HAUTE HOTELS The Love Affair

HAUTE HOTELS

The Love Affair ...

The low-down on the Caribbean’s hottest suites ...

Eden just before the

Fall?

Front cover: [Digital Vision]/Thinkstock

Eden Rock is just one HAUTE HOTEL where the suites encourage couples to get in touch with their inner Adam and Eve ...

On our meanderings through the Caribbean’s finest hotels, we often come across suites that deserves a gentle nudge into the spotlight. Some of them are chic, some of them are romantic and a few of them could even feature in your next sexual fantasy.

But all of them are best visited with someone you want to get closer to. Don’t even think of wasting them on the kids ...

Woman on the beach at Eden Rock hotel in St. Barths

HOWARD HUGHES SUITE Eden Rock, St. Barths Tel: 590-590-297-994 www.edenrockhotel.com

This is the ultimate fantasy suite. A one-bedroom retreat where the two of you get to make like Howard Hughes and Katherine Hepburn for a few days. (Probably best to start working on that vintage wardrobe now.) It boasts pride of place at the top of the Eden Rock hotel, one of just 14 guest rooms that are ingeniously moulded into its iconic boulder. Yet for once it’s not just the 360 degree views of the Caribbean Sea that are going to set you back on your heels here. Even if you can choose from a trio of tanning terraces. And you get to watch anything from teens falling off their paddleboards to tiny prop planes flying into the airstrip at the far end of St. Jean bay.

Yes, even with all of this going on outside, you can’t fail to be blown away by what’s happening inside. This ultra-spacious suite hasn’t just been designed as a 1940s bachelor pad, it is a 1940s bachelor pad. So much so that the moment you step through the door one of you (usually the one with the lowest voice) is going to transform into a wealthy and reclusive aviator type. The other one will become the spirited honey he spends time with before setting off on another manly adventure.

It’s all so incredibly authentic and theatrical. Amongst all the wood panelling and parquet flooring are comfy cream sofas and jewelcoloured fabrics, aeronautical knick-knacks and a whole library of books suggesting that you are not the kind of people anyone should underestimate. Finishing it all off is a mosaic-tiled bathroom with a sunken bathtub - it’s exactly the kind of place mothers warn their daughters about and Howard Hughes would have loved it.

The heavy wooden door that opens into Eden Rock’s Howard Hughes Suite is suitably discreet. Most hotel guests have no idea what lies behind it - which only adds to the fantasy.

And whilst it’s certainly as private as the famous recluse would have wanted, it couldn’t be much closer to the fashionable ‘On the Rocks with Jean-Georges’ restaurant.

And even the beach is just moments away.

(Of course, the famous Greta Garbo Suite may be a little too close for some guests.)

From €1,715 per night, including breakfast.

BEACH SUITE

Hotel St-Barth Isle de France St. Barths Tel: 590-590-275-666 www.isle-de-france.com To highlight a suitably romantic suite at Isle de France is tricky – everything here is so chic, so elegant and so, well drop-dead-gorgeous, that you’ll be putting their British interior designer on speed dial the moment you walk back through your own front door. But Penny Morrison has done a particularly remarkable job in the case of the four Beach Suites, all of them located on the ground or first floor of a new building that’s right on the sands.

In these rooms Penny has stepped away from the traditional French elegance that defines this unique getaway and embraced something that’s far more organic and dramatic. They’ll suit ladies who like a bit of drama in their lives and gentlemen who don’t really ‘do’ anything that’s even vaguely pretty.

‘Vintage beach chic’ seems to be the theme here and there’s plenty of bleached parquet flooring, limewashed timber ceilings and natural creamy linens in evidence. Only orchids and throw cushions contribute any element of meaningful colour that’s if you don’t count their turquoise infinity-edge plunge pools overlooking the longest beach in St. Barths, and you most definitely should ...

At 15,000 sq.ft. Isle de France’s beach suites are also embarrassingly spacious. They come with handy kitchens boasting US style fridges, as well as decadent bathrooms with indoor and outdoor showers. And let’s not forget the classic fountains that look like they’ve been purloined from an Italian monastery. The beds are wide, white and romantic and you should book early as fashionable couples like you are queuing up to jump between their fine cotton sheets.

