Luxury. It’s one of the most overused words in the travel industry; but that’s also because it’s just so hard to define. What makes luxury? Is it design? Is it food and beverage? Is it the natural environment? Is it service?
The answer is, of course, that it’s all of those things, and more. But when it comes to deciding which resorts do luxury best, well, to paraphrase Justice Potter Stewart, you know it when you see it.
Ultimately, luxury is about the way a resort engages with you, with your personality, with your tastes. It’s about the way a resort makes you feel.
Compiling our annual list of the best luxury resorts in the Caribbean is one our editorial team’s most difficult feats of each year — with so many great luxury properties around the Caribbean, choosing just 10 is a tall order.
All of the following resorts have the amenities: the world-class spas, the eateries, the sparkling design.
But these 10 resorts have something more; they exemplify the best of luxury, particularly that unique Caribbean brand of luxury that has no analog the world over.
Here are the best luxury resorts in the Caribbean to visit in 2022.
The Ocean Club, a Four Seasons Resort, The Bahamas The Ocean Club first opened its doors on Paradise Island in 1962; while it’s carried several different brands, most recently Four Seasons, the essence of the place has never changed. From the glorious terraced Versailles gardens to the marvelously manicured grounds and the magnificent service, this is simply as good as it gets anywhere in the region. And while the serenity here is unmatched, you’re wonderful close both to the amenities at nearby Atlantis, a short ride from the sights and sounds of downtown Nassau and a quick shuttle to one of the most beautiful golf courses in all of the Caribbean.
Baoase Luxury Resort, Curacao It’s hard to believe this resort has managed to stay largely a secret; because it’s home to some of the most beautiful rooms you’ll find in the hemisphere, most with private pools and a superb Bali-meets-the-Caribbean aesthetic. The private beach here is lovely, the service is outstanding and the food includes Chef Rene Klop’s masterwork: the eponymous Baoase Culinary Beach Restaurant — which is exactly what it sounds like: a Michelin-quality eatery right on the sand.
The Shore Club, Turks and Caicos Turks and Caicos’ greatest resort is a wonderful amalgam of grand West Indian stone architecture with South Beach cool. It’s the ultimate residential resort in the Caribbean, with impossibly large rooms, copious pools, a diverse gastronomy program and a prime setting on the turquoise waters of Long Bay Beach. And there’s just an indescribable feeling that you’re somewhere, well, rarefied. For true indulgence, though, the choice is a stay in one of the property’s impossibly grand luxury villas, above.
The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman Just reopened following a refresh, the new-look Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman remains as complete a resort as there is, well, anywhere. The amenities are as outstanding as they are vast; a prime spot on Seven Mile Beach; a spectacular spa; a broad culinary program that includes Eric Ripert’s only Caribbean restaurant; a nine-hole Greg Norman-designed golf course; and so much more. But the real story isn’t the plush design or the attractions or the kids’ program; it’s the service, endlessly attentive and thoughtful, no mater where you are at the resort. Period.
Park Hyatt, St Kitts The first thing that stands out about this property is that it’s just stunning. From the moment you walk through the lobby to the oceanfront grounds, you’re captivated by a truly beautiful place, one that almost alchemically merges a historic-stone look with a new kind of contemporary Caribbean architecture. The best example, naturally, is the poolscape and its now-famous stone arched walls. It’s the only Park Hyatt in the Caribbean, and it lives up to the billing.
Eden Roc Cap Cana, Dominican Republic From the moment you get to Cap Cana, you realize you’re not in Punta Cana anymore. And when you get to the Eden Roc, you’re somewhere else entirely, somewhere between the Dominican Republic and the South of France. The Riviera vibe pervades this Relais & Chateaux property, cultivating a breezy, fun, glamorous ambience that marries perfectly with its privileged stretch of sand. And while the beachfront rooms are beautiful, it’s the pool suites near the main house that are out of this world.
The Ritz-Carlton, St Thomas The leading hotel in the United States Virgin Islands is a star: from its just plain breathtaking beachfront setting across the water from St John to its comfortable, impeccably designed guest rooms to its tremendous pool complex, it’s a standard setter for the whole region. And at a time when the US Virgin Islands is one of the most popular destinations in the Caribbean right now (thanks to its strong pandemic management and considerable ease of access), it’s become one of the region’s most sought-after luxury resorts – and deservedly so.
Belmond La Samanna, St Martin In recent years, St Martin has sometimes been forgotten as a luxury destination; but for travelers in the know, the French side of St Martin is a luxury hotspot, in large part thanks to what is almost certainly the best concentration of fine-dining restaurants anywhere in the region. But it’s more than just the food: it’s that intoxicating kind of French Caribbean chic, that carefree energy, that special brand of green-hilled beauty. And La Samanna is the essence of it: grand, bright, colorful and outstanding in every single facet, particularly the garden-set spa. And this resort has never been better than right now.
Eclipse at Half Moon, Jamaica When it opened right before the pandemic (and reopened October of last year), Eclipse sent a message to the world of luxury travel, of a new kind of Jamaican hotel, one that straddles two worlds: the pedigree of a timeless resort and a new way of thinking about modern Caribbean luxury. What the Steuart family and Salamander Hotels have achieved is a jewel, one that honors that legacy of Half Moon and takes the property well into the next century. It’s also helped return Montego Bay to its place as a luxury destination in the wider region.
Rosewood Le Guanahani, St Barth The Guanahani name is synonymous with St Barth luxury; and its newest incarnation just debuted under the Rosewood brand, the company’s first-ever resort in the French Caribbean. And while it’s almost entirely new, it’s true to the spirit of Le Guanahani, the colors, the barefoot-chic feeling, the playfulness. But, perhaps most importantly, no resort in St Barth has a better beach.