Above: Grand Case Beach (All photos by CJ)

By Alexander Britell

GRAND CASE — Bobbing in turquoise water, Ti’ Punch in hand on a shiny Sunday morning.

It’s at moments like these when you’re reminded of those oft-repeated component parts of a Caribbean trip: sun, sand and sea.

Yes, St Martin has them.

But even the greatest ingredients need a master mixologist. That’s where the hotel comes in.

To take those component parts and turn them into something special, something more, isn’t always easy.

It sure seems so, however, at the Grand Case Beach Club.

 Above: the Grand Case Beach Club

This boutique hotel in a town deservedly famous for its food understands that alchemy of converting sun, sand and sea into seaside bliss.

The three-tiered, low-scale property has an oceanfront restaurant, Sunset Cafe, and straddles two beautiful beaches.

And it had an overly friendly staff that could teach a thing or two to a number of resorts I’ve stayed at recently.

But it had that something extra, the x-factor, the thing that makes a place great.

It had a soul.

In other words, the perfect kind of small Caribbean hotel.

To book at stay at Grand Case Beach Club click here.

— CJ