From €1,500 per night, including breakfast.

ADMIRALTY SUITE

Guanahani Hotel & Spa, St. Barths Tel: 590-590-276-660 www.leguanahani.com In a top-notch Caribbean resort that has long prided itself on its bright paintbox colours, the muted décor of Guanahani’s Admiral Suite may come as a bit of a surprise. Yet despite all the new-found restraint, this Columbus-inspired hideout still has more than its fair share of wow factor. Especially as it also comes with wraparound windows and cinemascopic vistas over the blue-green waters of St. Barths.

The location of this 1,185 sq.ft. suite could hardly be bettered. It’s gloriously positioned on the tip of a rocky peninsula and offers direct access into Grand Cul de Sac bay - this is a protected marine reserve with crystal clear waters just perfect for sailing and swimming and floating about in your colour-matched Vix/Vilebrequin swimsuits.

Yet such is the appeal of the wraparound terrace with its rocking chairs and dining table that the two of you will probably be quite happy to ignore the aquatic wonderland on your doorstep and stay right where you are.

Possibly not even bothering to get out of those nice cotton bathrobes that Guanahani thoughtfully provides.

Inside The Admiralty Suite there’s plenty of timber flooring, squashy cream sofas and nautical bits and bobs, the four-poster bed and sexy Jacuzzi tub the kind of romantic little luxuries a man who’s been at sea for months would definitely appreciate.

The discreet butler will make sure you have everything else you need.

From €2,686 per night, including breakfast.

La Villa du Pêcheur

Le Sereno Hotel & Villas, St. Barths Tel: 590-590-298-300 www.lesereno.com La Villa du Pêcheur (or ‘Fisherman’s Villa’) is the work of the French designer Christian Liaigre. This one-off villa is lovely to look at both inside and out, and so close to the sea that you can almost catch your own sushi dinner.

Yet inside it’s ostensibly serene yet secretly sexy, and only suitable for the snazziest of anglers unapologetically in touch with their inner style gurus. The walls are whiter than white and the floors covered in the darkest of tropical woods. Yet the overall colour scheme could have been borrowed from, dare we say it, a pair of Christian Louboutin stilletos - there are lots of hard greys, soft creams and metallic blues with the occasional flash of vivid red.

There are also plenty of different textures in evidence, rough linens contrasting with soft cottons, exotic granite and slate in the bathroom, and a rustic wooden seat always catching the eye.

The exterior space includes a wooden deck with a serene lava rock swimming pool, the alfresco dining table perfect for eating that bonito you just landed. (Last ‘fishing’ reference we promise.)

The huge four-poster bed encourages beautiful love-making beneath romantic white netting, the bathroom equally seductive complete with its own deep-soaking tub. There’s also lots of glass and oodles of space and, if you’ve had enough of looking at the ocean or each other, you also get lots of high-tech stuff including two flat-screen TVs. From €1,995 per night, including breakfast. Plus tax.

If you don’t know your Christian Liaigre from your Christian Bale, please let us enlighten you. The Paris-based designer is the ‘king of calm’, his work generally considered the ultimate in high style. His use of light and space, dark woods and different textures are all showcased in the interiors and furnishings at Le Sereno.

Some of his other high-profile design projects include the Hotel Mercer in New York, as well as the private homes of Valentino and Rupert Murdoch. He currently has design studios in Paris, London, Bangkok and St. Barths, and you can easily pop into his little boutique in Gustavia.

1-BEDROOM VILLA SUITE Hotel Le Toiny, St. Barths Tel: 590-590-278-888 www.letoiny.com

Le Toiny is the kind of sensual sanctuary well-heeled gentlemen whisk their high-heeled girlfriends to for secret trysts. It’s got the mandatory hush-hush setting and the obligatory private pools, not to mention the kind of plantation-style villas that are sexy but refined.

Each villa was styled on a small plantation house, yet these particular planteurs had so much style it hurts.

