Why the Caribbean? by James Henderson

It’s true, the Caribbean has lost the exclusivity and charm of the dream destination for which it was once famous. It started in the 1980s, when the islands built big hotels in an effort to attract package tourists. Tourism became an industry and the hotels so much plant. There were good sides too. Service was sharpened up and a decent meal was no longer impossible to find.

But don’t despair. Seclusion, romance and charm can still be found in the islands. It’s just a case of knowing where to look. There are some extremely fine hotels dotted around the more developed islands like Barbados, St Lucia and Jamaica. There are even some exclusive islands—Anguilla, St Barts, bits of the British Virgin Islands and a few extremely fine spots, which are nothing more than a sand-blip and a hotel. And then there are some simply charming islands which offer the best of the West Indies, the way it was fifty years ago, which have hardly joined the race for the package tourists at all. Here you might want to consider Nevis and some of the Grenadines, including Carriacou and Bequia.

Considering that your hotel is likely to be the centrepiece of your trip, it is worth making considerable effort to choose the right one. Here information is at a premium—listen to what other travellers have to say, check the internet, read the guide books and papers and then ring up the tour operators and question them. Of course some tour operators are selling from brochures - you’ll soon find out if they have visited the places they are talking about (or you can just ask them outright) - but the Caribbean specialists will make an effort to choose the right place for you.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Caribbean is the variety. There are nearly thirty countries or ‘political units’ among the islands alone: Latin American islands, former British islands and British Crown colonies, French islands, Dutch islands and American islands; and on them, a stunning variety of hotels. There’s bound to be one that is right for you.