If you’re heading to this British Overseas Territory in the northeastern Caribbean, you’re most likely interested in fine dining, beach bar hopping, great diving and pampering at a luxury resort.
The undisputed stars of the island, though, are its jaw-droppingly beautiful beaches, from Meads Bay to Shoal Bay to the out-of-this-world Rendezvous Bay.
Thankfully, they all come with some seriously good places to stay, from the boutique to the large resort.
Here are our favorite places to stay on the island right now.
The Four Seasons Resort and Residences Anguilla
A masterpiece of understated elegance, the Four Seasons resort on Anguilla’s northwest coast has an assortment of rooms and suites arrayed along the beach, most with water views. If you decide you like it so much you don’t want to leave, they’ll happily sell you a residence to call your own. The resort’s bluff top Salt restaurant is known for its fresh seafood and outstanding locale; other amenities include a private beach club, spa, fitness center, sports pavilion with tennis, rock climbing, and basketball, and a kids club.
Malliouhana (the word means “arrowhead,” and was the Arawak tribe’s name for the island) has been a memorable destination for 30 years among Anguilla travelers seeking romantic beach accommodations. With 63 rooms on Meads Bay, the resort is small enough to be intimate yet boasts an impressive menu of amenities, including infinity-edge pools, biking, and one of Anguilla’s best spas. Spacious guest accommodations at this Auberge Resorts property start with 775-square-foot rooms and work up to lavish suites with one, two, or three bedrooms.
Formerly the CuisinArt Resort, the Aurora Anguilla boasts a recently-reimagined Greg Norman golf course and 300 acres of property on Rendezvous Bay, and has five restaurants fed in part by an on-site hydroponic farm. The Sorana Spa tops an extensive list of resort amenities that includes a fitness center, tennis courts and instruction, biking and guided hikes, a water sports center that can organize tours of local sea caves, and family friendly activities like movie nights and fireside s’mores. Stays can be in an unusual (for Anguilla, anyway) multistory tower or low-rise villa buildings.
Fifteen beachfront condo units comprise this sleek new (opened in 2020) Meads Bay boutique resort, which blends the convenience of rooms with full kitchens, baths, and laundries with resort amenities like beach chairs with attendant service, an on-duty concierge, a fitness center, and volleyball and other games on the sand. There’s no pool on property, but Tranquility Beach guests can purchase day passes to the pool at the neighboring Malliouhana Resort, and some of the units have their own balcony plunge tubs.
Calling this a “house” is a bit modest: Zemi is a 67-room resort located on six acres with Shoal Bay East beachfront. Occasionally Thai in style, the resort is suffused with Taino traditions like ritual baths at the spa, which also has a Moroccan hammam — the only one in Anguilla. There’s also few homes that can boast two restaurants, three bars (including the well-stocked Rhum Room), tennis and fitness centers, and a kids’ club with services and activities included in the price of your stay.
Like Zemi Beach House, Cap Juluca takes architectural cues from away, in this case arraying a procession of whitewashed accommodations along the beach in a style reminiscent of the Greek islands. All rooms, suites and villas have ocean views, topped by private pool villas with on-call service and full kitchens. Sailing, kayaking, diving and snorkeling are among resort activities that also include tennis, windsurfing, and water skiing. Pimms restaurant is one of the top fine-dining dining establishment in Anguilla, while Cip’s is the go-to for elevated Italian cuisine.
This Meads Bay hotel has just 19 rooms (plus one villa), guaranteeing plenty of individualized attention when you need it and lots of privacy when you don’t. The Straw Hat restaurant has been an Anguilla institution for more than 25 years, serving three meals daily in open-air splendor. Guests get daily breakfast included with stays, and resort amenities range from tennis and basketball to water sports, spa treatments, and cruises on the hotel’s own “FrangiCat” catamaran.