Think taupe walls, hardwood floors and elegant teak furnishings, the whole vibe reminiscent of French Colonial times. Yet the black-and-white photos of St. Barths add contemporary flair, whilst the vibrant toile du soleil fabrics contribute a sense of place.

But nothing quite upstages those four-poster beds, made in Martinique, dressed in fine cotton and romantically draped in traditional white gauze.

In the bathrooms you’ll find Italian tiles, open-air showers and separate tubs, the microwaves and Nespresso machines in the kitchenettes perfect for a quick cappuccino or bowl of popcorn - the latter essential for quiet nights in watching one of the 100 DVDs in Le Toiny’s free movie collection. (St. Barths is not all dancing on the tables at Le Ti, you know.)

And things get even more interesting when you step out through those glass patio doors.

Here you’ll find a furnished travertine-tiled terrace and a private swimming pool lined in lava stone - LED lights mean different mood-enhancing colours at night. It’s all delightfully secret and sexy and, to reduce the need for lots of discreet coughing, there’s a red mailbox flag system in operation.

You’re also treated to a whole plethora of in-room luxuries and services including plasma TVs, Frette linens (350 thread count), candles, mosquito repellant, slippers, flip-flops, beach bag, short and long bathrobes, L’Occitane toiletries, iPod docking stations and a set of scales - but the food’s so good here you might prefer to avoid the latter.

POOL SUITE Jumby Bay, A Rosewood Resort Antigua Tel: 268-462-6000 www.jumbybayresort.com

Jumby Bay’s one-bedroom Pool Suites are tailor-made for canoodling couples. Especially if you’re the kind of discreet duo that much prefers private shows of affection to any sort of public posing. These suites are swish and sizeable, their tall windows and vaulted ceilings keeping them light and airy, their sun terraces and private pools ensuring loved-up occupants rarely feel the need to mingle with other Jumby Bayers. Especially when the sun is up.

Chances are, of course, you will want to venture out some time. Let’s not forget a sexy spa, stylish poolside grille and one of the best beaches in the Caribbean lie just on the doorstep.

And the rest of this world-famous resort is only a 5-minute stroll (holding hands is mandatory here) along the manicured white sands.

The suites somehow manage to be both sophisticated and place-sensitive inside. Their neutral palette echoes the colour of the sand outside, their cushions are a vivid shot of starfish orange and their furnishings are all made from the dark mahogany of the old Caribbean - expect your colonial-style four-poster bed to be carved with pineapples or banana leaves. Their open layout means you’ll have the option of lazing about between the sheets and gazing at each other, the Caribbean Sea or the oversized flat-screen TV. Of course, you’ll only have eyes for each other in the bathroom. Think cloistered outdoor courtyard with rain shower, rolltop bathtub and lots of bubble bath. And if there’s a full moon too, there’s no knowing what might happen ...

If you really like the idea of being lost in your own little world, request the particularly hush-hush number 45 - it stands right on the tip of the peninsula.

From $1,595 per night all-inclusive.

DELUXE SUITE The Inn at English Harbour Antigua Tel: 268-460-1014 www.theinn.ag

Tucked away just outside the 18th century Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua, The Inn at English Harbour is an exercise in colonial chic.

And nowhere embraces the historical theme more wholeheartedly than the Deluxe Suites. Stay in one of these roomy retreats and you can’t help but make like modern day Lord Nelsons and Fanny Nisbets. Indeed, the moment female guests have stepped across the threshold they can’t help but wish they’d left their Spanx at home and packed a few more lacy corsets. Their partners suddenly begin smoking Cuban cigars and quaffing English Harbour Five Year Rum. This effect has obviously got something to do with all the polished mahogany floors, stylish colonial furnishings and immaculate white fabrics. The suites are also dominated by their king-size four-poster beds which are romantically draped in muslin and suggestively positioned towards the centre of all that generous space. (Ladies, make sure you pack your best nighties too!)

The charming vintage vibe is perfectly enhanced by antique prints, cheval mirrors and old planters chairs, orchids providing the necessary colour accent and all the modern day ‘stuff’ tucked away in pleasingly chunky armoires.

