4 Best Hotels in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

This small inn, mainly suited to adults (although kids are welcome), is about 2 miles (3 km) north of Port Elizabeth on a 28-acre sugar plantation that dates from the late 18th century. Four stunning guest rooms, a cottage, and a villa—all decorated in a contemporary style—are tucked into the side of a hill overlooking endless coconut palms, the only banana plantation on Bequia, and the beach at Spring Bay. Meals are served in the Great House Restaurant, which also welcomes non-guests. Strolling down to the beach, you'll pass the ruins of the original sugar factory.

Especially favored by business travelers, rooms in this historic mansion are also perfect for vacationers who want modern comforts in an elegant setting but don't require planned activities or beachfront resort features. This stylish boutique inn is wedged into a residential hillside neighborhood (five minutes by taxi from downtown Kingstown and the Botanical Gardens) on the site of the island's oldest guesthouse (1765) and the home of its first British administrator. Although far from any beach, the hotel does have a large pool, gym, spa, and broad verandahs with sweeping views of the city and the harbor. Rooms are also large, with 1930s-style brown-wicker bureaus that contrast with the light-color walls. The European-style service is friendly, efficient, and low-key. Table d'hôte (prix-fixe) lunch and dinner are available in the Sapodilla Room, the air-conditioned restaurant on the ground level; breakfast is served on the terrace.

Painted bright yellow with white gingerbread trim, the waterfront porches and balconies at Paradise Beach Hotel offer a million-dollar view of Young Island, the activity along Villa Beach, and an amazing sunset every evening. Rooms are small but bright and simply but comfortably furnished; each has a flat-screen TV and a large, modern bathroom (shower only). Locals and guests alike frequent the bar and restaurant, perhaps attracted by the thought of choosing dinner from the live lobster pool. Walk along the waterfront and absorb the local atmosphere, chat with a fisherman, or get a bite to eat or a cool drink at a neighboring restaurant. Owners Kim and Earl Halbich also operate Fantasea Tours; its tour boats depart from the dock just steps from the hotel's alfresco bar and dining deck. The hotel's full-service spa has a long menu of massages and other types of pampering—a welcome treat after a day touring on land or on sea.

On a hillside overlooking Friendship Bay (and Bequia Beach Hotel), each room in this small inn offers a different view and a different color scheme—but all have a kitchen and airy sitting room. Louvered windows on three sides of the sitting room open to the breeze. Continental breakfast is available on the spacious verandah overlooking the pool; each week (in season) guests gather on the verandah to enjoy dinner and a movie. "Sugarapple on the Beach," a separate beachfront cottage, has two apartments that each accommodate two or four guests; it's a five-minute walk from the main building and right on the sand among the palm trees on Friendship Bay Beach.