Saint Lucia for Peaceful Pampering: Jade Mountain

If there was ever a Caribbean beach resort where you’d be tempted never to make it to the beach, this is it. They say the record for checking into one of Jade Mountain’s eye-popping, open-air Sanctuaries and never leaving is at least three days, and we believe it. The size of a respectable apartment, each room revels in its unobstructed, hillside views of Saint Lucia’s magnificent Pitons, which you’ll drink in during every room service meal, from beneath the gossamer netting surrounding your bed, and of course while luxuriating in your in-suite, infinity edge pool. You can almost take laps in the latter, which will give most contemporary “plunge pools” a serious inferiority complex. About that beach: you will want to get there, despite the temptation to plotz in your room. Downhill from Jade is the sister Anse Chastanet resort, where you’ll have full run of the restaurants, bars, beach, pool, and other amenities. A short walk or free water taxi ride around a rocky point will bring you to Anse Mamin, a paradisiacal beach backed by lush former plantation grounds, now reserved for hiking and biking for resort guests.