We were at Carimar from July 26-Aug 2. We had been to Anguilla once before in 1997, and stayed at Frangipani on the same beach. This time, though, our two daughters (ages 20 and 15) went with us, so Carimar was a TREMENDOUS value.

In summer, the rates are close to half what they are in high season. Moreover, if you stay 5 nights you get 2 free. So we paid about $2200 total for 7 nights in one of the beachfront rooms. This includes tax and service. I don't think you could beat this in Anguilla for an apartment maybe 100 feet from the water. And if you look at the pictures on this site, the water looks EXACTLY like that. Crystal clear, turquoise when the sun is shining. There's no trick photography here.

The apartment was nicely equipped, though simply furnished. We had a master br with king bed and en-suite bathroom with shower. The girls had a separate br with two twins and their own bathroom with shower across the hall. Both bedrooms are air conditioned, but the rest is cooled by ceiling fans. To be honest, the living/dining area is pretty hot in the mid-afternoon (it was July/Aug, after all).

The kitchen had a full oven, range top, fridge, blender, microwave, and all the dishes and utensils you could need. We ate breakfast in the room every day and lunch several of the days.

The facility has a few "floaty" beach toys and plenty of snorkel gear, though there's not much to see on this white sand beach because the sand extends many, many yards out. No reef nearby here.

The hotel staff was excellent. Reserving directly through them was straightforward. They arranged a rental car for me, waiting at the hotel when I arrived. By all means, get a car if you are staying here.

Are there any downsides? Well, there's no restaurant. Malliouhanna and Blanchards are next door on either side, but they are quite expensive. Malliouhanna does have a beachside bistro directly next door, but we did not eat there.

The Malliouhanna motorized beach toys are also right next door, so we had water skiing in front of us a lot of the time. It's no big deal, but it you were down the beach at Frangipani they wouldn't be quite so on top of you.

No beach bars like Uncle Ernies in Shoal Bay. This beach is upscale; it does NOT have that beach bum feel with people coming for the day to rent chairs and umbrellas.

No tv or internet in the rooms unless you pay extra. BUT, there is a community room with free cable tv, internet, and washer/dryer. I loved this because my kids could go there if they wanted, but they didn't sit in the room all day watching tv mindlessly.

Finally, a reminder that a/c is in the bedrooms only and you can't leave the door open to cool the rest (the a/c cuts off when the door is open). If you suffer in the heat, be forewarned that the living room/dining room area is going to be hot in summer.

All in all, these small downsides are trifles. This place is excellent value and tremendously well-maintained. If you want to save about $50 per night, don't get the oceanfront from. We did get one and I would positively do it again. But the walk from the other rooms is only a few extra feet, no more than 100ft or so from the farthest rooms.

Remember, this is on the north of the island, so you get calmer seas (nearly flat) but no view of St. Martin. And it's on the west side of the island, so it's 20 minutes drive to the busier beach at Shoal Bay East, where there are reefs you can swim to from shore. We used Shoal Bay Scuba for our dives.

But if you want quiet, great beach, and great price--and you like to buy groceries and cook a few meals to save money--this place is for you.

There's nothing quite so perfect for a beach getaway. We've been guests at Carimar every year (sometimes twice a year) since 1991. We're seeing changes on the island now that concern us-the development of a golf course and the building of more and more investment properties. But,with this said, the Carimar remains the gem that its always been on the most beautiful beach in the world.
We bring a couple of coolers of food,mostly the lettuces,grapefruits, and other perishables that are not so reliably available at Christine's. The rest we can get at their rather new Alberts Supermarket in the valley. We do this so that we only need to get dressed to go to dinner.
We don't any longer go looking for a dining experience. Its very expensive.and not the quality we get in the wonderful restaurants at home.Go to picante and the local barbeques or to the Pump House for a great burger and a beer, dancing and mixing with the friendly islanders. Bring great books and-----JUST RELAX!

My husband and I stayed at Carimar for a week in June of 2007. Meads Bay is the most beautiful beach you can hope for on vacation. It's steps from your room, with clear blue water and no waves. The beach is clean and there are plenty of lounge chairs. We spent our entire day until sunset swimming and sitting on the beach. We also took a day to see the other beaches on the island, and with most of them full of day trippers from st martin and the multiple hotels nearby we never went back.
The island was very peaceful and we enjoyed dining around the island without needing reservations and driving around with no traffic jams.
Carimar is an amazing hotel with clean spacious rooms with everything you could want when you're on vacation. The Maluhouanna hotel is walking distance (5 min) if you need anything from spa treatments to a work out room, and has several bars and restaurants. There is a convinience store within walking distance and several excellent restaurants.
I would absolutely recomment this hotel to anyone that enjoys the beach and reasonable prices while on vacation.

We stayed at the Carimar Beach Resort in Anguilla a few weeks ago. It's not as fancy as many of the hotels on the island, but it suited our budget and needs. The suites include a small kitchen, dining area, living room, bedroom/bath. You can book a 2 bedroom/2 bath as well. All suites have patios or balconies. They are very clean but need updating. They recently put AC in the bedrooms which was nice. There are no TVs. By far, the best thing about the Carimar is the beach. Absolutely beautiful white sand. Swimming was nice. The resort is right on Meads Bay. There were never more than 20 or 30 people on the entire 1 mile strecth of beach. No getting up at the crack of dawn to get chairs and umbrellas.
Beware...this is by far the most expensive island we have been to (and we've been to about 20 different islands in the Carribean and South Pacific). The food is great but outrageously expensive. Expect to spend $120 - $180 for dinner (without wine!). My husband I would have a drink each. Also, the food markets don't carry much. We thought we would save some money by cooking in a few times, but it was difficult to do.
We visited a few other resorts. The Cuisinart Resort was beautiful and on a great beach. Cap Jaluca and the Mallihouna (sp?) were nice as well, but expect to pay over $500 - $800/nt there. So that made the Carimar a great place for us since the beach is most important to us. Our favorite restaurants: Mango's and Blanchards.