We might not all picture exactly the same thing when we think of a boutique hotel, but we get what it means: small, generally quiet, perhaps a cool design aesthetic, with personal service (here’s where size matters). We sense the difference too between the ersatz and the real thing — even if we can’t quite put our finger on what it is. Maybe, ultimately, the difference is charm.
When it comes to providing travellers with charming small hotels, the Caribbean is the GOAT — as I discovered years ago when I got a job writing holiday brochures (remember those?). To help create a collection of Caribbean boutique hotels, I went on an intense trip, hopping from island to island, from sleepy Anguilla to lively Barbados, checking out every potential hotel.
As I rushed around getting a feel for each place, I would enviously watch guests soaking it all up at their leisure: lounging in cabanas on soft white sand, pausing to observe a nectar-nicking hummingbird on an idle walk through tropical gardens, messing around in a kayak on a warm, sparkling turquoise sea. When we turned up at sunset cocktail hour, trying to cram in our last hotels of the day, it was particularly painful, not being able to sit down to sip a sundowner with everyone else (I know, violins please).
That’s why I made it my mission to return to the Caribbean, again and again, with serious business in mind: the business of enjoying myself. And it’s not just about beach lounging. You might find yourself idling in a banter-filled rum shop (the Caribbean equivalent of a pub); you could be whale watching in wild Dominica; you might be diving or snorkelling over coral gardens in the Bahamas; hiking through unspoilt rainforest in lush Tobago; learning about chocolate making in Grenada (and about rum almost anywhere).
Some of the hotels I’ve chosen here are time-honoured classics, some are spanking new — but all have that indefinable Caribbean magic that makes you involuntarily, on arrival, breathe out a big sigh and think “Yes! This is the place … Now lead me to those sundowners.”
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1. Frangipani Beach Resort, Anguilla
Year after year, nothing much changes at Frangipani Beach Resort — and that’s exactly why people keep coming back. Its simple elegance reflects the laid-back island itself — and it sits on one of the best of Anguilla’s 33 beaches, the mile-long west coast stretch of Meads Bay, backed by the wetland of Meads Bay Pond. New for 2026 are eight new oceanfront rooms and suites, bringing the total to 32. The restaurant, Straw Hat, is a locals’ favourite, and there are more places offering great seafood along the beach. A day out on the hotel’s catamaran, taking in swimming coves, snorkelling spots and potent rum punch, is de rigueur.
Details Room-only doubles from £297 (frangipaniresort.com) Fly to Anguilla via St Maarten
2. Boardwalk Boutique Hotel, Aruba
Boardwalk Boutique Hotel sits on a former coconut plantation
The Boardwalk was already one of the best places to chill on Dutch-administered Aruba, but its move in 2025 to adults-only has made it even more of a peaceful proposition. It was started by twin sisters from the island on a former coconut plantation, and it’s all winding walkways, leafy gardens and hammocks. Rather than a mere room you get a “casita”, some with a kitchen/plunge pool, done out like the rest of the resort in a colourful, tropical style. It’s a short walk to the celebrated Palm Beach, but once there you have your own Boardwalk stretch of loungers, shaded by palm-frond umbrellas. Here on the northwest coast there are oodles of restaurants in walking distance — and don’t miss the cute Butterfly Farm.
Details Room-only doubles from £375 (boardwalkaruba.com). Fly to Aruba
3. Coral Sands, Harbour Island, Bahamas
The pool at Coral Sands hotel overlooks the sea
A year-long renovation in 2024 has left this cherished institution on tiny Harbour Island, off the northern tip of Eleuthera, with a playful vintage-meets-contemporary look, involving lots of pink to reflect those soft sands. The 41 rooms and cottages all face the sea, and new additions include pickleball courts. They make a crisply juicy conch fritter at the beach bar and satisfying spiny lobster capellini in the Italian bistro. Hire a bicycle or golf cart to explore the tiny island (it really is that small), and take a boat trip to a sandbar for starfish and turtle spotting.
