St. Kitts Hotels

St. Kitts has an appealing variety of places to stay—beautifully restored plantation inns (where a meal plan including afternoon tea in addition to breakfast and dinner is the norm), full-service, affordable hotels, simple beachfront cottages, and all-inclusive resorts. There are also several guesthouses and self-serve condos. Increasing development has been touted (or threatened) for years. At this writing, the ultraritzy Park Hyatt is still in negotiations to debut its first Caribbean property on Cockleshell Bay, alongside oft-delayed upscale villa compounds such as the culture-oriented, ecocentric Kittitian Hills (architect Bill Bensley designed some of Thailand's most remarkable resorts), several golf courses, and the $17 million Beaumont Park horse-racing venue (itself part of a megadevelopment on the island's northwest end). The island's first large hotel, the St. Kitts Marriott Resort, plans to add 270 condos by late 2012, but any upcoming developments are all fewer than 300 units, including the sparkling 185-unit Ocean's Edge condo complex on Frigate Bay and deluxe properties such as the grand Christophe Harbour development that will sprawl elegantly across the Southeast Peninsula replete with spectacular villas, beach clubs, celebrity restaurants, megayacht marina, Tom Fazio-designed golf course, and boutique hotels (perhaps a Mandarin Oriental).