From brand new properties to rebuilt amenities and top chefs setting up shop, the region buzzes with new offerings.
By: Jill Fergus-AS SEEN IN BRIDAL GUIDE MAGAZINE-
Photo courtesy of Eden Rock - St. Barths, Oetker Collection
The Caribbean will always be a popular honeymoon destination, and while Mother Nature hasn’t always been kind (hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 wreaked havoc on many islands), this sun-drenched tropical region always manages to bounce back. From sizzling new resorts and restaurants to hotels reopening after hurricane damage, here’s what’s hot in the Caribbean.
New Hotels & Resorts
The island of Grenada is abuzz over Silversands, the first major resort to be built on Grand Anse Beach in more than 20 years. The luxury property, which opened in November 2018, has 43 suites and 9 residential villas, each with a sleek, modern design and earth-tone colors. Amenities include a stunning 330-foot pool, said to be the longest in the Caribbean, the Asiatique fine dining restaurant, a casual poolside grill with Grenadian dishes on the menu and a rum and a cigar bar (room rates start at $800 a night).
Photo courtesy of Silversands Grenada
Serafina Beach Hotel, Puerto Rico
San Juan’s Serafina Beach Hotel, which opened in March, was the first new hotel to open on Puerto Rico in 2018 (the island welcomes tourism dollars after Hurricane Maria). This oceanfront hot spot, with a trendy beach-house vibe, has 96 stylish rooms, an infinity pool, and the see-and-be-seen aMare, offering Italian fare like mussels in a white wine sauce (room rates start at $299 a night). In other hotel news on the island, this October will see the reopening of two top resorts, Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve and The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort.
Photo courtesy of Serafina Beach Hotel
Hodges Bay Resort & Spa, Antigua
Fresh from a November 2018 debut, Hodges Bay is a dazzling new resort on Antigua. This beachfront beauty comes courtesy of Elegant Hotels, known for their many resorts on Barbados, including Colony Club and The House. Located on the island’s northern coast, the pretty property features 79 rooms and villas, as well as 2 pools, including a heated infinity pool with a swim-up bar. After a day splashing around, dine in one of four on-site restaurants and when the sun sets, sip a cocktail by the firepit (room rates start at $409 a night).
Photo courtesy of Hodges Bay Resort & Spa by Elegant Hotels Group
One of the most talked-about developments in the Caribbean is Baha Mar, a sprawling Vegas-style beachfront complex on Nassau. There are three hotels here: a Grand Hyatt, an SLS and the Rosewood, which just opened this past June. The smallest of the trio, the Rosewood is also the swankiest. Expect rooms with four-poster beds and balconies, personal butlers, poolside cabanas, and afternoon tea in the library. Bonus: It's a quick stroll to the Grand Hyatt’s casino — the largest in the Caribbean (room rates start at $595 a night).
Photo courtesy of Rosewood Resorts
For a luxe camping experience, book a stay at The Other Side, an eco-chic beachfront resort on the super laid-back island Eleuthera in the Bahamas’ Out Islands chain. The year-old solar-powered resort has six rooms — three beachfront tented rooms and three so-called “shacks,” tucked into the hillside. There are also communal tents where guests can have a drink, read a book and just unwind (rooms rates start at $550 a night).
Renovated & Upgraded Resorts
While St. Barth's, the glitzy island in the French West Indies, suffered major damage from Hurricane Irma, Eden Rock, one of its most iconic resorts, reopened its doors last month. Its villas and rooms have been renovated (next year three new suites will be added) as has the Sand Bar restaurant (room rates start at $1,043 a night). In addition, several other St. Barth’s hotels are also reopening this fall/winter, including Le Toiny and Le Guanahani.
Photo courtesy of Eden Rock - St. Barths, Oetker Collection
The beachfront Half Moon resort has been a Montego Bay mainstay for 65 years and has hosted A-listers from royals to rappers. After a $75 million renovation, freshly unveiled in November, the 400-acre resort with an 18-hole golf course is better than ever. There are 57 new rooms/suites, an expanded beachfront, a new adults-only pool and several new restaurants, including a vegan cafe at the Fern Tree Spa (room rates start at $459 a night).
Photo courtesy of Half Moon
If you’re looking for an exclusive getaway, consider the all-villa Paradise Beach Nevis on a dreamy stretch of sand in Nevis. Its newest lodgings, which launched in June, are the ve new Beach Houses, two-bedroom thatched-roof villas equipped with state-of-the-art kitchens and private plunge pools. Each villa comes with its own concierge, who can arrange chef service and sunrise yoga on the sand (beach house rentals start at $1,495 a night).
Restaurant News
Fish by José Andrés, a gorgeous seafood restaurant serving everything from conch fritters to fried lion fish, opened this past spring at The Cove, the hotel-within-a-hotel at Atlantis in the Bahamas. Over on Anguilla, Blanchard, the award-winning gourmet restaurant on Mead’s Bay, reopened in November 2018 after sustaining damage from Hurricane Irma.
Photo Credit: Liz Clayman
Photo Credit: Liz Clayman
Fun New Festivals
The Dominican Rum Festival, the first rum festival in the DR, took place this past July (6-7) in Puerto Plata. It featured live music, cocktail parties, seminars, and, of course, plenty of tastings. The next one is slated for early July 2019. And this past April, the island of Barbados hosted the inaugural five-day Vujaday Music Festival focusing on house music — the next one is scheduled for April 2019.
