A cool hotel. It’s not a luxury hotel, or a boutique hotel, or a large resort, necessarily. You simply know it’s cool the moment you step inside, because you feel it. It’s when that combination of design, comfort and intimacy creates a palpable energy. A cool hotel is a hotel with a soul, a place that engenders an emotional reaction in its guests. That doesn’t happen everywhere in the Caribbean, but it does at these: the Caribbean’s coolest hotels for 2015.
Boucan by Hotel Chocolat, St Lucia
It’s an luxury eco-boutique set on a cacao plantation, with a direct view of St Lucia’s Petit Piton from its infinity pool. Boucan by Hotel Chocolat is unlike any other hotel in the Caribbean. Whether you’re planting cacao, making your own chocolate or eating some of the best food anywhere in the region, this is the epitome of cool. It’s not just a hotel — it’s an experience.
Little Dix Bay, British Virgin Islands
The star of the show is what may just be the most beautiful hotel beach anywhere in the Caribbean. But that’s just the beginning at this bastion of pure Caribbean tranquility on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, one that transports you back to another era, one marked by the beauty of good old-fashioned quiet.
Round Hill, Jamaica
Maybe it’s the afternoon tea, or the Ralph Lauren-designed guest rooms, or the piano in the bar in the early evening. In every detail, at every corner, you’re reminded you’re at a classic. It has its own particular kind of magic. It’s what being cool really means: being timeless.
Las Esquinas, Anguilla
It’s cutting-edge contemporary design-meets traditional Caribbean bed-and-breakfast at this stunner in Anguilla, amalgam of styles from the Mediterranean to North Africa, in plain view of the green hills of St Martin.
Tcherassi Hotel, Colombia
Fashion luminary Silvia Tcherassi’s eponyous hotel in Cartagena is almost certainly the coolest hotel in this jewel of a city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. In the heart of historic streets, it’s a 40-room oasis of urban luxe.
Pagua Bay House, Dominica
This boutique jewel in Dominica is a collection of oceanfront cabanas with a chic, forward-looking vibe and a terrific restaurant. Everything about the place oozes out-of-the-box thinking.
Hotel Mocking Bird Hill, Jamaica
This Port Antonio classic is all about being green. The self-styled eco-chic property is a laid-back, comfortable boutique set in almost 7 acres of tropical gardens. It’s s place where the environment is the entertainment.
Ladera, St Lucia
What is it about the Pitons? St Lucia’s famous geological formations have a magnetic pull, a Siren-like call. You simply must look at them. And you must keep looking at them. And there’s nowhere better than at the eco-lux resort that invented the three-walled genre, Ladera, home to magnificently designed lodge-style rooms, all of which have their own private pools.
Plein Soleil, Martinique
This place is a kind of secret, just like Martinique is for many travelers. But this hotel set in the hills above a lagoon is an exquisitely-designed, warmly-run boutique, with most rooms boasting their own pools. And the restaurant is among the island’s best, too.
The House, Barbados
There’s something that happens when you ride over The House’s elevated wooden bridge, the way lit by burning torches. And the feeling continues as you spend your time at this luxury boutique in Barbados, a hip, edgy alternative to the traditional large Bajan resort.
Turtle Inn, Belize
Francis Ford Coppola has devoted his life to making masterpieces, whether in film or even in the world of wine. But the filmmaker is also a hotelier, and Turtle Inn is his beachfront resort in Belize, a classic, unpretentious property in Placencia that’s also home to some serious seafood.
El Blok, Puerto Rico
The newest hotel on this list is the most provocative, boldest design we’ve see in the Caribbean in some time. And, blessed with an outpost of noted San Juan Chef Jose Enrique, it’s the biggest thing to happen to Vieques in a while, too.
Viceroy Anguilla
Sleek, crisp and modern, the Viceroy is at the forefront of what a contemporary Caribbean hotel can be. From its jaw-dropping Sunset Lounge to a spa that feels like an art gallery, the Viceroy is at the epicentre of Caribbean cool.
Le Sereno, St Barth
Small, beautiful and chic. You could describe St Barth that way, as you could Le Sereno, the 36-room, family-owned hotel on Grand Cul de Sac beach. This gorgeously designed place is a reminder of what makes St Barth so special.
Eden Roc at Cap Cana, Dominican Republic
The first thing you notice when you arrive at this Relais and Chateaux property in the toniest corner of the Dominican Republic is that you don’t feel like you’re in the Caribbean at all — you feel like your’e in the South of France. This place is a wonderful fusion of Mediterranean and Caribbean sensibilities, with haute cuisine and a terrific nearby beach club.