Best Caribbean Resorts With Residences

Coco Chanel set up home at the Ritz, Marlene Dietrich favored the Hotel Lancaster, and Salvador Dali asked room service at Le Meurice to bring him a flock of sheep, which he shot at with a blank-firing pistol. Many of the world’s top hotels have been long-term homes of the rich and famous, but such arrangements are no longer limited to big cities like Paris or London — and the residents are not all celebs or eccentrics confined to their suites. Those who want high-end service 24/7 are increasingly choosing to buy apartments or villas associated with a hotel. The trend is catching on in a big way in the Caribbean. It has long been a popular choice for a second home, but now buyers can have concierges and flunkeys to take care of the drudgery of home ownership. They get all the amenities normally reserved for holidaymakers, coupled with the privacy and intimacy of a house. In return, the hotels can get some money back on their investment. The luxury Amanresorts group is the latest player to enter the hotel-residence game. Instead of shelling out $950 (£660) a night for a room at Amanera, its lavish resort in the Dominican Republic, you can invest in a two-bedroom villa for $4m, or a five-bedder, tucked away in nearly two acres, for $7.2m.

“People want second homes, not second jobs,” says Cameron Kimball, sales director at Dolphin Capital’s Amanera Villas. “Instead of fretting about burnt-out lightbulbs and backed-up toilets, they can paraphrase Julius Caesar — ‘I came, I enjoyed, I lived.’” Even if you’re not an emperor, living it up is the key to a hotel residence. Indeed, in the Caribbean, it’s crucial: away from a resort, life on the islands can be lacking in luxury. But residents at Amanera can use the restaurants, library, cigar bar, championship golf course, fitness centre, tennis courts, spa, kids’ club and beach club, all set in 2,000 private acres. This hotel lifestyle may be tailor-made for the Caribbean, but it started in London, according to Edward de Mallet Morgan, a partner at Knight Frank estate agency. He believes demand for such serviced residences increased after the opening five years ago of One Hyde Park, in Knightsbridge.

Candy & Candy’s luxury block has links to the five-star Mandarin Oriental, next door: owners of flats there can use the hotel’s squash court, 18-seat cinema and ozone pool, nip downstairs for a meal or order room service from the in-house restaurants, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and Bar Boulud. “The international set became used to requests being carried out quickly,” de Mallet Morgan explains. “They then took these expectations to the Caribbean.” Wealthy homeowners can afford their own pool, tennis court and chef, so don’t need to buy in a hotel, but de Mallet Morgan points out that perks such as restaurants and bars offer variety, buzz and a social life. The hotel becomes a meeting point, and gives owners a reason to leave their home once in a while. The interiors of the villas are strikingly contemporaryThe interiors of the villas are strikingly contemporary Feeling you’re in good company with like-minded people is a draw, as are reliable security and a brand name. All of the above make it easier to let your home, and make for a sound investment when it comes to selling, according to Charles Smith, founder of the property search agency Prime New Developments. His claim is backed up by research from Knight Frank: in a 2012 study, it found that branded residences around the world enjoy an average selling premium of 31% compared to non-branded schemes, though this means you’ll be paying more to buy in. Smith reckons it’s a 20% premium. Yet a branded resort doesn’t guarantee investment returns. “Don’t think you can do away with due diligence,” Smith says. “Check how many homes have sold, delivery dates and the reputations of the developer and managing company.” If you fancy living the five-star dream, here are the hottest new hotel residences in the Caribbean.

AMANERA VILLAS

Amanresorts started in Phuket, Thailand, in 1988, and its hotels are known for their exotic, organic feel. Last year, it opened its second Caribbean outpost on a virgin stretch of beach in the Dominican Republic. The country is part of Hispaniola, the largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba; the resort is on the north coast, backed by jungle, and feels pristine. More than 30 villas are being built, using Asian wood and stone from a local quarry, and the modernist-style flat roofs will be topped by gardens. Homeowners can choose the layout and size of the villas (from two to five bedrooms), which will overlook the sea and/or the golf course, which was designed by the renowned course architect Robert Trent Jones. It was recently updated by his son Rees Jones. Most of the hotel’s amenities are already up and running, so buyers needn’t worry about whether the developer will deliver what’s been promised. There are plans to enhance the beach club, add a proper bar area, construct a golf clubhouse and spend at least $1m on a larger fitness centre. If you place your villa in the rental pool, the hotel takes 10% to pay travel agents and credit-card costs; the remaining 90% profit is split 50/50 between Aman and the villa owners. Maintenance charges sound steep — about $120,000 a year for a five-bedroom villa — but Kimball says they cover items such as golf membership, a live-in housekeeper and chef, home insurance and property tax. Prices start at $4m for a two-bedroom villa. 00 1 849 879 5117, playagrande.com

