Winter Warmer: Gorgeous Hotels In The Caribbean To Book Now

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Antigua: Jumby Bay Island

Frequented by A-listers, rock stars and well-heeled families, Jumby Bay is part of the prestigious Oetker Collection and one of the most exclusive spots in the Caribbean. Perched two miles off the coast of Antigua, the Crusoe-chic island spans 300 acres and is reached by private boat. Part and parcel of the idyllic isle are powdery sand beaches, superb dining, a spa, luxury villas and breathtaking private residences. Those looking for absolute privacy can splash out on one of the large private homes that fringe the island. Complete with housekeepers and private chefs, these are truly some of the most salubrious residences you’ll find in the Caribbean. Island highlights include snorkelling trips to the nearby wildlife haven, Bird Island, rum tastings and the fabulous, weekly White Night parties.

BOOK: oetkercollection.com

Barbados: Cobblers Cove

The very act of walking from reception to your room at Cobblers Cove is an irresistible delight – so much so, you might find any excuse to go and ask ‘a quick question at reception’, just for the chance to wander back through the lush gardens. Off you go through the arch of the exquisitely pretty main house, with the Caribbean Sea shimmering before your eyes just yards away, through the indoor-outdoor bar where Virgil, the barman, is mixing yet another rum punch, and back to your room – in fact, suite of rooms – with your own front garden next to the sea. This is a heavenly, privately-owned hotel, combining exoticism with a glorious sense of being at home – which will only increase once the two Soane Britain-designed honeymoon suites are unveiled. Come 4pm, afternoon tea replete with Earl Grey and cucumber sandwiches is served – the perfect pampering treat after you’ve been out to explore this friendliest of islands, and before an early evening bathe and a sundowner. Bliss.

BOOK: cobblerscove.com

Barbados: Coral Reef Club

Guests at the Coral Reef Club return year after year, beaming with happiness as they greet the staff and each other like old friends and relax into its intimate atmosphere. The hotel has been catering to a mainly English clientele since Barbados became a top winter holiday destination 60 years ago. In those days the visitors were mainly the idle rich and very famous but, as mass tourism developed, the hotel rode the wave. Set in lovely gardens slap bang next to a beautiful beach, the Coral Reef Club has two outdoor pools, tennis courts, a spa and fitness centre. At night flaming torches guide you to the restaurant, where dinner is served to the accompaniment of live music. You’ll never sleep in a hotel bed as comfortable as this, nor be looked after by staff who are so attentive and well-trained. There’s no need to leave the club, other than for the occasional dinner out: in every other respect, the best Barbados has to offer is at your feet.

BOOK: coralreefbarbados.com

Barbados: Fairmont Royal Pavilion

An elegant pink mansion with fragrant bougainvillea and jasmine-filled gardens, the Fairmont Royal Pavilion nuzzles the demerara sand of Barbados’ west coast. Originally built in the 1940s as The Miramar, it has aged and expanded gracefully, while retaining an intimacy and old-school elegance. The 11-acre property has 72 rooms, all ocean-facing, decked out in navy, ecru, white and wicker. Butlers too, if that’s your thing. Nothing is too much trouble, service always with a smile. And you are never more than a shell’s throw from the sea’s dazzle and mellifluous rhythm, whether breakfasting at the Palm Terrace, munching on fish tacos or coconut-crusted Caribbean shrimp at the beach café, or dining a la carte at Taboras. Relaxed navel-gazing is the order of the day, at poolside or on a beach lounger, interspersed with gentle activity, paddle boarding, snorkelling or kayaking (all free). For those needing to burn off helpings of macaroni pie, or the seductive patisserie of an English tea, there’s tennis and a fitness centre, while retail therapy is barely half a mile away in Holetown. Spa treatments can be arranged and the bar never seems to close –  a constant go-to for coffee, fruit smoothies, a crisp glass of rosé on a warm afternoon or rum punch as the sun goes down.

BOOK: fairmont.com

Grenada: Silversands

This hotel on Grand Anse beach is a scene stealer from the get-go with its wow factor 100m pool – the longest in the Caribbean – stretching from the lobby down to its ‘infinity’ rim overlooking the ocean. Designed by Paris-based architecture practice AW2 (whose roll call of hotels includes Six Senses Con Dao in Vietnam and Phum Baitang in Cambodia), rooms are split between two white buildings, each clad with bulletwood slats (there are also nine beachfront and hillside villas, ideal for families). Inside, the look is light and airy, with pale oak panelling, Calacatta marble, white walnut floors and modern art on the walls from the owner’s private collection. Days are spent drifting between a sun lounger and the Espa spa (book in for the coconut scrub), and trying out the paddleboards and kayaks. There’s plenty to explore out and about on this forest-clad island too, from a tour of the Gouyave Nutmeg Processing Station (Grenada is one of the world’s largest nutmeg exporters) to snorkelling at the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park – a mermaid, a man riding a bicycle and a ring of children holding hands are among the figures on the seabed. In the evening head to Puro, the cigar and rum bar at Silversands, where you can sip rare, small batch spirits from the island’s distilleries as the sun sets over the bay.

