To relax within sight of St. Lucia‘s famed twin Piton peaks — right in the middle of them, in fact — and yet still on the beach (a number of the island’s luxury resorts are actually perched on hillsides high above the sea), book a stay at Sugar Beach, A Viceroy Resort. The property’s 86 rooms, villas, and bungalows channel a breezy plantation style with white fabrics and romantic four-poster beds (beach bungalows are more contemporary), while its cuisine ranges from coconut shrimp, conch fritters and mini burgers at Bayside Bar to personalized tasting menus at The Great Room.

Rebranded under the Belmond flag and ready to rebound after being damaged by Hurricane Irma on September 2017, the newly renovated Belmond Cap Juluca on Anguilla will reopen in mid-November with a new beachfront infinity pool, three revamped restaurants and refreshed décor highlighting Caribbean botanicals. The resort’s location — on sublime Maundays Bay, a calm crescent of white sand and turquoise water — is just the beginning. The romantic Moorish-style architecture and casual-glam ambiance of the 113 rooms, suites and private pool villas are complemented by a new “disappearing spa” that blends into the landscape and uses indigenous local ingredients.

A pink-sand beach awaits at The Crane, a 252-room resort on the southeast coast of Barbados, where classic Caribbean heritage (it opened in 1887 with 18 rooms as the island’s first hotel) has been steadily modernized by the addition of spacious one-, two- and three-bedroom suites (many with private pools) and residences, a small shopping village and five restaurants (including Zen, serving inspired Asian cuisine). But it all comes back to the beach, a wide crescent of soft sand, gently rolling waves and steady breezes located just below the cliff-top hotel, that ranks as one of the most soothing spots in the Caribbean to chill.

It took 50 years for the first overwater bungalows — those seductive thatch-roofed hideaways perched on stilts above a lagoon that were first conceived in French Polynesia in 1967 — to appear in the Caribbean, and Jamaican all-inclusive pioneer Sandals deserves the credit for introducing them at three of its properties. Our favorite is the spacious and secluded Sandals South Coast, which now has 12 Over-the-Water Honeymoon Butler Bungalows. And with their Tranquility Soaking Tub, hammock for two, easy ocean access and personalized butler service, there’s really no reason to mingle — but you can, to enjoy nine restaurants, seven bars, tennis courts, unlimited scuba diving and water sports and the view from the Over-the-Water Chapel (in case you want to say “I do”).