Bathrooms feature traditional ‘his and hers’ sinks, as well as walk-in showers lined in green slate (no tubs here, alas).

But the covered terraces boast a couple of creamy loungers, as well as rattan furniture suitable for afternoon teas.

Go for an upstairs suite and you get a high vaulted ceiling too, the views generally including the pool and palm-studded lawns with delicious peeks of the Caribbean Sea just behind.

From $840 per night, half-board.

GRACE BAY &

& MORRIS BAY SUITES

GRACE BAY & MORRIS BAY SUITES Curtain Bluff, Antigua Tel: 268-462-8400 www.curtainbluff.com

Curtain Bluff famously boasts plenty of swanky suites, but the Grace Bay and Morris Bay Suites surely rank as the swankiest. Both these beautiful suites are housed over the third floor of a beachfront ‘villa’ and come with the kind of uninterrupted Caribbean views that can’t fail to knock your Havaianas flip-flops off. On a clear day you can even check-out the volcanic activity on distant Montserrat. That’s if you can keep your attention (and your hands) off each other, of course.

Inside everything is cool, calm and collected. Both are a contemporary take on colonial elegance, all lush palms, island prints and gorgeous sea-grass furnishings. Their bedrooms are airy, their living rooms are residential and their blue marble bathrooms feature the kind of deep-soaking tubs and walk-in showers that encourage you to linger a little. (Or that might just be the Cavalier Rum miniatures and strategically-placed ice bucket.)

Yet it only gets better when you wander outside. Step out through their floor-to-ceiling windows and you get a wide and sweeping terrace with an oversized Jacuzzi tub and a couple of come-lie-on-menow sun loungers. They’re the kind of places you’d be quite happy to hole up in for two weeks with someone not only well-adjusted (you don’t want them to fall apart when they return to less inspirational views back home), but also well versed in the art of conversation (there’s nothing as unromantic as a flat-screen TV at Curtain Bluff!)

From $1,150 per night all-inclusive.

OCEAN SUITE

Carlisle Bay, Antigua Tel: 268-484-0002 www.carlisle-bay.com Carlisle Bay’s neat series of Ocean Suites are earmarked for the most style-conscious couples those that appreciate Gaggia coffee makers, REN toiletries and organic chocolate from Green & Black’s. They’re housed in 3-storey buildings that are only separated from the beach by a seagrape-studded lawn, and all come with sea views from their bougainvillaea-clad balconies or terraces. As an added bonus there’s a lagoon right behind, its still waters regularly disturbed by leaping fish, and its resident birds offering plenty of David Attenborough-style entertainment.

Step inside and all the cool, contemporary space will give you quite a jolt - and that’s true even if you were expecting lots of cool, contemporary space. Think soft fabrics, shiny silks and barely-there colours, little touches including a careful arrangement of Penguin books, fruit of the day (two juicy red apples possibly) and a conch shell that you put outside when you’re wandering around in the buff and don’t want anyone else to see your white bits.

Size-wise they’re 780 sq.ft. which gives plenty of room for a split-level layout. The sleeping area above is dominated by a low bed dressed in white Italian linen, the living area below dominated by screened windows that lead out onto a private terrace or balcony - the comfy Asian-style day bed is only upstaged by the wooden ‘vase’ that’s as tall as your average man. Bathrooms are open, stylish and modern with frosted glass and grey marble, their showers roomy enough for two and their oval deep-soaking tubs backed by picture windows looking out onto the lagoon - have we mentioned the lagoon yet?

From $795 per night including breakfast.

HILLSIDE POOL SUITE Hermitage Bay, Antigua Tel: 268-562-8080 www.hermitagebay.com

Hermitage Bay in Antigua is a very grown-up kind of place. Its hillside pool suites have been designed for couples in the throws of a passionate affair - so they’re perfect if you’re either in one or hoping to kick-start one. They’ve been cleverly positioned not just been for their views, but also for their privacy - although the purple bell creeper certainly helps when you’re trying to tan those bits that usually stay ghostly white. Or when you’re both skinny dipping in your plunge pool when you’re not 100% sure your nearest neighbour has gone to bed.

