There’s something very special about a boutique hotel. It’s not just the size — it’s the connection between hotelier and guest, the intimacy of the design, the way it becomes more than just a hotel – it becomes a work of art.
Boutique hotels have a way of transcending the business of hospitality; done right, they are a creative expression of their owners, teeming with the kind of personality and soul that you will seldom find at a large resort.
And when it comes to boutique hotels in the Caribbean, it’s another level. There are a staggering number of small hotel properties across the region, from beachside retreats to hillside outposts to urban art hotels. It is an impressive collection of hotels that is only getting better.
With our first-ever Caribbean Boutique Hotel Awards, we want to celebrate the best of the Caribbean’s small hotels, the unforgettable properties that are some of the most authentic, warm and fascinating places to stay anywhere on earth.
Nobody covers the Caribbean hotel industry better than Caribbean Journal, and our team continuously scours the region to uncover the best-kept secrets and standout performers in the region’s hospitality sector.
That’s precisely what we did in the inaugural CBHA, selecting winners in 11 different categories from the Boutique Hotel of the Year to the Boutique Hotelier of the Year. To be eligible, a hotel must have fewer than 50 rooms.
“It’s high time that these small jewels of the Caribbean travel industry be honored for their remarkable contributions to the region,” said Alexander Britell, editor and publisher of Caribbean Journal. “In many ways, the Caribbean’s boutique hotels make the region the unbeatable global destination that it is today. We are honored to celebrate the best boutique hotels in the Caribbean with this first-ever Caribbean Boutique Hotel Awards.”
Congratulations to all of the winners.
Boutique Hotel of the Year: Baoase Luxury Resort, Curaçao This 23-room stunner isn’t just the leading boutique hotel in the Caribbean right now — it’s one of the most impressive properties in the region, period. From its outstanding Balinese-style design to ultra-attentive service to its remarkable gastronomic offering, Baoase has become the halo hotel in Curacao and a new level of boutique experience in the Caribbean region. “The Baoase has an uncanny level of quality that is an example for hotels across the Caribbean,” said Caribbean Journal Managing Editor Guy Britton. “It’s a truly world-class resort in a boutique package.”
The Ladera resort in Saint Lucia.
Boutique Luxury Hotel of the Year: Ladera, Saint Lucia The 37-room Ladera first pioneered the three-walled room concept when it debuted decades ago, and today this boutique is a shining example of the transcendent experience you can find at the best boutique accommodations. This is a bucket-list hotel but also a magnificently-executed luxury property, from passionate but casual service to tremendous food. But, most importantly, it never loses its vast connection to the local community in Soufriere, providing for the ultimate expression of true Caribbean luxury.
The lobby at The Fred hotel in Frederiksted.
New Boutique Hotel of the Year: The Fred, St Croix The first new hotel in St Croix in three decades was worth the wait. This marvelously designed property takes the kind of colorful, quirky style you find in places like New York and London and marries it with historic Caribbean cool for a hard-to-match boutique experience. And while it’s small, it’s full service, with a beach, a great little spa and a truly Crucian personality. It’s the essence of a great boutique hotel.
Boutique All-Inclusive Hotel of the Year: Palm Island, St Vincent and the Grenadines Yes, there is such a thing as a boutique all-inclusive, and the best expressions of this concept bring together the convenience of an all-inclusive with the personality of a boutique. And that’s precisely the case at the 43-room Palm Island, the private-island destination in the Grenadines that is a castaway-chic getaway that also happens to be totally all-inclusive.
Boutique Design Hotel of the Year: The Manapany, St Barth The most exciting new hotel in St Barth in years is a revelation, an ultra-cool 43-room hotel in the under-the-radar Anse des Cayes section of St Barth with design we simply fell in love with. From the antique-style telephones to the striking latticed balconies, this rebirth of a onetime St Barth legend is the most gorgeously designed boutique we saw all year, thanks to the creative acumen of parent company B Signature Hotels & Resorts, a boutique collection based in France for which this is the first Caribbean hotel.
Boutique Beach Hotel of the Year: The Inn at English Harbour, Antigua On an island filled with terrific beach hotels, one of its smallest truly stands out. The historic, endlessly charming Inn at English Harbour has 28 rooms, along with signature beach cabanas, set directly on the sand. And it flawlessly executes the beach hotel concept, with a wonderful toes-in-the-sand restaurant, beach service and the feeling that you have one of Antigua’s most beautiful beaches, Pigeon Point Beach, entirely to yourself.
You can dine inside the wine cellar at Graycliff.
Boutique Culinary Hotel of the Year: Graycliff, Nassau Typically, even the best boutique hotels for food have one signature eatery. That’s not the case here. The historic 18-room Graycliff, which first gained fame as the home of the Caribbean’s first-ever five-star restaurant decades ago, has a truly remarkable culinary offering: a Brazilian churascaria; an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria; one of the world’s largest wine cellars and one of the world’s largest selections of fine cognacs and rums, and even its own chocolate factory. In many ways, a well-executed food and beverage offering is the great of luxuries — and that makes Graycliff a full-fledged destination for bons vivants everywhere.
Boutique City Hotel of the Year: O:Live Boutique Hotel, Puerto Rico Is there a hipper hotel anywhere in the Caribbean? If there is, let us know, because this San Juan 15-room property is, plainly, a stunner. Rivaling the best urban boutiques of Europe and the mainland United States, this Mediterranean-inspired Condado-area hotel simply oozes cool: the rooftop pool and bar; the transparent bathrooms and the sort of intimate, attentive service that every boutique hotel demands. It’s all a credit to husband and wife owners Loisse Herger and Fernando Davila, who have created a destination boutique hotel in the heart of Puerto Rico’s capital.
Boutique Art Hotel of the Year: La Suite Villa, Martinique From the moment you step inside this hillside hotel above Trois Ilets in Martinique, you know you’re somewhere very different. That’s thanks to the endlessly creative mind of proprietor Gilles Duplan, who has cultivated an eclectic, playful 15-room boutique where art isn’t just a facet of the property – it is the property. The walls are covered by Duplan’s massive contemporary art collection, surrounding you with color and personality. Everywhere you look, you see a new detail, a new look. It’s a one-of-a-kind boutique hotel, and Martinique’s most fascinating place to stay.
Boutique Eco-Hotel of the Year: Anegada Beach Club, British Virgin Islands It’s the kind of experience one typically has to venture across the world for. But not in Anegada. The Anegada Beach Club is the Caribbean’s leading glamping hotel, a collection of rooms and luxury, solar-powered tents that set a new standard for the eco experience in the Caribbean, all set on one of the region’s frontier destinations. This is a place to become one with the beauty of the Caribbean natural world, executed perfectly.
Boutique Hotelier of the Year: Molly McIntosh, The Bluff House, The Bahamas Running a hotel isn’t easy. Running a boutique hotel is even more difficult. Running a hotel on a tiny, tucked-away island in the Out Islands of The Bahamas? That’s an entirely different matter. It’s a credit to the continued brilliance of Molly McIntosh that The Bluff House, the boutique on Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos, remains one of the Caribbean’s most beloved small hotels. The veteran hotelier continues to give guests five-star service wrapped in a charming, historic package. Indeed, the Bluff House was one of the first hotels in the Caribbean when it first debuted in the early 1950s, and the legend remains — in large part due to the tireless efforts and magical touch of General Manager McIntosh.