Details Room-only doubles from £976 (coralsands.com). Fly to North Eleuthera via Nassau
4. Treasure Beach Art Hotel, Barbados
Treasure Beach Art Hotel was revamped last year
All-inclusive doesn’t have to mean big, brash and loud — here on the west coast of Barbados it can mean small, quiet and adults-only. This much-loved stalwart had a total revamp in 2025 after it was taken under the wing of the Marriott Autograph Collection — but it’s retained its bijou charms and is looking bright and breezy. The “art” bit refers to the rotating exhibits from local Bajan artists, and the hotel can arrange an art crawl of the island to discover more. On the dining side of things, classics such as grilled kingfish with island spices and Caribbean curries get rave reviews.
Details Seven nights’ all-inclusive from £1,899pp, including flights
• Discover our full guide to Barbados
5. Guana Island, British Virgin Islands
Guana Island is perfect for living out your castaway island fantasies
If a castaway isle is your Caribbean fantasy, this could be the place to live it: an 850-acre private island, just north of the BVI’s main island, Tortola, with 18 rooms and villas dotted about. The very private guests, who have included famous authors, politicians and the like, have seven beaches to spread themselves out on, although 90 per cent of the island is kept wild — conservation efforts have helped restore animal populations such as Caribbean flamingos. You’ll spot iguanas and quail doves on hiking trails through the lush interior. Back at the restaurant, the chefs make creative use of fruit and veg from the organic orchard and gardens.
Details All-inclusive cottages from £912 (guana.com). Fly to Tortola via Antigua
6. Carlisle Bay, Antigua
Carlisle Bay’s interiors were designed by Miminat Shodeinde
FELIX SPELLER
There’s no Caribbean island more beachy than Antigua, and Carlisle Bay is a perfect curve of white sand on the southwest coast, overseen by this classic boutique hotel. It has just finished a beautiful renovation of its Bay, Garden and Ocean Suites with mutedly luxurious designer interiors by Miminat Shodeinde and artworks by the British artist Jo de Pear. A partnership with Ground Wellbeing products has further trendied things up in the spa. Take a walk south up Cactus Hill for 360-degree views, or taxi east to explore the naval history of English Harbour.
Details Seven nights’ B&B from £2,506pp, including flights
7. Eden Roc Cap Cana, Dominican Republic
One of the elegant rooms at Eden Roc Cap Cana
Do you like to get immersed in the local cooking culture, rather than scoffing whatever’s come in on the last container ship? A new three-day food experience at the Dominican Republic’s top resort includes island foraging, a lunch in Santo Domingo and a class making the revered local dish mofongo, a mash of plantain and pork crackling (£1,820 for two). The east coast beachfront property has some world-class restaurants of its own too such as La Palapa, which does a wonderful tuna tartare. Rooms are tastefully secluded and service is always unruffled.
Details Seven nights’ room only from £3,531pp, including flights (thomascook.com)
8. East Winds, St Lucia
Activities at East Winds range from non-motorised water sports to cocktail classes
ALISON GOOTEE
A world away from elbow-barging buffets and cheap booze on tap, all-inclusive at this very civilised hotel on the island’s west coast means four-course dinners, well-considered wines and even champagne, while afternoon tea is another treasured daily ritual. Activities from non-motorised water sports to cocktail classes are also part of the deal (best done in that order). Garden lovers can enjoy a guided walk, identifying the tropical flora as they wind around the grounds. A 2025 refurb furnished the charming cottages with bespoke items handmade by local craftspeople. The open-air spa and yoga pavilion enhance the whole back-to-nature vibe.
Details Seven nights’ all-inclusive from £2,249pp, including flights (travelbag.co.uk)
9. Six Senses La Sagesse, Grenada
Grenada is home to the Caribbean’s first Six Senses resort
JOHN ATHIMARITIS
It could have been a tricky sell: a Caribbean hotel up on a bluff, with a small beach below that’s not going to make it onto your Insta feed. But the hotel, here on Grenada’s southeast coast, happens to be the Caribbean’s first Six Senses resort, opened in 2024, and it’s a beauty — with a village feel, wholesome but delicious dining and spacious, neutrally toned suites and villas, which all have their own pool. It would be perverse not to book a spa treatment: the “Caribbean cleansing ritual” includes a virgin coconut oil massage. There’s a shuttle to Grande Anse, a contender for the Caribbean’s best beach.
