The Finest Lodges within the Caribbean, In keeping with a Author

The Caribbean, with its oversized, over-the-top resorts set alongside white-sand, sugary beaches, has lengthy been a go-to vacation spot for winter-weary vacationers seeking to fly and flop. And there are actually a whole bunch of choices that vacationers might select from.

As a full-time author who covers tradition, delicacies, and journey, I’ve stayed at a number of the greatest properties within the area, from an all-inclusive personal island within the Dominican Republic to a house away from house within the coronary heart of historic Havana.

Actually, I’ve stayed at greater than 50 lodges within the area—and in my view, these 12 are one of the best lodges within the Caribbean.

High Locations to Keep

Finest Lodges for {Couples}

Freshly debuted final spring, Sandals St. Vincent & the Grenadines is the proper marriage between ultra-luxury and adventure, and it’s the primary all-inclusive resort of its sort within the archipelago nation that needs to be on each traveler’s radar. This luxe 301-room property has 11 meals and eating venues, 4 swimming pools, and a luxurious spa. At Buccan, cooks make use of conventional stable fuel-driven cooking methods to arrange island-grown meals.

Splurge and keep in one of many property’s premium Vincy Overwater Two-Story Villas. These overwater bungalows come full with butler service, outside soaking tubs with rainfall showers, and rooftop lounges for an expertise that may make you surprise why anybody would ever fly all the best way to the Maldives.

The Particulars:

• Location: St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Nearest Airport: 15 miles to Argyle Worldwide Airport (SVD)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Adults-only
• Restaurant Reservations: Reservations are required at some eating places.
• Accessibility: Two rooms are accessible, and a seashore wheelchair is accessible to borrow.
• Charges: $$$

I get requested for honeymoon suggestions on a surprisingly frequent foundation for a single particular person. Secret Bay is my prime choose each time, an all-villa property on the untouched island of Dominica that has been named by T+L readers as the best resort in the Caribbean for 3 years working.

Secret Bay’s assortment of twenty-three villas has personal plunge swimming pools and butler service, and expansive indoor-outdoor dwelling area with views starting from rainforest to the Caribbean Sea. Merely waking up in paradise is its main enchantment, although you will be tempted to emerge out of your villa yoga courses within the new wellness pavilion, stand-up paddleboarding by the seashore, or cooking courses and chef-driven menus on the oceanview restaurant.

The Particulars:

• Location: Portsmouth, Dominica
• Nearest Airport: 23 miles to Douglas-Charles Airport (DOM)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Household-friendly
• Restaurant Reservations: Reservations are usually not required.
• Accessibility: Choose villas are totally wheelchair accessible, as are amenities just like the bar, pool space, and seashore. Workers have obtained coaching on the wants of vacationers with disabilities.
• Charges: $$$

Perched on a hillside on one of many smallest islands within the Caribbean, The Cottage Club is a vacation spot so particular that I virtually really feel tempted to maintain it to myself. With its stately Nice Home and a group of simply 10 personal cottages constructed to mix into the white-wall, red-roof Saban architectural aesthetic, The Cottage Membership is certainly one of only a few lodges on an island of round not more than 2,000 folks. It is exhausting to say whether or not it was the unequalled hospitality or unimaginable adventurous actions, like world-class diving or summiting the island’s volcanic peak, Mount Surroundings, that made my go to so memorable. Regardless, untouched-by-time Saba is unexpectedly one of many coolest locations to be within the Caribbean.

