Top Hotels in the Caribbean
In a perfect world, you would be able to head out to the Caribbean and sleep right on the beach. Unfortunately, even in the most remote, beautiful beach in the world, there’s still some concern regarding theft and personal safety. Of course, in a perfect world, you wouldn’t have to head out to the Caribbean in the first place, because your front lawn would look like a tropical paradise!
Anyways, the point is, you need a hotel room if you plan on staying in the Caribbean islands.
It would take forever to try and list every single great hotel in the Caribbean, so forgive us if we limit ourselves to strictly those top of the line, exclusive resorts. These should give you an idea of what you can expect for a truly exclusive, special vacation. According to overwhelming customer reviews, these resorts are worth every penny, though.
Four Seasons Resort, Nevis
This hotel is a great place to stake out an expedition through the St. Kitts and Leeward islands. The Four Seasons Resort Nevis provides access to a luxurious dining room, a formal restaurant, a youth program, a grill room, a number of bars, and plenty of cool dining venues. If you’ve got a few extra thousand bucks to blow, there are also villas and estate homes for rent throughout the resort.
Caneel Bay, St. John
This exclusive resort is located within the five thousand acre Virgin Islands National Park, upon Saint John Island. The scenery around here is quiet and serene and absolutely breathtaking, showcasing incredible vistas of oceans and gardens, with the tops of delicate architecture barely peeking out from amongst the cliffs and foliage. The whole area is completely devoid of glitz and glamour. There isn’t a neon sign in sight, and you can request a wake up knock on the door, because there are no telephones.
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Cuisinart Resort and Spa, Anguilla
The Cuisinart Resort and Spa is sheer luxury if you’re into extravagant buffets. There are three deluxe restaurants on site, serving breakfast lunch and dinner. Besides the spa, you’ll also find the hydroponic farm, one of the largest hydroponic farms in the world, where fresh vegetables are grown for use in the restaurants.
Moon Dance Cliffs, Jamaica
The Moon Dance Cliffs hotel is nothing if not well equipped and somewhat exclusive, with just eighteen hotel rooms, four suites, and four villas with butler service. You’ll also find three themed bars, a sports bar, a world class spa and health club, two full service restaurants, and a pool with a swim-up bar.
Galley Bay Resort and Spa, Antigua
The Galley Bay Resort and Spa provides a number of activities including serene, quiet sunbathing, a pool, a la carte dining, and bird watching. The architecture is quite charming, with Tahitian style cottages for rent.
Jumby Bay Resort, Antigua
The Jumby Bay Resort is surrounded by rare birds, sheep, and white sand beaches. The area is known to the savviest of travellers as an excellent, secluded hideaway. The area is only accessible by boat, and is full of paths for walking and biking. Nightly prices can range anywhere from seven hundred to two thousand bucks, though, so… relish your visit!
Kura Hulanda & Beach Club, Westpunt, Curacao
Curacao’s newest luxury resort and a member of Leading Small Hotels of the World, the Kura Hulanda Lodge and Beach Club is surrounded by breathtaking coral cliffs and a sugary white sand beach. This peaceful tropical getaway offers a relaxing retreat on the northwestern-most tip of the island yet only 30 minutes from Curacao’s international airport. Curaçao, with its cultural diversity, offers a large selection of international as well as local cuisine sure to please any taste palette.
The Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa, Dutch St. Maarten
Not to be overlooked is the Westin St. Maarten Dawn Beach Resort & Spa located just minutes from the Princess Julianna Airport. The luxurious hotel is nestled into the lush hillside on a sandy white beach with all the additional benefits of the Westin’s world-renowned quality and service. A special feature is the largest freshwater infinity edge pool on the island. There are several oceanfront restaurants with European fine dining as well as an onsite Vegas-style casino offering a variety of dice, table and slots games to satisfy anyone and everyone.
There are literally hundreds of other, less prestigious hotels available, as well. The ones listed above are strictly top of the line for those once-in-a-lifetime vacations (or just in case you win the lottery tomorrow).
You might or might not be considering just such a vacation. If this is the case, we definitely recommend going through a travel agent. Travel agencies get significant discounts on airfare and hotel reservations. For a normal hotel, that might be a ten to twenty dollar difference, but at an exclusive resort, that small percentage could mean hundreds of dollars saved.
Lisa Parker is a freelance writer who covers the travel industry, often writing about specific topics such as vacation destinations and travel deals offered by a travel agent.