Details Seven nights’ B&B from £2,212pp, including flights and private transfers
10. Sandals Royal Plantation, Jamaica
A white sand beach lines Sandals Royal Plantation
After the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa in October, Jamaica needs your tourist dollars. This resort, which is smaller and more intimate than a typical Sandals hotel, miraculously managed to get itself open again on December 6. Every one of the 74 rooms is an immaculate suite with an ocean view and butler service, and it’s the sort of place where the manager (Omar) knows every guest’s name. Inside there’s a grand-old-house vibe and outside it’s all leafy gardens, extensive pool decking and, naturally, a glorious stretch of white-sand beach. Take a taxi to lively Ocho Rios, known locally as “Ochi”, to pick up mementos in the craft market.
Details Seven nights’ all-inclusive from £2,145pp, including flights and transfers (sandals.co.uk)
• 20 of the best hotels in Jamaica
11. Castara Retreats, Tobago
Castara Retreats has 17 treehouse-style wooden lodges
ALEX TREADWAY
In 2026 the protected Main Ridge Forest reserve, which adjoins this delightful treetop resort on the lush island’s northeast coast, marks its 250th anniversary. To celebrate, the hotel is launching a series of guided hiking tours to secluded beaches, pristine rainforest and hidden waterfalls — so be sure to pack your boots. You’ll also find great snorkelling at the bay beach, a four-minute walk away. Make time for relaxing on the wraparound deck of your treehouse-style wooden lodge (there are just 17), looking down over that turquoise Caribbean Sea. Grilled fish and spiced prawns, and the signature plantain and chocolate brownie, are highlights in the Caribbean Kitchen restaurant.
Details Room-only doubles from £160 (castararetreats.com). Fly to Tobago
12. Le Barthélemy, St Barts
Le Barthélemy’s pool is beside the beach
LAURENT BENOIT
On what is probably the world’s most attractive cul-de-sac (Grand Cul-de-Sac is the white-sand crescent on the northeastern point of the island), Le Barthélemy supplies the kind of laid-back luxury for which the French island of St Barts is known. As well as the simple pleasures of beach and pool lazing, and gawping at the ever-changing view, guests come for the food. The new chef, Guillaume Gillan, who has worked for Alain Ducasse, fronts zero-waste cookery classes. Add in the Caribbean’s only La Mer spa for a “radiant facial” and this place is the piéce de resistance.
Details Room-only doubles from £784 (lebarthelemyhotel.com). Fly to St Barts
13. The Rock Villa, Bequia, St Vincent and the Grenadines
The Rock Villa opened in November
Serene, soporific Bequia is one of the smallest inhabited islands in the Caribbean and the Rock Villa, which opened in November on the south coast, is its smallest boutique hotel. It is adults-only and has just eight suites. It’s a few steps to the sheltered sandy cove of Friendship Beach, where more than ten people are considered a crowd, and big sister the Bequia Beach Hotel is a ten-minute lollop along the sands. The Rock Lounge serves breakfast on the terrace, snacks and beverages all day, and drinks and canapés at cocktail hour. From the sizeable infinity pool you can survey the islands of the southern Grenadines — and perhaps visit a couple on the big sister hotel’s new catamaran, which will also tempt you with sunset cruises, rum obligatory.
Details B&B doubles from £660 (bequiabeachhotel.com). Fly to Bequia via Barbados
14. Montpelier Nevis, St Kitts and Nevis
Montpelier Nevis is set within 60 acres of tropical vegetation
Regular visitors to the peaceful little island of Nevis hail it as old-school Caribbean, where you come to recover from the hectic pace of 21st-century living. As it turns 60, Montpelier Nevis has had a top-to-bottom refresh, all classic Caribbean pinks and greens, and its 18 rooms, within 60 acres of tropical vegetation, are looking good as new. The restaurants are known for their creative, Caribbean-inspired dishes. The hotel sits on the southern slopes of Nevis Peak, with a 15-minute shuttle to a secluded golden-sand cove with cabanas and beach service. If you crave a little more action, the relative bustle of St Kitts is only a ten-minute water taxi away.
Details B&B doubles from £229, including afternoon tea (montpeliernevis.com). Fly to St Kitts
15. Le Martin Boutique Hotel, Saint Martin
Le Martin Boutique Hotel has just six rooms
CHRISTIAN SANTIAGO
The charming owner, Marion, describes her bijou hotel as “like a big family home” — and what a home. Saint Martin is the French half of the twin French/Dutch island also known as Sint Maarten, and the hotel is set back from an east coast bay with views of pretty Pinel Island — use the hotel kayaks to paddle over for a walk, swim and lunch. There are just six rooms and a palm-fringed pool. It’s a great base to explore the island’s quiet coves and celebrated restaurants — Marion will recommend the best. There’s no restaurant but you can enjoy a generous breakfast around the communal table or on the pool deck, and there’s an honesty bar. The regular dining events feel like really good dinner parties.