The Particulars:

• Location: Windwardside, Saba
• Nearest Airport: 3 miles from Juancho E Yrausquin Airport (SAB)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Household-friendly
• Restaurant Reservations: N/A
• Accessibility: Rooms and amenities are usually not wheelchair accessible and no actual lodging for visitors with mobility points are supplied.
• Charges: $

Finest Lodges for Households

The North Sound of Virgin Gorda is perhaps essentially the most sought-after zip code within the Caribbean, and at its coronary heart is Oil Nut Bay, which seems like a personal island. Minimize off from the remainder of Virgin Gorda and accessible solely by boat and helicopter, its supreme seclusion is part of its endless enchantment. This outsized 400-acre property stretches between each the Caribbean and Atlantic coasts of the island, house to oceanview suites and spacious villas, and estates obtainable for hire when homeowners are touring elsewhere. It is pure laidback luxurious on the property’s personal seashore membership, sports activities courts, children’ membership, and gymnasium, with an overwater bar and restaurant welcoming guests to spend all the day on this nook of paradise. The property’s model new overwater spa will debut quickly, an ideal excuse for a return go to, in case you ask me.

The Particulars:

• Location: Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
• Nearest Airport: 12 miles from Virgin Gorda Airport (VIJ) or 20 miles from Terrance B. Lettsome Airport, Tortola (EIS)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Household-friendly
• Restaurant Reservations: Reservations are usually not required.
• Accessibility: A number of single-level villas is accessible for visitors utilizing wheelchairs, and all the property’s eating places are wheelchair accessible.
• Charges: $$.

Hidden away on a nonetheless untouched stretch of shoreline on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, Playa Grande Beach Club is the utter antithesis of the outsized resorts and busy seashores of Punta Cana. Consuming freshly fried plantain chips and sipping coconut mojitos out of your personal patio or beneath a fringed umbrella on the white sand seashore is the secret right here. With only a handful of personal bungalows, starting from one to 3 bedrooms, you will have this nook of the shoreline virtually all to your self to get pleasure from. Nonetheless, ought to the inspiration strike to get out and discover, whale-watching within the cooler months and hikes to crystal clear lakes and lagoons in the summertime are themselves price touring for.

The Particulars:

• Location: Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic
• Nearest Airport: 49 miles to Gregorio Luperón Worldwide Airport (POP)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Household-friendly
• Restaurant Reservations: Reservations are usually not required.
• Accessibility: Amenities and rooms are usually not wheelchair accessible and require navigating steps to entry.
• Charges: $$$

Finest Lodges for Golfers

Take a peek contained in the stately Founder’s Cove at Jamaica’s Half Moon Resort and you will see images of superstars, previous presidents, and even the Royal Household adorning the partitions. What began as a small assortment of cottages alongside a then-untouched Montego Bay beachfront has blossomed right into a legacy of luxurious that continues immediately. A championship golf course, quite a few sports activities courts, a brand new health heart, and a Salamander Spa with a formidable menu of therapies and wellness experiences maintain visitors coming again many times. Locals and guests alike come from far and large to dine right here, too; the property’s historic Sugar Mill Restaurant is among the most celebrated eating places within the Caribbean, although the newer Delmare is arguably even higher with an Italian-meets-Caribbean menu with standout dishes like Blue Mountain coffee-infused pasta that blew me away.

The Particulars:

• Location: Montego Bay, Jamaica
• Nearest Airport: 5.5 miles to Sangster Worldwide Airport (MBJ)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Household-friendly
• Restaurant Reservations: Reservations are required at some eating places.
• Accessibility: Seven visitor rooms are totally ADA-compliant, and all resort amenities are wheelchair accessible. A seashore wheelchair is accessible to borrow.
• Charges: $$

Finest Lodges for Luxurious

Alaia Belize attracts the vacation-ready with its trendy, modular design fashion and opulent facilities that solely add to the island’s boundless enchantment. Even normal rooms include personal outside area to get pleasure from tropical breezes, however suites supply terraces so spacious they may very well be a whole room in their very own proper. Lodging apart, the resort’s pièce de résistance is the adults-only rooftop swimming pool and eatery serving sushi, ceviche, and the freshest shrimp tacos I’ve ever had exterior of Mexico. Seize one of many property’s golf carts for an tour as much as the white sand Secret Beach or for a jaunt into San Pedro for some purchasing or native bites at Elvi’s Kitchen and drinks on the overwater restaurant Palapa. The property’s devoted dive store makes exploring the reef even simpler, providing every part from beginner-friendly PADI certifications to superior diving courses in preparation for taking over Belize’s world-famous Great Blue Hole.

