Antigua and Barbuda

Located in the south of the island overlooking Montserrat. The airport transfer takes 45 minutes and is a scenic journey along the leafy Fig Tree Drive. There is a small village at the western end of the beach, but you will need a car or taxi if you want to visit the best beach bars and restaurants in the area.

Guests are welcomed into a sanctuary of peace and courtesy, adorned with fish ponds, mature trees, vibrant tropical flora and a high-ceilinged lounge area with reception desks. Around 60 per cent of guests are British (many of them repeat visitors), who appreciate the resort’s isolated and tranquil seaside location. Carlisle Bay opened in 2003 and was designed by experienced British hotelier Gordon Campbell Gray.

Most guests relax on the beach, but there’s also a large, curvy pool for splashing around in, and when it’s time to get active, there are 9 tennis courts, a fitness center, mountain biking and water sports. Free activities include hiking in nearby Mount Obama National Park, sailing and windsurfing, as well as sunrise/sunset yoga and Pilates on the dock.

The two-story Cara Organic Beauty Spa offers six treatment rooms and a beauty salon. Guests can also make use of the air-conditioned library and small cinema with soft leather seats. The staff is friendly and sociable.

Suites come in six categories: Families typically opt for two-room Beach Suites, while honeymooners head to Bay Suites with butler service and a vodka-rum bar. The entry-level Garden Suites are good, but if you like sea views, opt for the Ocean Suites, arranged in a row of eight three-story blocks. If you are willing to climb stairs, ask for a room on the top floor.

All rooms have balconies or terraces with daybeds, and the interiors are a clever combination of pale blue and white walls, dark wood furniture and cream floor tiles. A north coast feel with pickled pine ceilings, shell prints in mirrored frames and royal blue pillows. Bathrooms feature double sinks, oval bathtubs and organic toiletries from Irish brand Voya. Amenities include irons, refrigerators, coffee machines, yoga mats and beach bags.

Indigo on the Beach is the main restaurant, open with wooden floors, white tablecloths and chairs with blue cushions. Breakfast here is leisurely – Carlisle Bay must be one of the last hotels in the West Indies to still use toast stations – with a mix of buffet and cooked-to-order options, including Caribbean and vegan options.

Not only does this hotel meet all the requirements of an island getaway, where only guests or villa owners are allowed, but it also has a no-car policy (every room has bicycles), which ensures a carefree atmosphere, allowing children to roam safely. The island is just 10 minutes by boat from the north coast of Antigua, in a convenient location close to the airport, which can be reached door to door in less than 20 minutes, and 10 minutes by car from the pier.

The suites, in soothing blue and beige tones, are spacious with a small entry courtyard where a hanging wicker chair swings, and a terrace with a table and sun loungers is on the other side of the sea view suites. Restaurants wind around the edge of the infinity pool or hug the beach, while the Estate House, part of an original sugar plantation, is grand on the outside with local artwork inside. The entire resort has a fresh, warm and welcoming atmosphere, helped by the fact that it is an all-inclusive hotel (a first for the Oetker collection).

The staff is very polite, friendly and helpful. There are plenty of water sports to choose from, from surfing to jet skiing. Kayaks can be rented, there are tennis courts, rum tastings, cooking classes (try making fish tacos from the Pool Grille), and a sailing academy offering a variety of courses. There is also the Hawksbill Turtle program, which teaches conservation to nature-loving families. From June to November these turtles come to Pasture Bay Beach to lay their eggs. There is an excellent SPA salon, which, among other things, uses Tata Harper products.

The entry-level Beachside Suites are very spacious, with outdoor-facing bathrooms where a huge bathtub awaits under palm fronds. There is a spacious sitting area and dressing room. Outside, each room has a small lawn overlooking the sea, a terrace, sun loungers and an in-room dining table. Estate Suites have a private pool. All rooms have a generous maxi bar, as well as Nespresso coffee and tea making facilities. Bathrooms feature showers, outdoor bathtubs and house-brand toiletries. Little things like a lens wipe at bedside make all the difference.

The food is excellent at all three restaurants, and the Pool Grille and Veranda offer fresh and vibrant dishes perfect for the tropical breeze. For a special treat, head to the Estate House, via the elegant 1830 Bar.

Located at the end of a dirt road in the west of the island. The resort overlooks tranquil Hermitage Bay, surrounded by 57 hectares of lush, pristine land, creating the feeling of being on a private island. The hotel’s speedboat can take you to explore the coast, north to the Five Islands and south to the vibrant Jolly Harbor Marina (which is a 10-minute drive if you like golf, tennis or casinos). The airport is 40 minutes away, as is English Harbor and its nightlife. The capital city of St. John’s is just 25 minutes away.

