There’s a certain sameness to many travelers’ vision of a proper Caribbean vacation: sun, sand, rinse, repeat. When it comes to hotels, though, there’s a surprising amount of variety to be found.
When you think of a Caribbean vacation, you probably think of warm waters gently lapping at your feet while you sip a colorful cocktail under softly swaying palms. Maybe some swimming. Definitely some seafood. Those are worthy pursuits, available at almost all of the Caribbean’s best hotels and resorts. But there are many different ways to experience the region beyond the cliché, and many different kinds of hotels from which to do it.
Take the twelve hotels below, for example. They each present a unique vision of Caribbean culture. Coastal, jungle, urban. Colorful, minimal, concrete, or wood. Some show reverence for the past, others look grown from out of the ground, and others still have a firm eye on the future. There are those that prioritize isolation, and those that get you right into the thick of things. And of course, there are options for every budget.
Speaking of budgets, there are also many different seasons in which to visit the Caribbean. Consider skipping the crowds and high prices of February and March to make your money go further in May and June, when it’s just a touch warmer, a smidge wetter, and a whole lot less overrun by tourists. They say variety is the spice of life. This is what they’re talking about.
Golden Rock Inn
Charlestown, St Kitts and Nevis
Set on a hundred acres of jungle hills rising above the Caribbean, Golden Rock is a low-tech, low-fuss form of tropical seclusion. It’s not so much an inn as an aesthete’s playground, a collaboration between the artists Helen and Brice Marden, the providentially named landscape architect Raymond Jungles, and whatever gods are responsible for supplying the unerringly pleasant climate and topography.
BijBlauw
Willemstad, Curacao
BijBlauw is a Willemstad fixture that turns the old “beachy Caribbean resort” trope on its head. There’s still plenty of white-sand waterfront to work with, of course, but the focus centers squarely on the vibe: Pietermaai, the island’s trendy hub and catch-all entertainment district. It’s a best-of-both-worlds scenario, situating resort-style tranquility against a vibrant, walkable urban backdrop.
Azulik
Tulum, Mexico
It only takes a quick glance at the pictures to see that Azulik is something completely different, not just for the purposes of this list, but for any location in the world. Nestled into the Tulum jungle on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, the architecture and design can accurately be described as innovative, and fiercely so — a wellness wonderland that appears to have been sculpted out of the surrounding vegetation.
Soho Beach House Canouan
Canouan Island, St. Vincent and Grenadines
It’s hard to imagine that when Soho House founder Nick Jones opened his first location in London, he had any idea the concept would take him as far as St. Vincent and the Grenadines. But here we are. Obviously Soho Beach House Canouan isn’t exactly like the original, but what’s remarkable is how much of the Soho House vision survives the translation to thatched roofs, swaying palms, and white sand beaches.
Six Senses La Sagesse
St. David’s, Grenada
For their first foray into the Caribbean, the high-end Six Senses brand chose the island of Grenada, a place that’s rapidly ascending the luxury destination rankings. The 38-acre property occupies a headland on the quiet south coast, and its low-profile structures are nestled into the rises and falls of the land in a way that affords Six Senses La Sagesse an extraordinary sense of privacy and seclusion.
GoldenEye
St. Mary, Jamaica
It’s a whole different side of Jamaica. GoldenEye was Ian Fleming’s estate on the island’s north coast, and the desk in the flagship Fleming Villa is where he sat down to write all fourteen of his James Bond novels. It’s still as casual and low-key as you expect Jamaica to be, but with an undercurrent of colonial-era gentility that most of the island’s other properties can’t hope to match.
Amanyara
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands
All of the Aman resorts strive to create a little self-contained world — this one includes restaurants, pools, bars, a fitness center, and massages and yoga in the new spa pavilion. Much of Turks & Caicos is comprised of protected nature reserve; diving, snorkeling and fishing are first-rate, and for younger traveler’s, the resort’s own Nature Discovery Center offers daily educational programs for kids to learn about the local sea life.
Boardwalk Boutique Hotel
Palm Beach, Aruba
Aruba is the sort of place that’s managed to get by without having to take much notice of the boutique-hotel movement — picture-perfect white sand beaches and an idyllic climate mean there’s little pressure to innovate. But Boardwalk Boutique Hotel is an exception: a vibrant, colorful, eclectic boutique hotel that makes no compromises on location, set as it is amid a coconut grove just a five-minute stroll from Palm Beach.
Saba Rock Resort
Spanish Town, British Virgin Islands
Saba Rock Resort stands on a tiny speck of an island in the BVI’s North Sound, a location that makes it a popular meeting point for sailors, divers, and all manner of seafarers. The nine-room boutique hotel offers a surprisingly intimate set of accommodations given all the activity at the waterfront and in the restaurant and bar. It’s a private-island experience but a social one, and surprisingly affordable.
Le Martin Boutique Hotel
Saint Martin, French West Indies
In a place like St. Martin the phrase “boutique hotel” is a meaningful one — this sort of high-style, small-scale lodging is by no means common in the Caribbean. Le Martin Boutique Hotel, then, makes a statement, if a subtle one, with its name; in this particular corner of the French West Indies, fans of boutique hospitality and modern, glamorous hotel interiors need look no further.
The Dreamcatcher
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Sister to the equally unusual Dreamers Welcome in North Carolina, the Dreamcatcher is something between a bed and breakfast and a boutique hotel — and with its highly individual design and its intensely personal scale, it’s like nothing else in San Juan. Each of its rooms and suites is different, and none are what you’d call minimalist, either in decoration or in comfort.
The Pink Palm Hotel
St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Set not on the beach but in downtown Charlotte Amalie, the Pink Palm is reminiscent of the very first boutique hotels — a unique experience that’s a distinct alternative to the island’s more typical beach resorts. In the 1940s and ’50s this was the capital’s most in-demand guest house, and in its new incarnation it aims to recapture that atmosphere through its adults-only policy and ultra-chic rooms.
Mark Fedeli is the hotel marketing and editorial director for Tablet and Michelin Guide. He’s been with Tablet since 2006, and he thinks you should subscribe to our newsletter.