These grand dame resorts consistently offer must-see, must-do and must-taste experiences in the most beautiful island settings.
By: Jill FergusHamilton Princess & Beach Club, Bermuda
A visit to Bermuda, with its British history and traditions, is like stepping back to a more genteel era. The most iconic place to stay is within the pink walls of the 130-year-old Hamilton Princess, Bermuda’s oldest hotel. The expansive 410-room hotel has recently undergone a massive $90 million renovation that included a new marina, infinity pool and a restaurant by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson. Explore the island via moped and sip afternoon tea in one of the cafés in Hamilton, the capital city. As soon as the sun starts to set, it’s time for a Darker & Stormier and a dozen fresh oysters with black rum mignonette at Marcus’. Room rates start at $469 a night.
Photo courtesy of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
Cap Juluca, Anguilla
Anguilla is one of the Caribbean’s most peaceful islands, and the 70-room Cap Juluca with its white-domed villas evokes a Moorish fantasy along a crescent beach. By day, take a dip in Maundays Bay or book a tropical spice body polish in a seaside cabana. In the evening, have the bartender fashion you a Julucan Sunset as you take in stellar Caribbean views framed perfectly by the white arches of Pimms restaurant. Room rates start at $595 a night.
Photos courtesy of Cap Juluca
Sandy Lane, Barbados
You will feel like a real royal — and you may in fact be sunning yourself beside one — at Sandy Lane, an ultra-posh 112-room resort in St. James on Barbados’s Gold Coast. The pampering begins right at the airport when you’re picked up in a Rolls-Royce, and segues to the pink-sand beach with butlers at the ready with an ice-cold towel or afternoon sorbet. The cosseting continues with champagne-and-candlelight dinners right on the sand, but the romance is all yours to make. Room rates start at $1,150 a night.
Eden Rock, St. Barth’s
St. Barth’s has long been a playground for the jetsetters who fock to this quiet, exclusive island. Eden Rock, the first hotel to open on the island in the 1950s, is still its most beloved. Originally built into a rocky cliff overlooking St. Jean Bay, the resort now has 34 colorful beachfront rooms and villas. After a day snorkeling on the superb coral reefs or shopping in Gustavia’s designer boutiques, settle in at the hotel’s On the Rocks cliffside restaurant for amazing seafood and luminous views of the tropical dusk settling over the bay. Room rates start at $967 a night.
Photo Credit: Howard Hughes
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