7 Best Hotels in Nevis, St. Kitts and Nevis

This beachfront beauty impeccably combines world-class elegance—ever dazzling and sleek, never overwhelming or overdone—with West Indian hospitality while scrupulously maintaining, upgrading, and refreshing its facilities. Yes, sometimes the resort is overrun by noisy families and conventioneers. And yes, it's pricey. But the service is smiling and solicitous, and the amenities are excellent. A beach concierge dispenses everything from books to CDs to Evian spray; personal attendants cater to your every whim in chattel-style cabanas equipped with Wi-Fi, iPod dock, and TV. Facilities range from a state-of-the-art business center and sybaritic spa to an 18-hole Robert Trent Jones Jr. golf course, as well as a children's club, game room, and turtle-conservation program. Fascinating offerings include Dive and Dine with the executive chef, local bush tea lessons, and Garden Tours with in-house botanists. Good-value packages—and complimentary extras such as nonmotorized water sports and twice-weekly golf clinics—help reduce the sting from the high rates.

Acclaimed artists Brice Marden and wife Helen Harrington have imparted a chic, modernist sensibility to this 18th-century estate property while respecting its storied past: the old cistern is now the spring-fed swimming pool; the sugar mill has become a honeymoon retreat; and the vividly hued gingerbread cottages (each holding two rooms) contrast pristine white floors, curtains, and bedspreads with hardwood or bamboo furnishings, pineapple friezes, and colorful Berber throw rugs. Many surfaces—from decks to shutters—are splashed in reds and greens; the pool addition resembles a contemporary-art installation, the restaurant a dazzling tiered sculpture garden with waterfalls. Service is unobtrusive yet warm, in fine counterpoint to the hip cool ambience and buzz imparted by the cosmopolitan clientele.

This Nevisian beauty, a Rélais & Châteaux property, epitomizes understated elegance and graciously updated plantation living: a fieldstone greathouse replicates the 18th-century original, a sugar mill houses an intimate restaurant, and hillside cottages—each with a private sea-view verandah—dot 30 acres of ravishing gardens. Plantation rooms adopt a monochrome, minimalist, modern aesthetic with touches like metallic headboards. Premier rooms offer more traditional Laura Ashley-meets-the-Caribbean decor. Staffers (more than three per room) almost psychically intuit your needs. All you have to do is relax in a hammock contemplating the sea; enjoy tapas, complimentary tea, or live music (three times weekly) by the 60-foot pool; or savor cooking classes, rum tastings, and spa treatments.

These Creole-style, cotton-candy-color, gingerbread cottages sit steps from a beach facing St. Kitts and are staggered to ensure sea views from all the rooms, some of which have mahogany canopy four-poster beds and granite vanities. The rooms tend to be a bit older and musty, but you probably won't be spending much time in your room: ecocentric, Green Globe–certified Oualie is noted for its many on-site recreational opportunities, from mountain biking to diving, windsurfing to turtle-watching. It's also fairly hopping for a small Nevisian property. The informal restaurant hosts popular barbecue-and-lobster Tuesdays and West Indian–theme Friday nights with live music. You can book spa packages with the on-site but unaffiliated Chill spa. Dive packages and other specials, including early-bird discounts, make Oualie an excellent value.

This exclusive South Sea–inspired enclave cascades down a lush hill to Pinney's Beach, providing posh, pampering, Bali "high" stays in thatched-roof villas that have 30-foot ceilings with hand-carved beams and private, vine-swaddled, split-level, sea-view patios with plunge pools. Interiors blend classic with contemporary: carved mahogany and teak furnishings; sunken marble tubs; indoor/outdoor rainfall showers; smart TVs; gourmet kitchens; printer-equipped offices; and eclectic decor elements (Buddhas, model sailboats, African carvings, huge earthenware or glazed urns). Newer, two-bedroom beach villas resemble tree houses and have awesome electric drawbridge staircases and gravity-defying hanging chairs designed by noted sculptor Stephen Myburgh. Needless to say, only the finest products will do, butler service is included, and private chefs can be provided. The cool beach bar was created using 2,000 recycled Heineken bottles.

Located right along popular Pinneys Beach, and one of the island's newest properties with views of not only the Caribbean, but also lush gardens and Nevis Peak. This family-friendly spot boasts full kitchens, laundry, and two bathrooms per unit. Great for those who are active, there's a river-style lap pool and the state of the art gym is open 24/7. Most visitors make use of the in-room kitchens, but those who want to avoid cooking on vacation can stroll over to Yachtsman Grill to nosh on fresh local caught fish and fruits grown nearby.

A snug 1670 greathouse (reputedly the Caribbean's oldest surviving wooden building) forms the heart of this hillside hideaway, run by two (going on three) generations of charmingly "loopy" Lupinaccis, who keep things lively, down to earth, and family friendly—rare for such a refined, smart-set retreat. Painstakingly restored or meticulously re-created stone-and-gingerbread cottages have hardwood floors, four-poster canopy beds, and hammock-slung patios or balconies. Families and honeymooners adore the two-story Blue Cottage. The Loft, Pink House, and Goosepen Cottage are equally sybaritic, and the three-bedroom Manor House has a pool and wraparound porches. In genuine plantation fashion, the inn has its own stable and livestock, as well as English Romantic–style gardens (pluck your own fruit, or ask the kitchen to prepare a homeopathic bush tea). The Blue Iguana is arguably the island's most interesting boutique. A renovated motor yacht offers sailing, fishing, and St. Kitts transfers.