JUMBY BAY

Antigua might be idyllic for some, but there are degrees of paradise. If you want to escape the package-holiday crowd on the main island, Jumby Bay is a 300-acre outcrop off the coast that’s accessible only by boat. A former sugar plantation, it was converted into a small resort in 1983. Its owner turned the 200-year-old plantation house into a hotel and its 12 cottages into guest rooms. Gradually, more private homes were built and sold — there are now 56 — and in 1998 the owners clubbed together to buy the island so that they could prevent overdevelopment. In 2001, they made a deal with the prestigious Rosewood Hotels & Resorts to run things. “You couldn’t replicate the setup — it’s really a one-off,” says Andrew Robson, the resort’s real-estate manager. It’s certainly an egalitarian arrangement, with each of the 56 properties representing one share in the Jumby Bay Island Company. No matter how grand your villa, everyone has an equal say. Homeowners also have a stake in the docks and the 40-room Rosewood Hotel, which has three restaurants, four bars, a gym, a spa and watersports. The residents are mainly self-made entrepreneurs from Britain and America, 10 of whom are billionaires. It’s reassuring to know that if an owner went bust, “the island wouldn’t skip a beat — it’s a 56-headed beast of wealthy people”, as Robson puts it. Four plots and six villas are available, but buyers will need deep pockets: the villas start at$7m-$12m, with detached ones going for $15m-$40m, and a four-acre beachfront plot will set you back $16m. Income from the hotel covers half the island’s running costs and rentals bring in about $14m gross annually. Owners also receive discounts at the hotel: 50% off the spa, food and beverage bills. 020 7861 1553, knightfrank.com

LALUNA ESTATE

This 16-room boutique hotel on the “spice island”, Grenada, does not have instant name recognition. So, when its owner, Bernardo Bertucci, announced that he was building seven Balinese-style villas, other developers thought he was mad. But its lack of famous branding doesn’t matter a jot to the hotel’s loyal followers, and three villas have been sold. Fans of Laluna are already renting them, and Bertucci is confident he will end up shifting the other four. This is one of the coolest, most elegant barefoot spots in the region, according to James Burdess, head of Savills estate agency’s Caribbean desk. Imagine a beach yoga pavilion, an Asian spa and an Italian restaurant where the sea crab bucatini has become something of a local delicacy. “The villas are very different in style to the simple Caribbean hotel,” Burdess says. “They’re much more contemporary.” Prices for a four-bedroom property start at $4.25m. 020 7016 3740, savills.com

EDEN ROCK

St Barts is the posh party isle beloved of the A-listers: Leonardo DiCaprio, Rihanna, Heidi Klum, Harry Styles, Prince, Sir Paul McCartney and Roman Abramovich are among its famous guests. And the stars mostly stay at Eden Rock, a glamorous Relais & Châteaux hotel that once hosted Howard Hughes and Greta Garbo, and is now owned by the family of Pippa Middleton’s beau, James Matthews. Perched on an outcrop in the sea, it has only 34 rooms in the hotel proper, and they are often booked up. As a result, many guests choose to rent one of 80 villas on the island through Eden Rock Villa Rental. Doing so gives you access to the hotel’s exclusive beach and fitness centre; and, if you opt for the ultra-luxe level, from $100,000 a week, the services of a private butler and a chef are thrown in. “Some guests prefer a villa, coming to the hotel when they want,” says Charlotte Darnaud, sales and communication manager for Eden Rock Villa Rental. “We select the most luxurious, accessible homes with good views and add amenities, ensuring renters really feel part of Eden Rock.” If you want to buy a villa, Eden Rock has recently teamed up with Sibarth Real Estate, but unlike the 80 rental properties, they won’t automatically have access to the hotel. (Arrangements can be made, for a price.) Villa Teman, a three-bedroom hillside home with tropical showers and soaking tubs in the garden, is on the market for €14.5m (£11.3m). 00 590 590 271494, edenrockvillarental.com; 00 590 590 298891, sibarthrealestate.com

CHRISTOPHE HARBOUR

Home to the brown pelican, the flame tree and the leatherback turtle, St Kitts is a haven for eco-tourism, and Christophe Harbour, a 2,500-acre resort on its southeast peninsula, claims to be committed to sustainable development. Pitched at families, sailors (there’s a superyacht marina) and retirees, it has properties to suit every buyer: plots from $700,000, custom-built villas from $3.695m and 10% shares in four-bedroom villas from $450,000. The contemporary three- and four-bedroom bungalows at Sanctuary Lane, with pools and a communal three-acre garden, start at $1.795m. Christophe Harbour doesn’t have a hotel on site, but it does have the Pavilion clubhouse, with a restaurant, a bar, a pool and a beach. And homeowners will have access to the five-star Park Hyatt St Kitts when it opens late this year. It will have a spa, a “yoga mill” (in the style of an old sugar mill), a gym, three restaurants and a kids’ club. The new hotel will offer “one more level of assurance, and gives exposure for homes going into the rentals pool”, says William Anderson, Christophe Harbour’s new executive vice-president of operations. 00 869 466 8738, christopheharbour.com

SIX SENSES FREEDOM BAY

St Lucia is synonymous with the Pitons, the dramatic (and Unesco-listed) twin sugarloaf peaks that rise romantically out of the tropical sea on the southwest coast — and the luxurious Six Senses resort is right at the foot of them. It’s the perfect setting for the Six Senses brand, known for its natural, spa-like resorts in tropical paradises such as the Seychelles and Thailand. This outpost has a signature spa, three restaurants, a tennis club, an observatory, an outdoor cinema, in-house catering and valet, concierge and chauffeur services. As well as 77 one- and two-bedroom resort villas, there are 45 private residence villas (two, four and six bedrooms), each of which has a pool. Prices start at $1.35m. 020 3327 2750, primenewdevelopments.comThis article originally appeared on The Sunday Times.