The best Caribbean resorts to visit by superyacht

Visiting the Caribbean islands on a superyacht this winter season? We round up the best luxury hotels and resorts in the Caribbean worth stepping ashore for, in destinations including St Lucia and the BVIs to Antigua and The Bahamas.

The Sandpiper

Holetown, Barbados
Credit: Iana Ianakieva / The Sandpiper

Set in two hectares of sprawling tropical grounds bursting with coconut palms, popping pink bougainvillea and lush lawns, this stylish family-run hotel offers a spot of sequestered luxury in one of the Caribbean’s glitziest areas. Accommodation at the Sandpiper ranges from spacious one- and two-bedroom rooms finished with dark woods to three show-stopping Tree Top suites. Book the grand and airy Curlew Suite, with its stunning inside-outside lounge space, private plunge pool, a wet bar stocked with local rums and truffles and an expansive oceanfront terrace offering views of the pristine Platinum Coast.

While away the mornings at one of the hotel’s two swimming pools alongside the resident mongooses and hummingbirds before taking lunch at Harold’s Bar, which serves local treats such as cornmeal-crusted barracuda and beef roti with homemade mango chutney. The hotel’s beach is a 30-second stroll away, where you can paddleboard on the glassy sea or scrunch your toes in the sand with a rum punch in hand. After the sun sets, head to the Sandpiper Restaurant for cioppino of seafood or a rib-eye from the grill to a backdrop of calypso and jazz bands before shuttering yourself back into serene isolation.

BOOK NOW

Windjammer Landing

Labrelotte Bay, St Lucia
Credit: Windjammer Landing

Aqua ocean, emerald jungle, ivory sand and coral sunsets: St Lucia’s Caribbean Sea coast is a vibrant artist’s palette of colours. Nestled amoung this tropical outlook is Windjammer Landing, an established Mediterranean style-resort with more than 200 rooms and cool white villas spread across 60 acres of flower-jewelled landscaped gardens.

Start your day with a pre-breakfast yoga class in the shady hilltop garden, practising your eagle and crow poses while tiny iridescent-bellied hummingbirds hover overhead. Snorkel the turquoise waters with turtles and baby rays right off the beach or head further along the coast to Anse Cochon to spot octopuses crawling among canary-coloured pipe coral.

If you need to unwind from all that activity then book in for a massage, followed by a cooling dip in your villa’s private infinity pool before sipping on a blush-red rum punch or icy daiquiri sundowner. Dine in the restaurant on sesame-crusted tuna sashimi and champagne shrimp risotto, or bring a chef into your villa to cook up a catch of the day feast with Lucian flair – think callaloo and okra soup, mango-dressed salad and pan-fried mahi-mahi followed by red wine and basil ice cream.

book now

Sandy Lane

St. James, Barbados
Credit: Sandy Lane

With its marble pillars, manicured golfing greens and popping pink colour scheme, there are few hotels more synonymous with Caribbean luxury than Sandy Lane, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2021. The brainchild of British politician Ronald Tree – who dreamed of a lavish hotel with a golf course while enjoying his winter home on the island – the resort has been a must-visit destination for A-listers for the past six decades. Its sparkling white walls could tell thousands of stories, from Aristotle Onassis being rowed to shore from his superyacht while Maria Callas swam with a pet marmoset on her back, to Elton John adhering to the strict New Year’s Eve dress code by wearing his black tie as a garter. This colourful history will be celebrated in the hotel’s Trip down Sandy Memory Lane initiative, which will share archive imagery from private albums and memories from the resort’s first visitors. There will also be lavish events where guests can knock back the hotel’s signature SL-60 champagne cocktail.

BOOK NOW

The Lovango Resort

Lovango Cay, US Virgin Islands

Set on a crescent-shaped island just a short cruise from St John, the USVI’s first luxury beach club has opened its doors. The Lovango Resort + Beach Club on Lovango Cay is the first new-build hospitality destination in the islands for more than three decades and is completely off grid. Power is provided by solar and wind energy, while a desalination system converts seawater to potable water.

Visiting megayachts can anchor in the curved bay and tender in to spend the day lounging by the Beach Club’s 70ft infinity pool, which is surrounded by cobalt cabanas and chaise longues. Away from the shore there are numerous hiking trails through tropical foliage to the island’s 255ft peak or its wild North Beach, which is home to pelicans. Alternatively, snorkeling gear is provided to explore the colorful surrounding coral reef and experience first-hand the ongoing restoration work.

For sustenance, a waterfront restaurant overlooking the Pillsbury Sound serves a Caribbean-inspired lunch menu, with dishes such ahi tuna with coconut foam and pistachio. Guests staying past 3pm can dig into its Après Sea menu; small bites paired with themed cocktails keep the party island vibe going until sunset.

book now

Belmond Cap Juluca

Maundays Bay, Anguilla
Credit: Richard James Taylor

The elegant crescent and crystal-clear waters of Maundays Bay set the tone for all things aqua at Belmond Cap Juluca. Start your day with an invigorating swim to breakfast, emerging from the gentle Caribbean waves to be greeted by a member of staff ready with a fresh towel, robe and just-pressed juice. After breakfast at Cip’s by Cipriani, pick up a paddleboard or kayak and head out into the cove, explore the resort by turquoise-painted bike and VW campervan, or take a second dip in the infinity-edge pool that’s only a barefoot step from the soft white beach. Dream away the hours on your reserved sunlounger by the water’s edge before visiting the Arawak Spa, where the signature treatments, based on the holistic rituals of the region’s indigenous people, use locally harvested salt to sustain a firm connection to the sea. When the sun sets, walk across the cooling sand to The Cap Shack for a rum punch and catch-of-the-day tapas, or opt for Anguillan delicacies such as whole grilled lobster in drawn butter or red snapper with conch chowder at Pimms restaurant. It’s waterside too, so you’ll never be far from the sea.

book now

Read more

Sponsored listings