The Particulars:

• Location: San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize
• Nearest Airport: 1.5 miles from John Greif II Airport (SPR)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Household-friendly
• Restaurant Reservations: Reservations are usually not required.
• Accessibility: Elevators and ramps make components of the property accessible, although rooms and pool areas lack diversifications for wheelchair customers.
• Charges: $$

Baoase Luxury Resort is a serene and secluded property named after an oasis. It is lush and inexperienced, and set on a personal white cove seashore the place Balinese-inspired villas and cottages pop up from the sand. This tranquil 23-key spot feels intimately designed for a romantic getaway the place you will be tempted to go no additional than your personal room, particularly in case you spring for one with a personal pool. Whenever you do, the entire of this infinitely interesting island awaits, nonetheless a principally hidden haven with spectacular snorkeling and seashores that really feel blissfully naked in comparison with these on neighboring islands. The restaurant right here is among the greatest within the Caribbean, a part of a scorching culinary scene that has contributed to the island’s blossoming in a means I might have by no means imagined once I first visited greater than 15 years in the past.

The Particulars:

• Location: Curaçao
• Nearest Airport: 9 miles to Hato Curaçao Worldwide Airport (CUR)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Household-friendly
• Restaurant Reservations: Reservations are required.
• Accessibility: This property just isn’t wheelchair accessible and doesn’t supply any accessibility options for visitors with imaginative and prescient or listening to impairments.
• Charges: $$$

Caerula Mar Membership | Bahamas

I had heard that Caerula Mar Club on South Andros Island within the Bahamas was the one resort of its sort on the island, however I did not notice simply how distinctive it was till I grabbed a paddleboard and took it in from the water. All alongside the island’s palm-fringed shoreline, there are barely some other buildings in sight, apart from this 2021 It List lodge.

Throughout my keep at this 23-key boutique property, I met all kinds of visitors. Some have been right here to fish for tarpon and bonefish, whereas others merely needed to unplug and unwind for every week. All of them, nevertheless, felt fortunate to have snagged one of many few treasured rooms at this tropical escape. And do not be shocked in case you meet a number of Canadian visitors right here; Caerula Mar is far more well-known than its small dimension would possibly let on. It was featured in HGTV Canada’s Island of Bryan, which adopted homeowners Bryan and Sarah Baeumler all through the years-long renovation course of. Caerula Mar Membership’s enchantment now far surpasses its quarter-hour of fame, and welcomes guests who come again yr after yr.

The Particulars:

• Location: South Andros Island, Bahamas
• Nearest Airport: 3 miles to South Andros-Congo City-Queen Airport (COX)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Household-friendly
• Restaurant Reservations: Reservations are usually not required.
• Accessibility: Some rooms and amenities are wheelchair accessible, although flight transportation to and from the island just isn’t wheelchair pleasant, making entry difficult.
• Charges: $$

Years of touring to go to household in Havana have taught me that one of the best locations to remain are discovered exterior the town’s tangle of colonial-era streets and in stately, century-old mansions like La Reserva Vedado. This heritage house sits alongside a quiet aspect road shaded by banyan timber in certainly one of Havana’s poshest neighborhoods, with white columns and an ample patio with rocking chairs greeting visitors. To remain right here seems like coming house, every of its 11 rooms and suites are uniquely designed however have luxe particulars like hovering ceilings and unique tile flooring. The property’s lush backyard has an intimate cafe and restaurant with indoor-outdoor seating. Join the guest-favorite mojito-making class with the bartender earlier than heading to the close by Malecón Sea Wall to absorb the solar setting over the ocean.