Details B&B doubles from £251 (mrandmrssmith.com). Fly to Saint Martin
16. The Cotton House, Mustique, St Vincent and the Grenadines
The Cotton House is Mustique’s only hotel
Once owned by Lord Glenconner and a haunt of Princess Margaret, the private island of Mustique is less exclusive these days (title not required — just ample dosh) but its beauty and allure are undiminished. The island’s only hotel, the Cotton House on the northwest coast, was conceived by the theatre designer and Glenconner chum Oliver Messel, who set the template for hotel aesthetics in the Caribbean. Admire his clubhouse, built in 1968, which houses the Veranda restaurant, after a martini in the beautiful Great Room Bar. The beach is sublime and a new spa opened in 2025 in a Messel-inspired villa. Arrange a boat trip to snorkel over the coral gardens.
Details B&B doubles from £550 (mustique-island.com). Fly to Mustique via Barbados
17. Hadco Experiences at Asa Wright Nature Centre, Trinidad
Hadco Experiences at Asa Wright Nature Centre is the perfect base for birdwatching
Even if you’re not a birder, you’ll be enchanted by the variety you glimpse in the Arima Valley, so pack binoculars. Renovated and reopened two years ago, this low-impact resort is in the Northern Range, the line of rainforest-clad hills that runs across the top of Trinidad. It has 29 rooms round the historical main house of a former cocoa, coffee and citrus plantation. There’s a natural pool to splash about in after a guided hike (don’t miss the night walks, when you may spot tarantulas and snakes). Sitting on the veranda with a cocoa tea listening to birdsong is one of the great pleasures, and mealtimes allow you to get stuck into classic Trini cooking.
Details All-inclusive doubles from £528 (hadcoexperiences.com). Fly to Port of Spain
• 11 of the best quiet Caribbean islands
18. Cap Maison, St Lucia
Some of Cap Maison’s suites have rooftop private pools
MIKE TOY
On the northern tip of the island is this select address on a rocky bluff with a sandy cove below. Down there is one of the hotel’s two highly regarded restaurants, the Naked Fisherman. The other is Cliff at Cap, up top with views out to Pigeon Island and St Lucia’s favoured spot for a romantic meal. A designer refurb in 2024 brought changes such as a dramatic emerald green and cobalt look for the bar, but the hotel’s overall style still prizes elegance, comfort and service over trendiness — and that’s what brings the same guests back year after year. The suites are spacious and some have a rooftop terrace with a private pool. Nearby Pigeon Island (actually a headland) with its fort ruins, beaches and panoramic views, is the essential excursion.
Details Seven nights’ half-board from £2,499pp, including flights and transfers (turquoiseholidays.co.uk)
19. Salterra, South Caicos, Turks & Caicos
Salterra has 100 rooms but a boutique style
SALTERRA, A LUXURY COLLECTION RESORT & SPA
With 100 rooms, this new hotel on the south coast of peaceful South Caicos is on the very edge of boutique in size, but it’s very much boutique in style. Every room sensibly faces the ocean, and they have handmade furniture and prints celebrating the island’s flamingo population. As well as a well-equipped spa (the salt scrub is recommended), there’s a kids’ club offering guided paddleboarding and trips to the local marine biology centre, which helps to restore the local reefs with coral plantings. The hotel’s size means it can offer six dining options on rotation — look forward to local grilled lobster and a zingy key lime pie. Sip local Bambarra rum in the beachfront Cobo Bar & Grill.
Details Room-only doubles from £695 (salterra.com). Fly to Providenciales
20. The Farm, Eleuthera, the Bahamas
The Farm has a feel of rustic luxury
The farm-to-table dining trend is a growing (ahem) thing in the Caribbean, and this working hobby farm in the north of the long, thin island of Eleuthera has mango trees, beds growing vegetables and chickens you can help feed. The continental breakfast majors on fruit from the orchard and optional Sunday brunch usually involves fish ’n’ grits, a Bahamian fishermen’s staple. There are just ten beautiful wood-lined cottages, giving off a rustic luxury vibe, and other than laze around the pool or snorkel in the protected cove, where you might be joined by turtles, there’s not much to exert you. They won’t complain if you try a bit of weeding, though.