Indeed, you can really embrace outdoor living here. Dining areas and L-shaped daybeds are incorporated into their wraparound sundecks, the shuttered bedrooms only really there for when lying down on cool white sheets in frigid air-conditioning sounds like your idea of heaven.

Design-wise they echo the serene-yet-sensual vibe of the rest of the hotel, all those moody tropical hardwoods balanced with crisp off-white fabrics, and the general vibe putting you in mind of somewhere east of Java. Bathrooms feature romantic freestanding bathtubs, although the outdoor garden showers are a better bet if you just can’t get enough of those panoramic vistas. Ladies, you’ll be glad he forked out extra for that panoramic camera lens.

Suites 37 to 39 are the highest in the resort. They still involve about 20 steps even if you hop into the golf cart - yet these are still the most popular as couples love those screen-saver views.

From $1,170 per night all-inclusive.

LUXURY OCEAN ROOMS Sandy Lane, Barbados Tel: 246-444-2000 www.sandylane.com

The 112 guest accommodations at Sandy Lane include residential-style suites and penthouses.

Yet rather unusually, the rooms that make up more than half of this world-class hotel’s inventory are more than gorgeous enough for most couples. The Luxury Ocean Rooms are not only delighfully spacious at 867 sq.ft. but blissful ocean views are guaranteed from their beds, as well as from their outdoor sitting rooms - the latter are much too big and beautiful to be called ‘balconies’.

These serene sanctuaries also offer the kind of classical elegance you last came across in those lovely Merchant Ivory films. They whisk you right back to the more romantic age of travel and you’ll soon wish you’d checked-in with a leather steamer trunk and a Penguin classic rather than a Louis Vuitton and the latest version of the iPad. They gently reaquaint you with the joys of canopy beds, regency stripes, dressing tables and writing desks. You’ll pen three airmail letters back home before recalling that the gigantic plasma TV on the wall comes with email facility too.

Indeed it’s all the details that really set Sandy Lane’s guest rooms apart - and we’re not even talking about the little screen by your bed that lets you open the drapes without getting out from between the sheets. Nor the free wifi, nor even the 52-inch TV mounted on the wall. No, we’re talking about the excellent sound-proofing that means you never hear anything going on outside, as well as the kind of air-conditioning system that’s also soundless but super-efficient. Balconies appear to be as wide as they are long, beds are ultra-comfy with cosy toppers and fine cotton sheets, and bathrooms have thickly-padded bathrobes, oodles of fluffy white towels and plenty of full-size lotions, creams and soaps.

You can make a proper cup of coffee with your Nespresso machine and your fridge has big white jugs of fresh milk. But the very best thing at Sandy Lane are those little silken sachets of tea by Harney & Sons!

From $1,420 per night including breakfast.

COLLETON SUITE Cobblers Cove Barbados Tel: 246-422-2291 www.cobblerscove.com

Cobblers Cove might look like an English country house, but if you dig a little deeper you’ll discover that its Colleton Suite is as sexy (in a tasteful way, of course!) as it gets in the Caribbean. Hidden away inside the west turret of the pink-tinged main house, this 1,780 sq.ft. sanctuary is also so secret and self-contained that the two of you never need come out and meet your public if you don’t want to. Especially as its horseshoe-shaped living area opens out onto an expansive terrace with its own well-stocked cocktail bar and private plunge pool. No worries about dodgy tan lines if you stretch out in the sun here all day.

The unblemished sea views over the west coast will also have you springing out of your bed each morning with self-satisfied smiles upon your faces. Not to mention the smokey grey marble bathroom with its inviting Jacuzzi tub and playful his-and-hers shower.

But the fact that this suite has been so beautifully ‘dressed’ by UK designer Prue Lane Fox only adds to its pulling power. Design treats include a canopied Empress-style bed, antique chairs, an elegant chaise longue and hand-painted writing desks. The fresh white-and-green colour scheme is a restful contrast to all the tropical hullaballoo on the doorstep.

