3 Best Hotels in Nevis, St. Kitts and Nevis

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.

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.

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.