Boutique Resort on Gold Coast of Barbados

Three nights a week, the chefs at Sugar Cane Club Hotel and Spa transform the boutique resort’s outdoor pool into a moonlit alfresco restaurant complete with regional and exotic fare such as seared sesame tuna topped with pineapple salsa and homemade veal-liver pâté infused with Barbadian rum. These evenings on the terrace underscore the sense of relaxation and romance pervading this tranquil, tropical retreat.

Garden-view rooms overlook the resort's lush grounds. A fully equipped kitchen includes enough crockery to whip up a meal of fresh seafood obtained from the fish markets in nearby Speightstown. A queen-size bed or two single beds, dressed in tropically light linens, await tired travelers, and a separate living room offers cushy, cozy furnishings.

Exploring the grounds, vacationers can splash into one of the hotel's twin pools or walk about the gardens, pausing to loll in the sun on beach chairs. The all-inclusive option covers drinks and meals at the hotel's two bars and two onsite restaurants, one of which, La Salsa Restaurant & Bar, serves contemporary Caribbean dishes. At the Sugar Cane Spa, manicures, massages, and other services let guests indulge themselves without having to write their own six-hour, autobiographical one-person shows.

Speightstown, Barbados: Colorful Architecture and White Sand Beaches

Poised on the northwestern coast of tiny Barbados, Sugar Cane Club Hotel and Spa is less than a five-minute drive from white sand beaches and the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. A complimentary hotel shuttle ferries travelers to and from the beach. Those up for a snorkeling expedition or a scuba excursion through coral scenery can wade into the surf during private lessons from one of the popular dive shops located close to the hotel.

Speightstown makes for a pleasant day-trip destination. Festively painted architecture forms a striking backdrop for the bustle of the city's streets. Fishmongers sell the day’s catch on docking ships, and shops, restaurants, and fruit stands abound. For a glimpse of 18th-century Barbados, the Arlington House Museum, a restored sugar-cane-plantation building, details the history of the colonial era, when fields of pixy stix blanketed the island.