From $1,290 per night including breakfast

LUXURY PLANTATION SUITE Coral Reef Club Barbados Tel: 246-422-2372 www.coralreefbarbados.com

The Coral Reef Club in Barbados once played host to Agatha Christie.

Her stay inspired ‘A Caribbean Mystery’ and the movie of the book was actually filmed at the hotel back in 1989. Yet today Coral Reef has less of the Joan Hickson about it and more of the Keira Knightley (in Atonement naturally). It’d be ridiculously easy to imagine the glamorous young movie star and her beau swanning around one of its Luxury Plantation Suites, for example.

These swanky sanctuaries exemplify the hotel’s leap from traditional charm to classic elegance. All five are the work of Helen Green, a British designer who knows just how to mix chic fabrics and bold colours with creamy marble and coral stone. Big design statements include airy bedrooms dominated by canopy beds, as well as vintage bathrooms that gentlemen would be quite happy to move into with their own version of Miss Knightly.

There are also residential-style living rooms, all their modern comforts appropriately hidden away behind drawers and doors. (Steel and chrome would definitely clash with the pickled pine). But let’s not forget all the delicious little things too. The satin hangers and carefullychosen novels, as well as the luxurious bathroom amenities shipped across the Atlantic from ‘The White Company’.

All five of Coral Reef’s Luxury Plantation Suites are located on the second floor of buildings towards the front of the resort.

Views of the Caribbean Sea are assured from their private tanning terraces - which is just as well as you’ll both be spending quite a lot of time up there thanks to their 12ft by 9ft. swimming pools.

From $1,330 per night including breakfast.

TREE TOP SUITES

TREE TOP SUITE

The Sandpiper, Barbados Tel: 246-422-2372 www.sandpiperbarbados.com The Sandpiper’s Tree Top Suites are perfect for shy-and-retiring grown-ups who like the idea of building up their tropical tans or toasting the Barbados sunsets in private. Anyone under the age of 12 is not even permitted through their doors - sticky fingerprints would definitely spoil the whole ‘timeless elegance’ thing they’ve got going on here.

Design-wise they’re the work of Helen Green, the acclaimed London designer encouraged to take The Sandpiper’s chic Caribbean theme up quite a few notches. These residential-style havens manage to be both classic and contemporary at the same time, and honeymooning types can look forward to calm and collected living rooms, seductive beds piled high with cushions, and sexy marble-clad bathrooms the size of the average London apartment.

In fact, these showstopping sanctuaries are so incredibly spacious that you may well be tempted to move yourselves in completely, especially as their outside space includes an open sundeck with a plunge pool, as well as a covered terrace complete with a handy wet-bar - one never likes to be too far away from a restorative G&T even in Barbados.

They go by the name of the Tree Top Suites as they are the only two accommodations at The Sandpiper situated on the third floor.

Both boast panoramic vistas over the glamorous west coast, so you can look forward to lots of comfortable silences …

From $1,330 per night including breakfast.

GRAND SUITE

Biras Creek, British Virgin Islands Tel: 284-494-3555 www.biras.com Biras Creek is for elegant adventurers, refined ramblers and style-conscious sailors. Actually it’s for anyone who likes to immerse themselves in the great outdoors by day, but can only fall asleep between 300-thread-count bed sheets at night.

And if you really want to treat yourselves here go for a Grand Suite.

They really are the bee’s knees, a pair of romantic retreats sharing one large building right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

Step out through your patio doors and you’ll discover your private sun terrace comes complete with its own infinity-edge plunge pool so absolutely no one at Biras Creek is going to have a better tan than you, but there is shade available when you’ve finally had enough sun.

And a Grand Suite is just as delightful inside, its generous living room distinguished not only by its ocean views, but also by its feature stone walls, arched doorways and comfy white sofas beautifully accented with aqua-blue cushions. The bedroom features a four-poster bed all dressed in white, whilst the bathroom boasts an oversized soaking tub, as well as a shower open to the sky and large enough for two. The flat-screen TV and DVD player contribute to the residential feel.

