Being a boutique hotel isn’t just about size. Sure, the hotels on this list, all of which have 40 rooms or less, are not big. 

But boutique is about more than that. It’s about character, about personality; about identity. 

It should be fashionable and stylish, cool and unique. 

The first “boutique” hotels originated in urban, metropolitan areas. Obviously in the Caribbean, “boutique” manifests itself differently: low-rise properties, often with collections of rooms rather than single buildings. 

What’s universal, though, is the need for a boutique hotel to connect with its local community and its local environment, achieving oneness with person and place. 

The bar is even higher for the luxury boutique hotel, one that must take the boutique recipe and add that extra layer of design, service and gastronomy. 

Thankfully, the Caribbean is filled with them.

Here are our favorite luxury boutique hotels in the Caribbean right now.

Secret Bay, Dominica The Caribbean’s premier luxury boutique hotel is a collection of state-of-the-art villas perched above a magnificent cliffside beach, a hotel that has redefined the art of Caribbean luxury, skillfully marrying the eco-conscious and the indulgent and oozing Dominican authenticity.