
Thankfully, I am delighted to find the boutique Bequia Beach Hotel, with its sea-view balcony suites and cottages, still convivial and family-run.
Genial Swedish owner Bengt Mortstedt greets arrivals, aided either by his daughter or son and daughter-in-law. The gardens are busy with palms and paintbox-bright flowers, while the guests — mostly happy returnees — are never too old to gyrate to the DJ's calypso sounds. After a dip in Friendship Bay and a dusk rum punch, I dine on jerk chicken and barbecued amberjack at Bagatelle, the hotel restaurant, overlooking the swell.
Mortstedt pulls up a chair and as the wine flows, so does the chat, from discussion about the island's precious rainwater reserves to the rise of its super-villas.
CASE in point: Grenadine Hills, a trio of brand new palatial piles north along the sands and part of the hotel. With tourmaline-blue private pools, elegant hardwood fittings from St Vincent and alfresco dining, at upwards of £2,020 a night for ten guests, they are worthy of Mustique — and much more affordable.
Mortstedt says Bequia will never be mass-market. 'There's the lack of space, water and airlift. I can't see any money coming to build a longer runway, although they've already resurfaced the international airport on St Vincent, which opened six years ago.'
Relations with the mainland — home of PM Ralph Gonsalves — are a Bequia talking point.
Raising a local eyebrow or two, his son, real-estate entrepreneur Storm, has netted land for a big development, including 50 luxury villas and a 100-room hotel in the little east-coast community of Spring. Billed as the world's first bitcoin community, it made international headlines when it was unveiled in 2021, but construction had yet to begin.
Next morning I visit the capital, Port Elizabeth, using Gideon's Taxi Service, which obligingly bills your room, picking up and dropping off anywhere. The cab is open-sided, the journey breezy and villages whiz by as bright as Dolly Mixtures.
Port Elizabeth is a blast of colour, with a brilliant white and blue Anglican church, St Mary's, and market stalls of rainbow fruit. There are views over yachts and catamarans, reminders of Bequia's maritime heritage: sailing, boat-building, fishing and even whaling — officially capped at four a year.
It's a wonderful place to wander. In a backstreet, I discover Threadworks, which makes beautiful sustainable island fashions and oozes initiative.
'We're still feeling the repercussions of Covid,' says Jessica, the store manager. 'It highlighted the fragility of our economy and the need to diversify our offerings.'
For more local flavour, Jessica steers me to nearby Cheri's Rooftop Terrace, a current island favourite among expats and locals, with shabby-chic taverna decor and moreish 'West Indian tapas', as Cheri calls them.
I eat small plates of guava chicken, conch fritters with mango sour and poached lobster with chutney while Cheri tells me how she built her restaurant on the roof of her house as renting was too pricey.
Gathering rainwater, cultivating food — Bequians are super-resourceful. I also eat well at Jack's Beach Bar, which is pale and trendy, like something from St Tropez.
AS I snack on coconut prawns and conch croquettes, I notice BBC chef Matt Tebbutt (Saturday Kitchen) is there.
To find it, follow the atmospheric walkway from Port Elizabeth south along the boardwalk and around the headland to Princess Margaret Beach.
It's named after an apocryphal visit from the royal during her honeymoon — and it's the best beach on the island, with millpond-smooth waters. Actually I lie: Lower Bay, farther south, is more beautiful still. It's effortlessly laid-back, tree-shaded and loved by locals and visitors alike.
The new place to meet islanders at Lower Bay is Provision, which works magic with local produce.
I get talking to Chris and Lou, from Manchester, who relocated to Bequia to open a bijou B&B, The Lookout, on a hill above the sea.
We share Asian-flavoured treats including irresistible cold noodles with chicken skewers and they insist that I must return for next year's Bequia Music Fest ('a riot of reggae, soca and soul'), which happens during the last week of January.
Bequia doesn't need to be the next big thing any longer. It is what it is and those who know it return again and again.
First published in the Daily Mail - January 2023
More articles below...
Not quite what you're looking for?
We can easily customise an offer to suit your exact requirements
Clients range from TV companies to Space agencies, investment banks to firms recruiting nurses, doctors and teachers around the world. One saves tigers, elephants and and orang-utans, another clears landmines around the world.
But they all have one thing in common. They love the unique DialAFlight approach. Read more here
Let us extend the personalised service of your booking into your holiday with great prices on business class flights ready to add a touch of class to your trip.
Take the stress out of travelling with a host of wonderful perks on offer from priority check-in and premium lounge access to chauffeur service and fine in-flight dining, plus the supreme comfort of a fully-reclining seat.
Call us to see how much you could save on Business Class flights.
Airport Lounges from £25
Once you’re through security leave the crowds, kids and chaos behind you with a visit to one of our comfortable airport lounges.
All offer complimentary food, drinks, wifi and newspapers with some also including Fastrack through security. Prices from £25.
Use our speedy private transfer service to avoid the stress of finding your way out of the airport terminal and looking for a taxi or bus on arrival.
With our meet and greet service, our driver will meet you in the arrivals hall. They will monitor flight arrival times giving you peace of mind that someone will be waiting for you with a name board even if your flight is late.
They will then assist you with your luggage and organise a private transfer directly to your hotel - there’s no waiting around for other passengers for shared transfers!
So no queues, no delays and less stress.
What could be better than giving someone the Gift of Travel?
Starting at just £50, with no maximum value, DialAFlght's 'Gift of Travel' vouchers make the perfect present for any occasion or celebration.
And it couldn't be simpler to organise, just contact one of our travel experts today and they will organise a personalised travel voucher to be sent out.
BACK TO TOP