Details B&B doubles from £298 (littleislandhotels.com). Fly to Eleuthera via Nassau
21. The Manoah Boutique Hotel, Anguilla
Pretension-free style is the hallmark of the Manoah on Anguilla’s northeast coast, but now it has something else: a top-class restaurant. L’Étoile is overseen by the much-decorated French chef Didier Aniès, whose scallop risotto is a thing of wonder. Stroll along endlessly photogenic Shoal Bay beach at lunchtime for a mahi mahi sandwich at Gwen’s Reggae Bar & Grill. Return to laze in one of the hotel’s smart new cabanas on the beach with a creation from its new ice cream shop. If that sounds too soporific, horse riding is a popular beach pastime here.
Details Room-only doubles from £320 (the-manoah.com). Fly to Anguilla
• 20 best things to do in Anguilla
22. Bitter End Yacht Club, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands
A waterfront room at Bitter End Yacht Club
Hurricane Irma in 2017 completely destroyed this one-time sailors’ hideaway in a protected natural harbour on the eastern sticky-outy bit of Virgin Gorda. Built in the 1960s, Bitter End Yacht Club has been meticulously reconstructed, and in 2025 added eight waterfront rooms, some of them nautically styled in a nod to the yachtie heritage. Fish tacos and wood-fired pizzas are the thing in the Buoy Room restaurant, while the bar was crafted from a hull salvaged post-Irma. There are lots of watery activities (try wind and kite-surfing lessons) and, fittingly, you arrive by boat.
Details Room-only doubles from £490 (beyc.com). Fly to Tortola via Antigua
23. Round Hill Hotel & Villas, Jamaica
Round Hill Hotel & Villas acted as a support hub after Hurricane Melissa
Dramatically set on a lush private peninsula on Jamaica’s northwest coast, Round Hill has style (it hosted Noël Coward and JFK in its early days as a jet-set retreat) — but also substance. After Hurricane Melissa it served as a support hub for staff, their families and local responders. It’s now open again and raring to show you its 100 acres of peaceful gardens, the spa in an 18th-century plantation house and Ralph Lauren-designed rooms with beautifully simple tropical interiors. The Michelin Guide-rated dining options are dedicated to responsible sourcing, with 80 per cent of ingredients coming from within a 35-mile radius. In Montego Bay, walk the boulevard named after the late Jimmy Cliff (also known as the Hip Strip) and check out its lively beach bars.
Details Doubles from £525 (roundhill.com). Fly to Montego Bay
24. Sunset Reef St Kitts, St Kitts and Nevis
The infinity pool at Sunset Reef St Kitts
St Kitts is the livelier big sister (though still not huge) to Nevis, with beach bars along its southern peninsula and the colourful capital of Basseterre with its colonial architecture to admire. You can enjoy the island’s best sunsets at the west-coast Sunset Reef (the clue’s in the name) — and the sundowners, such as a classic daiquiri, aren’t half bad either. There’s a private black-sand beach with refurbed bar, an infinity pool, and Drop Anchor Grill, one of the island’s best restaurants, which serves dishes like smoked wahoo carpaccio and cocoa coffee pork fillet. By day, look out for monkeys in the mango tree and visiting dolphins. Flop at night in one of seven geothermally powered suites.
Details Room-only doubles from £596 (sunsetreefstkitts.com). Fly to St Kitts
25. Coulibri Ridge, Dominica
Do blingy, resource-guzzling resorts turn you off? Try a different kind of luxury experience at this off-grid collection of 14 solar-powered studios and suites overlooking Dominica’s south coast. The volcanic “nature isle” doesn’t have white-sand beaches — but there’s brilliant scenery for hiking, and excellent snorkelling and diving. The hotel’s farm and orchard supply much of the fare on the daily-changing menus, and there are two infinity pools. From nearby Scotts Head you can take a whale-watching trip — Dominica is the Caribbean’s capital of cetacean-spotting.
Details Five nights’ B&B from £3,990pp, including flights and car hire (sunvil.co.uk)
Have we missed any? Share your favourite Caribbean boutique hotels in the comments
