Fodor's Expert Review Bird Rock Beach Resort

This basic scuba-set resort crowns a bluff above Basseterre, delivering amazing views of the town, sea, and mountains from every vantage point. Two-story buildings in carnival colors wind through small gardens. The newer rooms are spiffier, with vivid throw rugs and mahogany two-poster beds; studios with kitchenettes and pullout sofas offer real bargains for families (cheap additional connecting rooms). Most rooms have jaw-dropping panoramas, aside from the 700 block. The tiered sundeck and pool, replete with swim-up bar, and' Rocky's and Sunburst restaurants rank among the island's top sunset perches. The expanded but still minuscule beach (a sandy lagoon is being created near the independently operated dolphin encounter), ancient kitchenettes, and occasional plumbing problems don't seem to bother the laid-back divers and young Europeans who give Bird Rock an appealing international flavor.