The entire property is built from dark tropical hardwoods and furnished in a contemporary Caribbean style with comfortable cream mattresses on the lounge chairs and sofas and stylish purple and green cushions on the rattan sofas and bar stools. The restaurant is set on different levels so that each table has spectacular views of the turquoise Caribbean Sea and the green surrounding islands.

From morning yoga and Pilates classes led by professional teachers to non-motorized water sports, everything is excellent here and always looked after by attentive staff. The spa emphasizes Dorissima healing rituals to balance the chakras, or if you prefer, you can opt for a signature treatment that combines local herbs from the garden in an invigorating scrub followed by a hot stone massage. Other services include a fitness center, boutique, boat rides, garden tours, cooking demonstrations and VIP meet-and-greets and airport transfers. The staff tries to remember your name and preferences.

The resort consists of 30 private cottage suites that are either beachfront or hillside with panoramic views of the bay. The Hillside Suites are the most private and feature a wraparound outdoor terrace with a private plunge pool, sitting area, day bed and dining area. Below, beach and garden suites have a veranda with a daybed and dining area. Rooms have shutters that open fully to reveal views, and all suites have outdoor showers with Aromatherapy Associates aromatic bath products and indoor bathrooms with oversized soaking tubs. The beds are large and have netting to prevent mosquitoes, and there is plenty of space to spread things out. Every day you can order what you want from your minibar.

The restaurant serves modern European cuisine with Caribbean influences, and uses plenty of fresh organic produce from its own gardens.

Dinner is formal (and can be served at a private table on the beach for an additional fee). During dinner, you can enjoy live music performed by local musicians.

This is a very good place to stay here. English Harbor is an entertainment hub with some of the best nightlife on the island, and the historic Nelson Dockyard is just a five-minute water taxi ride from the hotel. Shirley Heights for a regular Sunday night party is just a 10 minute taxi ride away or a very pleasant 30 minute walk around the headland. Galleon Beach is located in Freemans Bay, which is a popular mooring spot for small yachts. If you’re lucky, you might see a turtle or two at the end of the beach.

The airport is 40 minutes away.

You arrive at a historic building with distinctive exposed brick walls high on the hillside that was once one of the island’s forts. Here you will find a reception, bar, lounge and restaurant. The stone terrace, where you can dine al fresco while looking out over the bay below, feels very Italian, but perhaps that’s because it’s under Italian management and so the mind drifts east. Below, stretching out from the bay, are attractive whitewashed clapboard cottages housing rooms and suites, and a pretty pavilion next to the tennis courts, where you’ll find a library decorated with comfortable sofas and antiques. Everything is perfect.

This is a boutique hotel with many repeat guests, the service is friendly and welcoming, and the tastes and preferences are memorable. Buckets of ice and water are provided next to your lounge chair on the beach, and staff check regularly to make sure you are comfortable. At the rear of the hotel you will find tennis courts, a library, a small gym and a SPA (available on request). Jet skis, transparent kayaks, stand-up paddle boards and catamarans can be used for free on the beach. A free water taxi will take you to Nelson Dockyard upon request (service available until 16:30).

With just 28 rooms on 8 hectares of coastal land, this is a tranquil resort for those looking for a peaceful retreat. Entry-level beach houses are perhaps also the most attractive, these are cottages that open directly onto the sand from a small patio. Each has marble floors and is decorated in neutral tones of cream, stone and beige. Bathrooms feature luxury Penhaligon toiletries.

Situated about 30 meters from the beach, suites offer a little more space, with polished mahogany floors, high-quality dark wood furnishings, interesting art, and either verandas opening onto the garden or balconies overlooking the bay. A minibar, tea and coffee making facilities (coffee machines in suites) and ceiling fans add comfort.

Romantic dinners are served at the hilltop restaurant (with a driver to take you to the top) on the open-air terrace with stunning views of the gardens and bay. Garlands twine around the trunks of coconut trees and candles flicker on the tables.

Down by the beach, the cafe serves delicious lunches and hearty breakfasts. It’s a mixture of buffet and à la carte, and the pastry chef here is excellent, so it’s a good place to come if you have a passion for pain au chocolat.

