The Best Hotels in Barbados

"A little smaller than its sister hotel, The Coral Reef Club (tucked just north along the west coast), The Sandpiper shares its easy-going elegance despite its position on the lively outskirts of tourist-heavy Holetown. The patch of golden sand and turquoise sea it backs onto is rarely empty, which makes for first-rate people watching and charting the progress of sailing boats and water skiers. While compact, the hotel is ensconced in tropical gardens, with bougainvillea, palms, and ferns springing from every angle. Rooms oscillate between a traditional, wicker-and-mahogany aesthetic and a more contemporary one, though all spring to life with bright colors and prints. A large sun deck, suspended above the sand, makes the most of ethereal beach views, particularly as the sun burns the horizon a deep crimson at sunset. Rum cocktails in hand and deck shoes flicked off, guests relish The Sandpiper’s informal spirit. Even the refined open-air restaurant, ring-fenced by torch-lit tropical gardens and koi ponds, demands little more than a linen shirt for tasty plates of Bajan flying fish, Caribbean shrimp, and lobster salads. And while afternoons are easily whiled away alongside the large pool or magazine-ready lap pool lined with inviting creamy parasols, the Coral Club’s palatial spa is but a concierge call away. —Rosalyn Wikeley" - Angelina Villa-Clarke, Rosalyn Wikeley