Tidal suites: Luxury beachfront lodgings
Palm Island, The Grenadines
This 135-acre Grenadine isle was made famous by its original owner, charter-yacht skipper "Coconut" Johnny Caldwell, who rowed his passengers ashore for picnics, planted a few coconuts on each call and eventually built a castaway resort among his grove of palms. Now part of the Elite Island group of all-inclusive resorts, Palm Island still revolves around the splendid, soaring Polynesian pavilion (with dramatically improved cuisine), but the stone-and-timber bungalows now have air conditioning (still no TVs or telephones). Palm is all about beach and sea, with most of the 37 rooms rimming a dazzling boomerang-shaped strand.
Book: Beachfront Cottages 7 to 19
Rates: From $795 in low season ($960 high), all-inclusive
Contact: 800-858-4618; eliteislandresorts.com
Spice Island Beach Resort, Grenada
"Spice" has been an insider's favorite for years, but a recent $12-million rejuvenation has vaulted the resort into the front ranks of Caribbean playgrounds. So it's no surprise when you stroll past the dazzling free-form pool and flower-draped pergolas and step into suites with Hansgrohe bathroom fixtures, double-whirlpool tubs and flat-screen TVs. What is startling is that you can step from this elegance onto a shaded veranda with double daybeds and then down a few steps into a garden patio with hammocks and loungers — and find yourself right in the dunes. You can see people walking along famed Grand Anse Beach, but they can't see you.
Book: Seagrape Beach Suites
Rates: From $815 in low season ($1,075 high)
Contact: 473-444-4258; spiceislandbeachresort.com
Secret Harbour Beach Resort, St. Thomas
It's not exactly a secret anymore, given the number of villas and condos that fill the surrounding hillsides, but it's still a curvaceous beauty: a half-moon of white sand studded with palm trees; calm, clear waters protected by headlands; and a couple of islands just offshore to complete the postcard setting. Secret Harbour is essentially a condo resort that offers hotel services, with most of the three-story wings of suites terraced on the hillside. All 60 of them are fitted out with kitchens and individual tropical décor, and the choicest suites are beside the sand, naturally. When you can drag yourself away from the shade of your xeric palm, a short walk brings you to the dive shop and the Blue Moon Café, where you can enjoy a Cuba Libre.
Book: Studios 111, 116, 211, 216.
Rates: From $250 in low season ($375 high).
Contact: 800-524-2250; secretharbourvi.com
Caneel Bay, St. John
This is one of the legendary resorts created by the late Laurance Rockefeller, which means lots of garden and parkland — roughly one acre per room. (How's that for space?) It's now run by Rosewood Hotels, which means a few choice concessions to the 21st century, like air conditioning and splashier, lighter interiors (but still no TVs or phones in the rooms). Of the 166 rooms and suites, most are beachfront, and they all have elegant furnishings and amenities like coffee makers and minibars. The sports facilities are outstanding, especially for tennis nuts.
Book: Premium beachfront suites on Scott Beach
Rates: From $650 in low season ($750 high)
Contact: 888-767-3966; caneelbay.com
Hotel Les îlets de la Plage, St. Barts
It's on the far side of the island's most photographed beach, so Les îlets doesn't rate the same buzz as its neighbors. But being overlooked is just fine for the folks who come back here year after year for peace and quiet. This complex of red-roofed native houses plops four of its 11 suites on St. Jean Beach. Each is decorated white-on-white, accented with blue-and-white-striped fabrics, and each follows a typical French layout: pantry and lounging area downstairs, sleeping loft and bathroom up top, a wooden deck at the rear leading to a patch of lawn before you hit the sand. The housekeepers will stock the refrigerator before you arrive, and they place freshly baked baguettes on your doorstep every morning. Stroll down the beach to dine at the chi-chi hangouts.
Book: Rooms 17 to 20
Rates: From $285 in low season ($530 high)
Contact: 011-590-590-27-88-58; lesilets.com
Parrot Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands
Nestled in the dunes, the resort's pine-and-shingles Beach Villas are a little bit Cape Cod, a little bit Bali. The wonderfully spacious two-bedroom units have two master bedrooms flanking a high, airy living room; the beach houses are smaller versions for couples, with splash pools rather than swimming pools. In each case, rooms open to a broad wooden deck and a pathway of sand leading into the dunes, with the white tops of beach umbrellas peeking over them.
Book: Beach house or beach villa
Rates: Beach house from $1,800 in low season ($2,600 high); beach villa $2,300 in low season ($3,200 high)
Contact: 877-754-0726; parrotcay.com
Ana y Jose Charming Hotel & Spa, Tulum, Mexico
The namesake parents have retired, and their children now run this friendly 18-year-old getaway, but you can still dine on Doña Ana's Mexican and Mayan family recipes. After a standout breakfast, it's just a short stroll through leafy gardens to a spa where you can sample a coconut-and-sea-sand exfoliation or a chaya-and-flowers hydrating bath. Ana y Jose's cluster of 22 air-conditioned rooms with chic Mexican decor flanks a beach-side playground with free-form pool, hammocks and boutique-style four-poster daybeds. As the name says, it's all very encantado.
Book: Amanecer, Brisa del Mar, Agua de Mar, Capricho
Rates: From $292 low season ($331 high)
Contact: 011-52-998-880-5629; anayjose.com
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Turtle Inn Placencia, Belize
Venturing forth from your cabana with its bleached palapa roof, you can visit wildlife sanctuaries with jaguars, howler monkeys and butterflies so big they must be on steroids. But for most guests, "exploring" means a lazy shuffle along the beach to the fishing village. Rooms and suites (seven of which are 10 steps from the water) are artfully designed with outdoor garden showers and décor that's more Bali than Belize. Since Turtle Inn is the fiefdom of Francis Ford Coppola, dining plays up Italian fare, and when you sip a merlot in the sand-floored bar, chances are it's from one of Coppola's prize-winning vineyards.
Book: For couples, Cottages C5, C9, C10, C18; for groups of four, Villas V1, V5, V7.
Rates: Cottages from $385 in low season ($425 high); villas from $550 in low season ($650 high)
Contact: 800-746-3743; turtleinn.com
Galley Bay, Antigua
This low-key, 69-room all-inclusive is probably best known for its strikingly original and romantic Gauguin Cottages, which face a bird sanctuary. The remaining rooms stretch along the beach in wings separated by the resort's trademark bar, a sort of palapa teepee. A swimming pool with grotto and waterfall becomes the center of activity on days when heavy breakers rule out bay swimming. The décor runs to rattan and bamboo, ceramic tile floors and local artworks, but for many guests the most appealing feature here is the dining (well above all-inclusive norms) — especially the beach-side Gauguin Restaurant with its interlocking gazebos and Polynesian air.
Book: Rooms 4, 10, 12, 14 and 41 to 47
Rates: From $850 low season ($1,140 high), all-inclusive
Contact: 800-858-4618; eliteislandresorts.com
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