From US$825 per night no-meals and US$1,135 full-board.

SAFFRON & CINNAMON SUITES Spice Island Beach Resort, Grenada Tel: 473-444-4258 www.spicebeachresort.com

Your relationship in need of spicing up? Well, a couple of weeks at the Spice Island Beach Resort should certainly get things going. This gorgeous Grenadian getaway is famous for two things - its plethora of private swimming pools and its sublime setting on one of the Caribbean’s finest and longest beaches. So if you are thinking of treating yourself and your honeybunch, you have a difficult choice to make. Do you secrete yourselves away in a garden-set walled suite with its own private pool? Or do you fully embrace the exotic setting and choose something that couldn’t get any closer to the porcelein-white sands of Grand Anse?

If you do decide to go beachfront, we are here to tell you that it doesn’t get any better than a Saffron or a Cinnamon Suite. These are 1,440 sq.ft. of hedonistic luxury, their dark woods contrasting with their passionate colours, and their canopy beds positioned so that smooching couples can still enjoy inspirational views of the Caribbean Sea without getting out from between their Frette sheets.

And whilst they’re obviously designed with only the steamiest stays in mind (the heart-shaped Jacuzzis are another not-so-subtle giveaway), their extra ‘parlour’ bathrooms, 6-seater dining tables and expansive outdoor living areas mean everyone still gets plenty of space.

And if there’s ever any trouble in paradise, it’s good to know that the main swimming pool and silky Caribbean waters are only a brief flounce away.

From $1,695 per night all-inclusive.

COTTAGE SUITE Laluna, Grenada Tel: 473-439-0001 www.laluna.com

Does it get any moodier (or cooler) than a Cottage Suite at Laluna? These shingle-roof sanctuaries were designed by Armani architect Gabriella Giuntoli whose genius is that she can even make concrete floors look stylish. For these are decidedly rustic sanctuaries, everything boasting a handcrafted feel to it, yet everything making a bold design statement too.

The soothing colourwashes of amber, russet or mauve that distinguish the walls make any local artwork and most other colours redundant - natural linens cover the built-in sofas, whilst off-white drapes adorn the oversized four-poster beds. The Balinese furnishings range from the pleasingly chunky to the delicately intricate.

The expansive bathrooms are half-open to the tropical world on the doorstep and you can take a waterfall shower whilst gazing at the ocean instead of your navel. Inspired little touches include regular sized bath amenities charmingly sourced from an Italian monastery.

Other in-room treats include gorgeous linen-mix bed linens, as well as all the modern comforts like flat-screen TVs and iPod docking stations. And just outside your French windows you’ll find a roomy timber-floored terrace with a little plunge pool, companion seat and day bed - perfect for listening to the waves and finally getting to the end of ‘Eat, Pray, Love’.

Book early and you might be able to get the highly sought-after one set down on the lawns closest to the beach. Otherwise you’ll be perched on the steep hillside and as pleased as punch with the remarkble ocean views.

From $365 per night, room-only.

THE GARDEN SUITE

Montpelier Plantation & Beach Nevis Tel: 869-469-3462 www.montpeliernevis.com So the two of you have decided to run away together to the heavenly hillside hideout that is Montpelier Plantation & Beach? Charmed that the only distractions from each other will be the afternoon teas, the occasional vervet monkey sightings and the house party-style gatherings in the evenings.

So why not go all the way and treat yourselves to the hotel’s very best room? You’ll have to get a move on though - there is only one of these Garden Suites and it always tends to go first.

Little wonder, of course. It’s roomy (790 sq.ft.) and romantic (hand-made 4-poster bed) with just enough modern stuff (iPod docking station, wi-fi access, air-conditioning and Nespresso coffee machine) to make you feel pampered but not guilty - you are in an 18th century plantation house, after all. You also get super-soft Porthault sheets on said 4-poster, as well as a step-down living area with a built-in couch and a chunky table for your evening glasses of Chablis.

