Top 10: Caribbean romantic holidays
When I was last at Ti Kaye (017584568101; tikaye.com) on St Lucia’s west coast, I was virtually tripping over blissed-out honeymoon couples. Spread over a hillside are pretty cottages, with open-air garden showers, and terraces to take in the spectacular ocean views. Booked through Tropical Sky: Seven nights’ BB from £1,059, including return flight, for departures between June 13 and June 30. Fred Mawer
Guana Island, British Virgin Islands (Alamy)
3. Guana Island, British Virgin islands
How about this for seclusion and privacy? A cottage on Guana Island, itself a private island in, well, the British Virgin Islands. Guana Island (guana.com) is part nature reserve and part ultra-low density villa resort, with its cottages ranged on the heights for the spectacular views. It’s a perfect honeymoon hideaway – or take the whole island and stage a wedding. Turquoise Holidays (01494 678400; turquoiseholidays.co.uk) can offer a week on Guana Island from £2,699, with international flights via Antigua with speedboat transfers, all meals and selected activities. James Henderson
• British Virgin Islands travel guide
4. Nisbet Plantation Beach Club, Nevis, St Kitts Nevis
Lush and sleepy little Nevis is just the place for a low-key, lovey-dovey escape. Stay at Nisbet Plantation Beach Club (nisbetplantation.com). A former sugar plantation, it has romantic associations: the English naval hero Horatio Nelson met his wife, Fanny Nisbet, here in the late 1780s. With immaculate lawns, a peaceful beach, well-appointed cottages, an elegant Great House (for dinner) and devoted staff, the hotel ticks many of the boxes required for an idyllic getaway. Booked through Tropic Breeze (01752 880880; tropicbreeze.co.uk): from £1,536, half board. Fred Mawer
5. Laluna, Grenada
Laluna (laluna.com) is my number-one recommendation on Grenada for honeymooners. Tucked in a secluded spot on a hillside directly above a sandy beach, it is intimate (just 16 cottage-like rooms – not luxurious but with four-poster beds and small plunge pools) and has a chilled vibe, with guests hanging out on Indonesian day beds. Other selling points include the good Italian beachfront restaurant, a Balinese-style spa, and a pavilion behind the beach for daily yoga and pilates sessions. Booked through Caribtours (020 7751 0660; caribtours.co.uk): from £1,779 room only. Fred Mawer
Yachts in St Vincent and The Grenadines (Alamy)
6. Petit St Vincent, St Vincent and The Grenadines
Reached by a 20-minute boat transfer from Union Island, Petit St Vincent (petitstvincent.com) comes with two miles of white-sand beaches – and no TV, phones or Wi-Fi in its 22 spacious stone cottages and villas. This is a place for desert-island romance with privacy assured – if you want room service, you’ll need to raise a yellow flag. Treats include two restaurants, a Balinese-run spa, exhilarating sailing and a Jean-Michel Cousteau Diving Centre, which opened last November. Booked through Caribtours (020 7751 0660; caribtours.co.uk): from £3,375 all-inclusive flying via Barbados. Nigel Tisdall
• St Vincent and The Grenadines travel guide
7. Le Guanahani, St Barths
Overlooking Anse de Grand Cul-de-Sac, the 67-room Le Guanahani (leguanahani.com) makes a fine base for discovering the delights of St Barths. Being the island’s largest hotel, it is a good choice for a glamorous wedding with flower-filled grounds, a near-private beach and a spa by Clarins. Designer Luis Pons recently gave the hotel an elegant new look as part of a four-year, £26m renovation, and a high point is the Mediterranean-inspired cuisine of longstanding executive chef Philippe Masseglia. Booked through ITC Luxury Travel (01244 355527; itcluxurytravel.co.uk): from £2,859 with breakfast; flying via Antigua. Nigel Tisdall
8. Round Hill, Jamaica
Round Hill (roundhill.com) is perhaps the most exquisite hotel in the Caribbean, offering classic colonial elegance restyled recently by Ralph Lauren. Look out tor Chiaroscuro patterns and rich racing green awnings topped with weathered grey shingle roofs, all offset by the manifold greens of tropical foliage. Effortlessly stylish and ideal for a (not inexpensive) wedding and the honeymoon afterwards. Elegant Resorts (01244 897516; elegantresorts.co.uk) offers a week at Round Hill from £1,845 per person, room only. James Henderson
9. Hermitage Bay, Antigua
Some couples barely emerge at all from their suites at the reclusive and strikingly beautiful Hermitage Bay (hermitagebay.com) in Antigua, but then the hillside cottages, done out in lustrous tropical hardwoods and festooned with tropical greenery, have all you need – a plunge pool, veranda with a view and room service (meals and spa). And the eight beachfront suites? Well, they’re just a hop and a skip into the jade and turquoise sea. Scott Dunn (020 8682 5020; scottdunn.com) offers Hermitage Bay from £3,260, all-inclusive. James Henderson
10. Little Arches, Barbados
The adults-only, hacienda-styled Little Arches (012464204689;littlearches.com) attracts youngish couples who like a small-scale set-up – there are just 10 bedrooms – and want to partake in Barbados’s everyday life. The lovely beach across the road is a favourite with locals, and the centre of Oistins, a fishing village famed for its fish fry weekly party, is a stroll away. There’s an excellent restaurant on the rooftop terrace of the hotel. Booked through Caribtours: Seven nights’ BB from £1,299, including return flight). Fred Mawer
Hillside cottage suites at the Hermitage Bay resort in Antigua (Alamy)
Tell us about your favourite Caribbean family holiday destination at telegraph.co.uk/caribbeanawards
Travel Guides app
Download the free Telegraph Travel app, featuring expert guides to destinations including Paris, Rome, New York, Venice and Amsterdam
Sign up to our weekly email newsletter
Follow Telegraph Travel on Twitter
Follow Telegraph Travel on Facebook
Follow Telegraph Travel on Pinterest
Follow Telegraph Travel on FourSquare
Leave a Reply