Coconut. Calabash. Castaway.  

The names evoke the idylls of the Caribbean — a nap under a dancing palm; the soundtrack of the quiet froth of the sea. 

They just don’t make Caribbean hotels like this anymore. 

That’s because the first of these charming, breezy cottages, Coral, opened on the beach back in 1949, amid the post-war tourism boom to the island of St Croix. 

And it’s been owned by the same family, the Benedicts, ever since. 

“It’s the best-kept secret in St Croix,” Paul Benedict says.

This is Cottages by the Sea, a place that remains one of the little under-the-radar treasures of the Caribbean. 

It’s another reason why St Croix is emerging as a sought-after spot for in-the-know Caribbean aficionados; like the best destinations, it reveals more layers as you journey back. 

There are 27 cottages here, some with a view of the sand here on the outskirts of Frederiksted; others with a window to the palm trees. 

Most (25 of them, in fact) have their own kitchens; they’re all colorful, with a kind of cheeky-rustic aesthetic that will instantly take you back in time — and in the age of social distancing, they’re the perfect recipe for the needs of travelers right now. 

As for the amenities: there’s housekeeping; a gazebo a library; games and water sports and a yoga deck, along with free Wi-Fi and access to the adjacent Beach Side Cafe (set at the also terrific Sand Castle on the Beach hotel next door). 

And then there’s the greatest amenity: the island dream in its raw, unadulterated form, with nothing keeping you from the call of the beach. 

It’s what we all want right now, now more than ever — and there’s a very simple name for it: 

Caribbean. 

For more, visit Cottages by the Sea. 

— CJ

The post A Tiny Caribbean Beach Hotel to Try in St Croix appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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The Turks and Caicos Collection has reopened its all-inclusive Alexandra Resort on Grace Bay Beach in Providenciales. 

The 90-room, family-friendly property, has reopened with a host of new health and safety protocols “to maintain the safest level of cleanliness and hygiene for guests and staff,” the company said in a statement. 

The resort is part of the collection’s four-hotel portfolio in Turks and Caicos, along with the Blue Haven Resort, the adults-only Beach House and the newest addition to its portfolio, the private-island Ambergris Cay resort. 

Turks and Caicos has been open for tourism since July. 

For more, visit the Alexandra Resort in Turks and Caicos. 

— CJ

The post This Turks and Caicos All-Inclusive Just Reopened appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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Music, art, people, history and of course immense natural beauty help define the magic of Jamaica, and the Caribbean island’s small boutique resorts allow visitors to connect with it all without having to make any concessions to comfort.

Here are seven of Jamaica’s best boutique resorts for immersing in Jamaican culture up close and personal.

Tensing Pen, Negril It’s hard to find a literal definition of a “tensing pen,” but I like the notion that this Negril resort takes your tension, confines it to a little cage, and tosses it off the nearby cliffs into the Caribbean. Often described as “rustic” due to its construction from blocks of local stone and thatched-roofed buildings, Tensing Pen is hardly a place where guests need to rough it. Inside the walls of the hotels’ rooms and cottages you’ll find bamboo and mahogany furniture that blend as well with the garden setting as the hotel walls do with Negril’s famous cliffs. Likewise, trails lined with lush foliage wander from the rooms to a freeform pool, open-air restaurant, a spa, and spots where you can test your courage with a cliff dive into the inviting waters below.

The post 7 Small Resorts to Try in Jamaica appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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