Fodor's Expert Review Carlisle Bay

This cosmopolitan, boutique sister property of London's trendy One Aldwych hotel daringly eschews everything faux colonial and Creole, instead providing a monochromatic, magazine-worthy look that combines cool, classy minimalism with unsnobbish warmth. Vast, split-level accommodations emulate the Japanese decorative ideal of perfection through simplicity with white walls, black-and-white snapshots, mahogany-and-teak furnishings, mauve and peach fabrics, and chrome-and-glass accents. The bougainvillea garlanding the enormous balcony adds just the right amount of color. Deluxe gadgetry runs the gamut from fiber-optic bed lights and Nespresso machines to a movie-screening room and futuristically lighted library with Internet stations. The three innovatively trendy restaurants (including the poolside Italian, Ottimo!), complimentary nonmotorized water sports, and a soothing spa enhance the luxe ambience. There are kinks—particularly an admirable but inadequate attempt to separate families and romantically inclined couples—but the buff bodies toting cell phones make this a hip, see-and-be-seen scene.