BOOK: carrier.co.uk

Jamaica: Jamaica Inn

Classy, calm and unassumingly luxurious, Jamaica Inn is a Caribbean retreat that feels more like your home away from home than a five-star hotel. Everything here is a seamless marriage of splendour and comfort, from the manicured gardens to the mahogany wood library, adorned with black and white photos of past guests – Katharine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and Winston Churchill, no less. Tucked away in a private cove to the east of Ocho Rios, the hotel is relatively small in comparison with its sprawling, all-inclusive peers along the coast. There are no short straws when picking rooms: all 47 come with verandas looking out to sea. Jamaicans really know how to do R&R (rum and relaxation, that is) and you’ll find everything you need to unwind and unplug – a beach bar, water sports, croquet lawn and a treetop spa that’s been voted the best in the Caribbean. The food is fresh, punchy and delicious – both Jamaican and international dishes are unfailing. Whether it’s the deliberate absence of clocks, radios and newspapers, or the periwinkle-hued walls and vast swathes of pure white cotton, you’ll leave feeling feather light.

BOOK: jamaicainn.com

St. Barts: Cheval Blanc St Barth

This glorious Cheval Blanc property is back in business thanks to a top-to-toe overhaul by French designer Jacques Granges, who dressed the 42-room, white timber-slatted maison – built to resemble a cluster of traditional creole houses – in a breezy seaside palette of bleached wood, rattan furnishings and an assortment of global accessories like werregue baskets from Colombia, Australian aboriginal paintings and colourful Persian ikat fabrics. When not sunning yourself on the beach’s talcum white sands, notch up the indulgence with a Sun-Kissed Ritual – a treatment meant to enhance your tan – at the island’s only Guerlain spa, or wind down with a yoga session in the open air pavilion ensconced within the lush, paradisal gardens by Madison Cox – the man behind Marrakech’s Jardin Majorelle. At La Case de l’Isle, chef Yann Vinsot serves a Caribbean-influenced French and Italian Riviera menu, with dishes such as the tasty lobster ravioli.

BOOK: chevalblanc.com

St. Barts: Hotel Le Toiny

Set on a panoramic hillside at the quieter east end of the island, English-owned Hotel Le Toiny takes a sophisticated and elegant tack with its supremely restful, ‘coastal chic’ interiors by Lady Bee Osborn. Treats include Bamford amenities, an excellent Sonos sound system and ‘maxi-bar’ with microwave and sink. Eight suites have been recently added and all 22 come with a private heated plunge pool and terrace, where your à la carte breakfast is delivered. Top cuisine is to the fore in the airy Le Toiny restaurant, and a customised Land Rover transfers guests down a rough track to the barefoot-luxe Beach Club. The sea here can be rough, but there’s a pool, chi-chi boutique and superb tartare de thon with coconut rice. Le Toiny also has a sweet cottage spa, and you can go walking on the breezy, goat- dotted cliffs. While families are welcome, this perfectly-honed, five-star retreat is bliss on a plate for honeymooners and loved-up couples.

BOOK: elegantresorts.co.uk

St. Kitts: Park Hyatt St. Kitts Christophe Harbour

With its old sugar plantations, dormant volcano and hiking trails through lush rainforests, St Kitts welcomed the opening of its first super-high-end hotel at the end of 2017. Eschewing traditional colonial aesthetics, the Park Hyatt – nestled on Banana Bay with its sugary sand – is sleekly contemporary, with views across to sister island, Nevis. Think bright whites, Scandi furniture and panelled walls, zinged up with pops of colour here and there to create a fresh, clean vibe. Some suites have outdoor living rooms and private infinity pools. Families and couples are each well served with two pools (one adults-only), a kids’ club – perfect for when you want to head to the vast Miraval spa for a volcanic stone aromatherapy massage – and three restaurants, including another adults-only option, the Stone Barn. You mustn’t forgo the lobster – it’s hooked out from pens beneath the pier, taking the meaning of local to its closest literal sense. Delicious.

BOOK: hyatt.com

St Lucia: Jade Mountain

For a vibrant dose of winter warming, Jade Mountain has you covered. Set high in St Lucia’s hills, Jade Mountain is home to 24 open-air Infinity Pool Sanctuaries and five Sky Jacuzzi Suites, all with breathtaking panoramic views of the Caribbean Sea and the World Heritage Piton Mountains. Head there for the Winter Solstice (13 December) to experience the Festival of Lights and the Feast of Saint Luce with Chef Elijah’s six-course Christmas tasting menu, before sipping cocktails on the Celestial Terrace.

