Top Hotels Parrot Cay Overgrowth : 6 Years Later

An interesting thing happened on our trip to Parrot Cay last week that completely took us by surprise. After a six-year absence, we decided to return to the private-island resort to take in a few days of relaxation. We requested the same room that we had previously stayed in and once we had finally settled in, we realized that something was very different.

First of all, the layout of the rooms have all been changed. The furniture of the rooms used to be arranged with principles of feung shui. It's not something most people care about, but the look and feel of the rooms used to be well thought out. Now it seems careless and lopsided.

Nowadays there are huge desks and a TVs that have been installed and the bed is plopped right in the middle of the room. Rolling blackout shades have been added which make the rooms feel very different.

It's clear that they had to make adjustments for those who complained about the lack of TVs and the early sunlight. These changes aren't major issues -- and I'm sure that some people see them as an improvement -- but I found that they took away some of the original atmosphere that helped make a name for the resort.

But there was something else. Things had grown. No, not the size of the room. Not the size of the hotel. All that was the same.

It was the vegetation!

Our view of the ocean was gone, and only a view of the trees remained. I went back to some old photos we had taken to see if it was true. It was!

Here are two photos of the view.

Here was the view in 2002

And here is the view in 2008.

After walking around the resort, we realized that it wasn't just our room that had lost its view. Practically the entire resort, with exception of the beach-front villas, had seen a tremendous amount of growth in the vegetation around it.

Here's the old view from the beach, looking back at the resort in 2002.

Now take a look at it in 2008.

It's funny. Sometimes you'll hear someone say, that a place just isn't the same as it used to be. In Parrot Cay's case, it has physically changed over the years in a way that the people who run the resort probably don't even realize.

Moving on. We spotted Christy Turlington and Ed Burns there with their kids. The first time we had actually seen celebrities at Parrot Cay when we were there.

There seemed to be more of a trend for couples to bring kids this time. Parrot Cay is not a kid-friendly resort by any means. There's a video game room that's literally a closet.

When we were at Parrot Cay 6 years ago, we didn't notice any children, which is the perfect atmosphere for those who are trying to relax and get away. But this time there were a number of couples with kids and nannies in tow. Splashing in the pool and getting looks from those who came for the peace and quiet.

If you have kids and are thinking of going to Parrot Cay, leave the kids at home. They will be unbelievably bored at Parrot Cay, and they'll likely just disturb those who came for the serenity of the resort -- which is the majority of the guests.

Overall these are minor complaints. We actually had a wonderful time. The food was excellent, and the spa was even better than ever and expanded tremendously. And luckily, the beach is just the way we remembered it.