The hottest Caribbean hotel opening of 2019 is here. 

Kempinski’s first-ever Caribbean resort has officially opened its doors in the north of Dominica. 

The 151-room Cabrits Resort and Spa Kempinski Dominica resort is a monumental new addition to an island that has always been one of the best-kept secrets in the Caribbean.

It’s another major new development for Range Developments, the team behind the now-renowned Park Hyatt St Kitts (with a Six Senses project on the way in Grenada, too). 

“The jewel of the Caribbean is finally here,” said Mohammed Asaria, founder of Range Developments. 

The property, set on Douglas Bay and surrounded by Dominica’s stunning Cabrits National Park near Portsmouth, has a spectacular spa, four restaurants and bars, a large fitness facility, two floodlit tennis courts and a total of four pools. 

That’s along with a large spate of meeting space: more than 8,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor facilities. 

The culinary offerings include what the property describes as both farm to table and “sea-to-table” dining, from a beach cafe called Kweyol to an open-concept eatery called Cabrits Market. 

There’s also a signature bar called RumFire, with a tapas menu, a selection of local herb-and-fruit-infused cocktails and a large offering of cigars for the evening hours. There’s also a pan-Asian eatery called Bonsai.

And then there’s The Spa at Kempinski, an 18,000-square-foot wellness center with both indoor and outdoor wellness experiences.

The hotel has even debuted its own air service, with regular transport for interest guests who travel to Dominica through nearby Antigua and Guadeloupe (both of which have international airports, unlike Dominica, which can only be accessed via prop planes).

It all adds up to the most significant hotel to debut in Dominica since the boutique Secret Bay first opened its doors back in 2011. The pair of properties could combine to turn the north of Dominica into one of the hottest luxury destinations in the Caribbean. 

They’re also a reminder of how far Dominica has come in the last two years since the storms of 2017, a message that the Caribbean’s most naturally beautiful destination is ready for travelers to return. 

The new Kempinski resort becomes just the second Kempinski-branded hotel property in the wider Caribbean, following the Gran Manzana in Havana, which first opened in the summer of 2017. 

For more, visit the Cabrits Resort and Spa Kempinski Dominica. 

— CJ