BOOK: From £835 per night based on two sharing a Sky Sanctuary. jademountain.com

St. Lucia: Sugar Beach

Wedged between the iconic Pitons, Sugar Beach is as lush as the rainforest it’s hacked out of – with all the beach shack vibes of authentic St Lucia, but with butlers, cocktails and private plunge pools to boot. The whitewashed villas are dotted along the hillside to allow maximum privacy and killer views. But you’ll mostly be on the beach below, where kids can snorkel, sail, kayak and scuba while you sip passion fruit daiquiris and raid the ‘beachtique’, the best curated little hotel boutique we’ve ever seen. Hot pink tuk-tuks ferry you around, from the lush Rainforest Spa to the Bayside Bar, for lobster ceviche, and the vast lagoon pool. Bring trainers if you plan to walk, as the hills are punishing. Yes, there’s a kids’ club to escape the pressing heat but honestly, unless you’re booked in for a two-hour massage, they’re best off roaming with new friends, lolling in hammocks and wearing themselves out in the water before you all regroup at sunset for cocktails and sandcastles.

BOOK: viceroyhotelsandresorts.com

St. Vincent and The Grenadines: Bequia Beach Hotel

Once upon a time the tiny island of Bequia (pronounced Beckway) was simply a destination for sailors in search of safe harbour. But nowhere these days escapes the tentacles of tourism and Bequia is fast becoming a popular Caribbean retreat. Go now, before it gets much busier, and when you do stay at the Bequia Beach Hotel. Standing at the water’s edge on Friendship Bay – surely one of the finest beaches in the West Indies – it’s the vision of a Swedish businessman with a relentless attention to detail and its spacious beachfront suites, garden cottages, classic rooms and smart villas are all furnished with great taste – colonial refinement meets Thirties chic. There are two pools and restaurants, a small gym, delightful spa and smart sister bar on the island’s other best beach. The whole place exudes the unhurried, friendly charm that is Bequia’s hallmark. Kick off your shoes and order a cocktail. After a few days you’ll have forgotten how to live in any other way.

BOOK: bequiabeachhotel.com

St. Vincent and The Grenadines: Mandarin Oriental, Canouan

Built on a sandy Atlantic shoreline, everyone wakes up to a sea view in this dreamy, luxury enclave. Modernist villas hide in the hillside and a thick forest cascades around the contemporary, colonial-style suites. In the rooms, light-blocking glass transforms into televisions, and slides aside to reveal living rooms of mahogany furniture upholstered in cream linen. Beyond the curved Italianate windows, gardens bordered with hydrangeas and palms lead down to powdery sand, where personal butlers lay out morning coffee and pastries. In the spa, therapists from Bali and Nepal use coconut and passion fruit in scrubs, read energy meridians and practise cranial massage. The five restaurants are an international culinary journey with Caribbean touches – lobster ravioli, seared snapper or duck and lychee curry – from a pan-Asian restaurant with a tandoor brick oven. Any guilt over packing five books subsides after seeing the kids’ club, a utopia of water slides, climbing frames and energetic nannies, who lead baking classes and dressing up games. While they play pirates, make for Shell Beach to float in the serene green and doze under a dried-palm parasol.

BOOK: mandarinoriental.com

The Sanctuary suite’s beach cabana

Turks & Caicos: COMO Parrot Cay

Situated on one of the Caribbean’s finest private islands, the COMO Parrot Cay is a shining wellness resort on what was once a deserted island. With copious sun and undisturbed beaches stretching long into the distance, the ocean-facing villas promise privacy and seclusion – dessert island bliss. Families especially can enjoy quality time here: there’s a catch and release fishing program, tours of the island’s banana plantation, and activities to educate the next generation of eco-travellers. 

BOOK: comohotels.com

(c) Kira Turnbull

Turks & Caicos: Pine Cay

Just a 20 minute boat ride from the Turks & Caicos mainland, Pine Cay is an intimate, 13-room hotel and small collection of private residences nestled on two miles of soft white sand beach, exclusively used by hotel guests and homeowners. A recent renovation has overhauled the ten Beachfront Rooms with meticulous attention to detail. There’s also a new spa, fully-equipped gym and two freestanding Beachfront Suites, all working to produce a tranquil haven you won’t want to leave. There’s plenty to do: snorkelling over the kaleidoscopic coral reef, where turtles are used and schools of young fish gather; borrow paddle boards or transparent kayaks; go swimming and on day trips to nearby islands; or, on dry land, try birdwatching, biking, tennis and shelling.

BOOK: pinecay.com

Featured image: St Lucia, photo by Omar Eagle-Clarke