There are Picantes and Taiwanese Fried Chicken on the menu: two immediate giveaways that I am in a Soho House.
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I → be → House
There are no creatives talking shop— instead, all I can hear is the soft lapping of waves caressing the beach.
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I → be → beach
There’s also no rooftop view over an urban sprawl; instead, all I can see are a few lofty palm trees swaying in the breeze.
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I → ’ → breeze
I’m in Canouan, a tiny island that is part of St Vincent and the Grenadines.
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that → ’m → Vincent
And if you’ve never heard of it, you are not alone.
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you → hear → it
This archipelago (pronounced Ka-no-wan), lying 30 miles south of St Vincent, is just 3.5 miles long and half the size wide, and has been hailed as the Caribbean’s best-kept secret.
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archipelago → pronounce → secret
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On the island’s west coast, on an impossibly perfect arc of sand called Grand Bay, it seems almost incongruous to find an outpost of Soho House here, as if it has somehow washed up on these far-flung shores.
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it → read → shores
Yet, Soho Beach House Canouan, the brand’s first property in the Caribbean, boasts all the trademarks of the club’s worldwide success plus a whole raft of extra benefits, too.
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Canouan → boast → benefits
One bonus is that while 80 per cent of guests are members, you don’t have to be one to stay here.
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you → have → guests
Be warned though: it’s highly likely you’ll join up by the time you’ve checked out.
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you → warn → time
Found across a higgledy-piggledy row of two-storey, wooden houses on stilts are 40 bedrooms overlooking the beach.
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bedrooms → find → beach
From the white-on-white décor to the blue-tinned roofs, interiors ooze Soho House’s typical boho vibe.
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interiors → ooze → vibe
There are mid-century chairs to lounge in, macramé art on the walls and white shutters to make the rooms cosy at night.
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rooms → be → night
Soft baby-blue rugs and pastel cotton bedspreads add subtle touches of colour.
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rugs → add → colour
“With just 1,700 inhabitants, who largely live in the tiny village of Charlestown, Canouan island feels beautifully untouched by tourism”
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island → live → tourism
Meanwhile, bathrooms are bursting with Cowshed and Soho Skin products and the rooms are chocka with well-thought-out essentials: from a clothes steamer and extra phone chargers to a Dyson hair dryer and pin-striped beach bag.
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rooms → burst → dryer
You can browse the boutique, which sells a curated collection of homewear and chic resort wear, and work out in the split-level gym.
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which → browse → gym
But, overall, the vibe here is to sink your toes in the sand and do nothing.
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vibe → sink → nothing
It’s almost the antithesis of the networking ethos found at most of Soho House’s urban addresses.
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There’s also the fact that travelling to Canouan can take a while: you transfer from Barbados in a tiny plane that can often make stops at islands along the way.
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that → ’ → way
To acclimatise, it’s all about downing tools.
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it → acclimatise → tools
You’ll be on island time before you know it.
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you → know → it
Opened in 2021, Soho Beach House Canouan still maintains the air of an insider’s secret, with most of its charm found in perfectly executed moments.
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most → open → moments
You’ll tuck into tuna and watermelon tartare, plantain chips and spicy dips and jerk chicken cooked on a wood-fire grill.
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You → tuck → grill
Then, it’s time to pad back to your room, where soothing music plays from the Robert’s radio (Netflix junkies, be warned: there’s no TV).
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music → ’ → radio
It’s nonetheless just the right ambiance for settling down on the balcony with a good book and a Coconut Cosmo in hand.
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It → ’ → hand
“There are no creatives talking shop— instead, all I can hear is the soft lapping of waves caressing the beach”
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I → be → beach
By day, there are boat trips to the Tobago Cays — an uninhabited group of five islands famous for their brilliant turquoise waters and a horseshoe-shaped reef teeming with
After swimming with green sea turtles, you can lunch on grilled lobster, saltfish cakes and coconut-infused Tahitienne fish vibrant fish.
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you → be → lobster
After swimming with green sea turtles, Sparrow’s Beach Club on Union Island is a local hang-out where you can lunch on grilled lobster, saltfish cakes and coconut-infused Tahitienne fish.
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you → swim → lobster
With just 1,700 inhabitants, who largely live in the tiny village of Charlestown, Canouan island feels beautifully untouched by tourism.
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island → live → tourism
In fact, it has only been on the tourist scene since 1999, when a wealthy developer purchased most of the island with a dream of turning it into a version of Mustique.
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developer → purchase → Mustique
As well as a handful of sprawling properties, he built a hotel on the north-east coast, which has since undergone various permutations and now operates as a lavish Mandarin Oriental.
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which → sprawl → Oriental
Another bonus here is that a stay on Canouan offers guests an “invisible key” concept.
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stay → offer → concept
This means that no matter where you reside, you can dip into all the facilities, which include tennis courts and an 18-hole championship golf course (which will reopen next year after a renovation).
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which → mean → renovation
The island is easy to explore: you can traverse sandy lanes and emerald rolling hills in one of the estate’s golf buggies or on an aesthetically pleasing aquamarine bicycle.
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you → explore → bicycle
Turns out that the island’s name means “Isle of Turtles” in ancient Carib and it is thought that there are more tortoises living here than humans.
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it → turn → humans
At Mandarin Oriental, Canouan, you can choose to stay in one of the 26 palatial suites — think: marble bathrooms, terraces with sea views and canopied beds.
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you → choose → views
At the hotel’s hillside spa, signature massages take place with the doors flung open so the ocean’s swooshing waves become a naturally soothing soundtrack.
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waves → take → place
There’s also a selection of sleek villas belonging to the hotel, as well as those which come under the wider Canouan Estate.
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which → ’ → Estate
The six-bedroom Silver Turtle house, for instance, has its own infinity pool and a framed letter of thanks on the wall from when Prince Harry once stayed.
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Harry → have → wall
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
