Tidal suites: Luxury beachfront lodgings
Covecastles Villa Resort, Anguilla
Staying here is like going from beach bum to master chef in 20 strides. Step from the curvaceous half-mile of beach lapped by calm, crystal-clear water across the terra-cotta patio to a dream kitchen equipped with high-end GE appliances, a Krupps coffee maker and cupboards stacked with Buccellati china and no fewer than 72 glasses. Covecastles is a parade of 15 glaringly white two-story villas with roll-top rooflines and skylighted interiors. You sit on plump, raw-silk love seats, sleep between Frette sheets and lounge in a hammock while sipping exotic drinks from your Braun juicer. Despite the fancy kitchen in every suite, you can order room service from the resort's own beach-side restaurant.
Book: For couples, Beach Houses 1 through 8 (other villas are more suitable for groups or families)
Rates: From $595 in low season ($895 high)
Contact: 800-223-1108; covecastles.com
Mango Bay Resort, Virgin Gorda
This is a classic British Virgin setting: secluded bay (Mahoe, actually), calm water, ribbon of white sand. Plop a few one-story cottages among the palms and sea grapes, and you have a resort that's a quiet escape for self-reliant types. Of the 18 bungalows, five are directly on the sand, all individually owned and rented in various configurations for couples, foursomes and families. Each comes with an indoor or outdoor kitchen, and Giorgio's Table is just down the beach.
Book: Beachfront suite or beachfront villa
Rates: From $270 in low season ($380 high)
Contact: 284-495-5672; mangobayresort.com
Tortuga Bay, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Stay in a resort room designed by the island's most fashionable favorite son, Oscar de la Renta. Everything is tasteful and impeccable, with ceramic tile floors so you don't feel too guilty about tracking in grains of sand. The 3-mile beach is fronted by 16 two-story villas
(the lower-floor units all have two bedrooms, so bring along your buddies) and, it must be said, you do have to walk over a few feet of grass to get to the sand. You can fly into the resort's own airport, 10 minutes away, where VIP staff escort you through formalities and drive you directly to your suite.
Book: Suites 6161, 6171
Rates: From $1,070 for a two-bedroom suite in low season ($1,430 high)
Contact: 888-442-2262; puntacana.com
Mary's Boon Beach Plantation, St. Maarten
The beach in question is the inviting ribbon of sand you see on the right of your jet as it touches down at Princess Juliana Airport, and Mary's Boon is the one-acre garden with seven white roofs right beside the beach. The 36-room inn's fame reaches back to the early '70s, when the legendary Mary Pomeroy turned it into a sort of tropical salon for expats and gregarious travelers who gathered each evening around the honor bar. The honor bar is still there, but almost everything else has changed: new owners, new garden pool with swim-up bar, and new décor (Queen Anne pencil-post beds, televisions). Today's habitués don't seem to mind the occasional roar of jets — but don't say you weren't warned.
Book: Deluxe beachfront or beachfront one-bedroom
Rates: From $165 in low season ($270 high)
Contact: 866-978-5424; marysboon.com
Related Links from Caribbean Travel & Life |
Brac Reef Beach Resort, Cayman Brac
The tiny island known as The Brac is a longtime favorite of scuba divers, but this family-run inn welcomes families by laying on lots of kids' programs, movies, barbecues and massages on the broad beach, which is protected by a reef. The 40 rooms in two-story peach-colored buildings "no higher than the treetops" are set among landscaped beachfront gardens and decorated in soothing island colors. You'll have air conditioning, ceiling fans, a kitchenette, television, phones and free Internet access.
Book: Ground floor with patio
Rates: From $154 year-round
Contact: 800-594-0843; bracreef.com
Le Petit Hotel, St. Martin
The beach here is not the greatest, but the waterfront restaurant scene sure is. Aptly named, the Little Hotel is poised on the edge of the village of Grand Case with its boulevard of bistros: When you step from one of only two ground-floor rooms to the sand and walk the length of the beach, you pass perhaps the choicest collection of dining spots in the Caribbean. Rooms in the three-story Mediterranean villa are equipped with designer duvets, flat-screen TV, contemporary chairs and balance lamps beside the beds — more Paris-chic than Caribbean-cool. For breakfast, you have your own kitchen with refrigerator, range and microwave. For lunch, hit the lolos (beachfront stands; see page 36). And for dinner, choose from two dozen gastronomic restaurants nearby — the real reason for staying here.
Book: The ground-floor bedroom suite or ground-floor deluxe studio
Rates: From $305 in low season ($400 high)
Contact: 011-590-590-29-09-65; lepetithotel.com
Caribbean Travel & Life is the magazine for anyone in search of the perfect tropical getaway. Each issue presents expert insider’s advice on where to find the Caribbean’s best beaches and attractions, its finest resorts and spas, liveliest beach bars and activities, and its friendliest people.
- Discuss StoryOn Newsvine
- Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM TRAVEL |
 Travel Section Front |
| Add Travel headlines to your news reader: |