Situated on a narrow strip of land separating the wild Atlantic on one side and the calm Caribbean Sea on the other, this resort gives you the best of both worlds: the soothing sound of crashing waves and calm seas in which to swim and snorkel. It’s like being on the edge of the world, but the hustle and bustle of English Harbor is half an hour’s drive away and the capital of St. John’s is 40 minutes away.

The hotel was built by American former World War II fighter pilot Howard Halford so that he and his glamorous wife could have a home on this dramatic site. The resort was built around a restored stone sugar mill and created with the same elegance and high quality fixtures and fittings as their own home. Everything is immaculate – even the beach bathrooms – and the style is nautical chic with printed patterned tiles on the dining room floor, vibrant blues and greens in the upholstery, contemporary Caribbean art on the walls. The 72 rooms and suites are housed in two-story blocks that wind along the headland towards the house.

Excellent service from staff who are part of the family. The resort has a no-tipping policy and instead collects donations for the Old Road Fund, which supports local residents by providing college scholarships, medical expenses and building repairs. Services are varied and include scuba diving, snorkeling, paddleboarding, sailing, water skiing, tennis lessons with professional trainers, squash, basketball, shuffleboard, bocce, spa treatments, yoga, Pilates and water aerobics. The instructors are patient and sociable.

There isn’t a dull room in the hotel, even the ground floor deluxe rooms have direct access to the beach and floor-to-ceiling doors frame an idyllic scene of palm tree, hammock and crashing waves. Marble bathrooms feature walk-in showers with Molton Brown toiletries. The beds are super king or twin, tiled floors and a ceiling fan complement the air conditioning. Includes in-room snacks and minibar (coffee machine available). As you move up the room categories, they become increasingly grander with living areas, deep soaking tubs and private plunge pools.

The food is of a very high standard and is served in two restaurants. Tamarind Tree, which has a courtyard with a century-old tamarind tree growing in the center, offers à la carte breakfasts and dinners, while the seaside Seagrape offers buffet lunches and à la carte dinners. During cocktail hour, the Sugar Mill Bar circulates trays of appetizers while guests order glasses of champagne, Hendricks gin and tonic or rum punches. Afternoon tea is served on the Sugar Mill terrace every afternoon.

The impressive wine cellar – one of the best in the Caribbean – stocks bottles such as Lafite Rothschild for those willing to splurge.

The only resort on Soldiers Bay, on the island’s northwest coast, you’ll feel secluded while just 15 minutes from the capital of St. John’s and about the same distance from VC Bird Airport. The surrounding residential area can be explored on a guided morning walk, and further afield, the championship Cedar Valley Golf Course is just eight minutes away, and the bars and restaurants of Dickenson Bay are 15 minutes away.

The resort snakes along the coast among 7 hectares of tropical plants. In the lobby, muted cream and stone colors on the sofas and armchairs are interrupted by pops of bright cobalt blue on the lamps and turquoise and purple on the bar stools, while vaulted ceilings and see-through sea views create a Caribbean atmosphere. Rattan lounge chairs and Vincent Shepherd chairs add casual luxury to the pool and terrace areas. The resort has been owned by the Randall family since 1984, but is now run by middle son Gary and his wife Buzzy, who, along with manager Kevin, bring a youthful dynamism to the property.

From the moment you check in until the moment you check out, your needs are met by friendly, smiling, responsive staff. Many of the staff have been with the resort for decades, and many of the guests have been returning for just as long. Facilities are varied, including tennis courts, gym, sailing, fishing, guided garden walks and non-motorized water sports.

The elegant spa now uses British organic spa brand Ila, and the therapists are well trained in a variety of techniques, including reflexology. Yoga is offered three times a week, and wine tastings and cooking demonstrations can also be included in your stay. The resort is going plastic-free and will offer all guests a free reusable water bottle upon arrival, which can be refilled at the hotel.

The resort consists of sea-view cottages and larger Italian-style villas, divided into suites, set among lush gardens. Several homes are available for entire rentals, making it a popular choice for multi-generational living. The stone cottage, isolated on a headland, offers complete privacy. The Cove Suites are spacious and luxurious and have a swimming pool which you share with the other two suites that make up the villa. However, all entry-level Superior Hillside rooms have balconies or patios, and some even have sea views. King-size beds, Elemis toiletries in large bathrooms with double sinks, coffee machines and robes make them luxurious and comfortable.

The food here is very good, with a Caribbean-night buffet at the Palm Restaurant (also serving lunch and breakfast), fusion food at Bartley’s or Lobster Thermidor at the fine dining Cove Restaurant (open four nights a week).