The Particulars:

• Location: Havana, Cuba
• Nearest Airport: 12 miles from José Martí Worldwide Airport (HAV)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Household-friendly
• Restaurant Reservations: Reservations are usually not required.
• Accessibility: Sure rooms are wheelchair accessible and showers have seize bars, although restaurant and backyard areas can be tougher to navigate.
• Charges: $

Finest Lodges for Wellness

It is almost inconceivable to drag me away from the tradition and delicacies of scorching San Juan, Puerto Rico, but when there’s one place that may do it, it is Finca Victoria in close by Vieques. A T+L It List property, Finca Victoria seems like some other place within the Caribbean. The property’s dedication to wellness goes far past the fundamentals: it is the one Ayurvedic lodge within the Caribbean and a preferred Panchakarma retreat heart full with complimentary each day yoga courses and a spa menu with every part from conventional massages to Chinese language medicine-inspired therapies. Wellness retreat or not, I’ll by no means recover from the treehouse suites right here, that are stunningly lovely. Bigger estate-style rooms and a brand-new Airstream can have you reserving your return go to earlier than your first keep involves an finish.

The Particulars:

• Location: Vieques
• Nearest Airport: 2 miles to Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport (VQS)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Adults-only
• Restaurant Reservations: Reservations are usually not required.
• Accessibility: The property affords one wheelchair-accessible room, plus a detachable ramp that may be added to entry many amenities, although paths and unpaved areas could also be difficult to navigate.
• Charges: $$

Set on the white sands of a palm-fringed personal island within the Dominican Republic, Cayo Levantado Resort is tailored for beachside indulgence. This It List lodge has swimming pools scattered throughout the property in addition to oceanfront bars and eateries, making it as simple to spend a whole keep simply steps from the water. However the true standout amenity of Cayo Levantado Resort is its wellness program, thought-about among the many best within the Caribbean. I will be the primary to confess that I arrived a complete skeptic, however by the top of a breathwork and sound therapeutic session, I used to be having an out-of-body expertise (severely). Serenity seekers might simply spend days on finish on the Yubarta wellness heart within the verdant coronary heart of this tropical island, studying aerial yoga, getting vitality healings, and sitting in on dream evaluation from skilled practitioners.

The Particulars:

• Location: Samaná, Dominican Republic
• Nearest Airport: 35 miles to Samaná El Catey Worldwide Airport (AZS)
• Household-friendly or Adults-only: Household-friendly
• Restaurant Reservations: Reservations are required at some eating places.
• Accessibility: The property is accessible solely by boat, a problem for guests with mobility considerations, although amenities and rooms supply accessibility measures to make navigating the island simpler.
• Charges: $$

Know Earlier than You Go

Low season journey has loads of perks.

Summertime journey has by no means been hotter within the Caribbean, with many vacationers solely now realizing that this warm-weather escape is fairly dreamy year-round. As soon as the throngs of vacationers return house in mid-April, resorts slash charges and naked seashores abound. Many locals insist the islands are at their greatest within the rainier months of {the summertime} with all their inexperienced tropical lushness, and for vacationers who do not thoughts a passing afternoon bathe, I are inclined to agree!

Take hurricane season precautions.

Low season journey actually comes with its perks, but it surely additionally coincides with Atlantic hurricane season, which stretches from June to November. Guests can buy journey insurance coverage and verify with their lodge or resort about weather-related cancellation insurance policies previous to departure. Islands exterior the hurricane belt, corresponding to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, or Caribbean-facing coastal spots within the Americas like Cartagena, Colombia, or Bocas del Toro, Panama, also can make handy various locations throughout the summertime.

Island hopping could be difficult.

Planning a Caribbean trip spanning a number of islands could be extra advanced and dear than many vacationers notice. Whereas sure islands are effectively related by ferries or water taxis, just like the British Virgin Islands, in lots of areas, ferries are rare, pricey, or non-existent. Even flights between islands are much less frequent and costlier than most vacationers notice, usually requiring passengers to transit by means of hubs like San Juan, Miami, or Fort Lauderdale. Cannot shake the need to cross a number of islands off your bucket checklist in a single journey? The ferry system connecting St. Lucia, Dominica, Guadeloupe, and Martinique is among the area’s greatest.