One of the Caribbean’s hottest destinations has a new boutique hotel. 

It’s called The Great House Antigua, and it’s set in a 350-year-old stone estate turned into a boutique hotel set on 26 acres of tropical gardens.

For 60 years, the estate was the home of the Howell family, who have decided to open up its doors as an 8-room boutique ”to allow more people to enjoy its historic charm and the tranquillity offered by its 26 acres of tropical gardens,” the family said in a statement. 

The hotel is, in fact, the last extant stone estate in all of Antigua and Barbuda, according to the family.

The project has gone extensive renovation work to create four “individually styled” suites within the home, featuring antique furnishings like Chippendale chairs, mahogany four-poster beds and china, silver and glassware.

That’s along with four new garden cottage suites with amenities like his-and-hers showers and private terraces, all with pyramid roofs and vaulted ceilings.

The boutique hotel has a main pool, along with an exercise deck, a spa, a pool bar and dining options including an outdoor courtyard and a candlelit dining room for dinner. 

In a statement, the hotel said it grew at least half of its fresh produce on property, complementing that with locally-sourced food. 

The hotel, set on the eastern shores of Antigua, adds to what is one of the more impressive collections of historic hotels and properties set in historic buildings in the wider Caribbean, from Antigua’s Inn at English Harbour to the Admiral’s Inn to the Copper and Lumber hotel.

The latter two hotel properties are set in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Nelson’s Dockyard.

For more, visit the Great House Antigua. 

— CJ