The colour scheme is off-white with striking lime and red accents, bamboo evident in anything from its head-board to its floor tiles. Wide jalousie windows allow a cooling breeze to flow through the room and outside there’s a dinky little stone terrace with a couple of chairs looking out across the lawns.

And there’s no getting away from it, the extra-spacious bathroom is far too sexy for a historical house that once belonged to the governor of Nevis.

It’s distinguished by modern glass ‘bowl’ sinks, a walk-in rainfall shower big enough for you and a few friends, as well as picture window looking out onto a palm garden. The two of you are going to love it!

From $605 per night including breakfast.

OCEANVIEW VILLA SUITE WITH POOL Cap Maison, St. Lucia Tel: 758-457-8679 www.capmaison.com

If Cap Maison is the finest (and most romantic) hotel in the north of St. Lucia, what qualifies as its finest (and most romantic) guest suite?

Undoubtedly it’s an Oceanview Villa Suite with access to its own roof terrace, especially as when you schlep up there you’re not only rewarded with the best views in the hotel, but also your own swimming pool. How fabulous is that!

The two of you get to lounge about up there all day, soaking up the sun, helping yourself to chilled glasses of Pinot Grigio from the fridge (there’s an excellent wine cellar here) and enjoying tasty meals you’ve rustled up down below. Although as luck would have it, one of the best restaurants in St. Lucia is just a roasted peanut throw away and Craig Jones’s French West Indian fare may just beat slaving away in your fancy kitchen. Even if it does have copper sinks, coraline counters and hand-painted tiles.

There’s plenty of room downstairs to make yourselves completely at home. The bedroom leads off the living/dining area and the generous private verandahs encourage you to take full advantage of those sublime ocean vistas - that’s Pigeon Island you can see to the west and Martinique off in the distance.

The décor is colonial Spanish with plenty of cool tiles and exotic woods, the natural cottons and creamy colours accented with classic brick reds.

Bathrooms are distinguished by their tumbled marble, travertine basins and the kind of oversized bathtubs that could give you ideas.

At 3,000 sq.ft. Cap Maison’s Oceanview Villa Suites rank amongst the most spacious in St. Lucia, if not the entire Eastern Caribbean.

The endless ocean views will knock you for six.

From $1,050 per night including breakfast.

SUPERIOR LUXURY VILLA Sugar Beach, a Viceroy Resort, St. Lucia (previously The Jalousie Plantation)

Tel: 758-456-8000 www.sugarbeachvillas.com

Yes, we admit it, these are one-bedroom villas rather than suites.

But they are so perfect for couples who want to shut out the rest of the world that we simply had to include them here.

The two of you can spend your entire day hiding away in these hillside hideaways, cooling your overheated bodies in your private pool and reminding yourselves than nothing in the world can be so bad when there are views like these. You are surrounding by the outstanding natural beauty of a World Heritage Site, after all.

And don’t forget that most of them also boast outdoor showers that turn a daily chore into a special event - there’s something very Adam and Eve about standing outside amidst tropical plantings with nothing on but a rich lather of Lady Primrose soap. Especially as you’re also being dwarfed by a 2,460 ft. high volcanic peak that’s seems so close you’ll want to stroke it with something approaching reverence.

Style-wise these villas are all a contemporary take on plantation-style chic, everywhere light and airy with not a swag, stripe nor floral print in site. Instead think white, white and even more white, often just local art, leafy palms or hardwood flooring providing the contrast.

Stand-out features include four-poster beds with romantic voile draping and bathrooms with Victorian roll-top tubs.

Each villa comes with a butler happy to do anything from arrange an in-room breakfast to organise your transfer down to the beach - there’s a continuous shuttle bus system in operation and you rarely have long to wait.

Of course, there’s nothing to stop you walking down to the main resort. It will only take you about 15-minutes and at least you’ll both feel you’ve actually done something!

From $760 per night including breakfast.

Front cover: [iStockphoto]/Thinkstock

HAUTE HOTELS www.haute-hotels.com Reservations direct with the hotel or through your favourite travel company.

Also Worldwide Dream Holidays at 44 (0) 845 026 0975.