Here's an exclusive look at a feature from our November issue!As winter creeps like a bad cold across northern climes, the Caribbean beckons with turquoise waters, dependably sunny days and perpetual happy hours. And although summer may have been off-season for visitors, it was anything but for the region's hoteliers and restaurateurs. Resorts have been busy adding on and sprucing up, while chefs have been taste-testing recipes into the night. Read on to find the best of what's new in your favorite warm-weather getaway. GRAND OPENINGSAntigua At the luxurious Hodges Bay Club, which was slated to open on Antigua's north shore in October, chic rooms feature lots of stainless steel, stone, dark hardwoods and glass. The 113-room resort's three restaurants range from beachside and barefoot to fine dining at Taboo, the hotel's signature eatery. An infinity pool sits right on the beach, and each of three oceanfront houses has a private pool. Over on Long Bay, Grand Pineapple Beach Antigua, Sandals' new budget-conscious brand, opened in March. The 180-room all-inclusive sits on 1,600 feet of pristine sand and offers a host of diversions, from water aerobics to beach volleyball.ArubaDivi Aruba Phoenix Beach will add 140 suites to its existing 101 at the end of December. New rooms at the Palm Beach hotel will feature splashes of color, contemporary, dark-wood furniture, full kitchens, plasma TVs and in-room washer-dryers. Have the kids cook you dinner at the Westin Aruba Resort on Palm Beach, where the new Little Chefs program gives kids 6 and up a chance to get hands-on in the resort's Café Bacci. They'll help prepare a full meal, including an appetizer and dessert.Bahamas
Marley Resort & Spa opened in July on Cable Beach, bringing a little Jamaican irie to New Providence. Owned by the Marley family, the resort's 16 themed suites are each named for a song by the patriarch: One Love is the honeymoon suite; Legend offers a separate living room, hardwood floors and private balcony. All suites feature amenities such as tropical rain showers, Bose sound systems and flat-screen TVs, and there's a holistic spa (Natural Mystic) and a restaurant (Simmer Down) where you can sample classic family recipes.BarbadosAlmond Casuarina Beach opened in May, unveiling a $30 million expansion of an existing property. Set on the south-shore sands of Maxwell Beach, the all-inclusive resort has 267 rooms, three restaurants, four bars, a host of water activities and a kids' club.The Coral Reef Club on the swanky Platinum Coast introduces a two-story spa in December. Four treatment rooms (each with a private garden), a couples' outdoor treatment pavilion, a hydro pool with cabanas and a thermal suite ensure that you'll be vigorously pampered. Also on the Platinum Coast, the venerable Sandy Lane reopened in October. Rooms have gotten a facelift, with new patio furniture and flat-screen TVs. But the real buzz is about the spa and the new restaurant, Bajan Blue.BelizeGet your Om on at the brand-new, Indian-inspired Brahma Blue Resort on Ambergris Caye. The 14-room resort offers herbal, Ayurvedic and spa treatments and an over-water restaurant, Blue Lotus, which serves Indian classics with a Caribbean twist, like tandoori mango chicken. Last winter, Ambergris' Caye Casa rebuilt and morphed from a bed-and-breakfast into a chic boutique hotel. Its five sunny, brightly painted casitas all sit oceanfront, with views framed by a thatch-covered porch. Go green without roughing it at Moho Cay
Lodge, where a 30-minute boat ride from Port Honduras Marine Reserve will deposit you on a tiny, sandy islet with eight raised, safari-style tents. Solar panels provide electricity and warm water for showers. The tents also have hardwood floors and over-water verandas.BermudaNewstead Belmont Hills Golf Resort & Spa makes its debut on the harbor just outside Hamilton with 45 suites and studios that feature flat-screen TVs and Bose sound systems. Guests receive a complimentary round of golf each day (one round per room).Tucker's Point Hotel & Spa opens next spring, adjacent to an 18-hole championship golf course. Rooms feature water-view balconies or terraces.BonaireOn a private lagoon less than a minute from one of the island's many dive sites, the brand-new Waterlands Village Resort opened in August, featuring 24 one-, two- and three-bedroom cottages inspired by Indonesian architecture.The island isn't known for its nightlife, but Club Calypso opened in Kralendijk in July with plans to change all that. Doors open on Fridays and Saturdays at 9 p.m., and live DJs rock the house until 3 a.m.British Virgin IslandsVirgin Gorda's esteemed Biras Creek Resort is becoming even more luxe, with the addition of a private plunge pool in its two-bedroom suite. The spa is also getting a facelift, offering private access to each of the spruced-up treatment rooms.On Tortola, secluded Long Bay Beach Resort has updated 20 beachfront deluxe rooms and cabanas with new king- or queen-size beds, flat-screen TVs, walk-in closets and kitchenettes with wet bars. A silver lining glimmers in the wake of the demise of fabled Windjammer Cruises. The line's Flying Cloud, which dates from 1935, is slated to become the BVIs' newest dive site when it's sunk this fall between Cooper and Ginger Islands.Cayman IslandsCaribbean Club Hotel became Seven Mile Beach's newest condo hotel in July 2007, with 37 three-bedroom suites. Luxury is the name of the game here, with stocked gourmet kitchens, master suites with walk-in closets and marble bathrooms. ""
For something completely different, head east to Bodden Town, where The Retreat at Lookout Farm opened last December. Owned by a Caymanian family, the eight-room guesthouse has amenities like organic linens and is nestled on five acres of indigenous flora and fruit trees.CuraçaoMake like Tarzan and Jane at Kura Hulanda's new Tree House suite, perched on wooden stilts and decorated with African artifacts. A spiral staircase leads up to the 1,300-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bathroom enclave.Perennial favorite Lion's Dive & Beach Resort is adding 24 two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments, four suites and a penthouse, as well as a new Mediterranean restaurant, pool and kids' pool. The penthouse and suites all feature ocean views. The 237-room Renaissance Curaçao Resort & Casino opens this month in the heart of Willemstad, with a man-made beach fronting a saltwater expanse, infinity pool, casino, restaurants and a shopping arcade.>>> Click Here to Continue Reading>>> Click Here to Check Out Another Sneak Peek from the November Issue
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