Sunfinder Vacations

A renowned retreat since 1961, the resort was rebuilt and reopened in March 2001 after an expenditure of several hundred million dollars. This hotel attracts vacationers from around the world who are accustomed to pampering service and content with understated opulence. Behind the gates lies a tranquil green haven of golf, sunning and swimming, fine dining, and high-tech amenities.

What to expect: Because children under 18 are not permitted, this Caribbean beach resort is designed for couples seeking relaxing holidays in the ambience of a private residence. Entrance to The House is through a gate with no sign to betray the resort’s presence. A white-clad Personal Ambassador assigned to each couple serves fruit smoothies on arrival and explains how the 24-hour ambassador service operates.

Amenity highlights: In addition to a sandy beach, this Barbados resort includes a two-level pool complex with a jetted section. Use of water sports equipment is complimentary at a partner property, 91 meters (100 yds) away.

Complimentary food service consists of a daily Champagne breakfast buffet, high tea, and nightly Port wine. The resort is home to Daphne’s restaurant, which offers Modern Italian cuisine.

Insider tip: Guests can walk or take water taxis to three partner resorts along the West Coast, where they may use pools and other facilities, and charge restaurant meals to their rooms.

Many British royalty and celebrities are regulars at the Fairmont Royal Pavilion Hotel, favoring the discreet hospitality offered amid 11 tropical acres of snoop-screening thickets. The hotel dates from the 1940s.

Restored and enlarged, this 7-acre former private club is secluded at the end of a long driveway lined by casuarina trees. The Colony Club Hotel attracts couples and families with older children seeking beach vacations that combine tranquil sunbathing with water sports. Children under age 12 are not permitted during February.

This small hotel attracts young adult couples and singles desiring access to action along the half-mile St. Lawrence Gap dining/nightlife strip, as well as proximity to the beach across the street. One of Time Out At The Gap's attractions, a colorful, open-air, West Indian-style shopping village, is just 100 yards away. This Barbados hotel's moderate pricing also draws business travelers.

This adults-only Barbados resort caters to singles and couples 16 and older. The compact, 1.5-hectare (four-acre) resort supplies tranquil daylight sunbathing amid a lush landscape of palm trees and tropical flowers, and lively after-dark entertainment and socializing; open-air shopping is nearby at a West Indian-style shopping village.

Designed for families, this 13-hectare (32-acre) resort on one kilometer (0.5 mile) of beachfront is large enough to be lively in some areas and tranquil in others, pleasing both children and adults. Adults also enjoy a restaurant reserved for them. A reminder of the resort's former life as a sugar plantation remains in the form of a stone tower.

What to expect: Nearly engulfed by tropical gardens and tall trees, the tranquil, all-inclusive Almond Casuarina Beach Resort wins recognition for environmental sensitivity and features Barbadian original artworks. From a breezy lobby of coral-stone walls and bleached-wood ceiling, to shady sitting spots, to a hammock-and-cushioned-lounge-chair "garden," to a board-games room, the resort offers a myriad of resting places.

Amenity highlights: This all-inclusive resort in Barbados sits on a 400-yard stretch of nearly white coral sand buffered by casuarina trees. The beach includes a section where hair braiders ply their trade and vendors sell colorful resortwear. An 80-by-27-foot rectangular pool provides freshwater swimming. The 25-foot-diameter children's pool has a shaded deck with large playpen/cribs (infant beds). Both pools' decks feature wood-shingle shades, umbrellas, and cushioned lounge chairs.

Insider tip: Endangered sea turtles lay eggs on the beach fronting the resort from April to November, with hatchings into December.

While this 5.5-acre resort includes a pastel-colored, traditional Barbadian village at its street-side level, the main buildings are down a short slope, away from traffic noise. A dense garden borders the lobby entrance. Botanical signs identify plantings, some of which shade two-person swings.

Set in a resort area of small hotels, the Blue Horizon stands out because of its brightly colored buildings. The casual, open-air ambience appeals to couples and singles seeking moderately priced getaways where there's shopping, dining, nightlife, and water sports. Families appreciate the hotel's kitchenette rooms.

This compact resort is set into a hillside amid gardens and waterfalls. Orchids bloom in the open-air, marble-floor lobby; a two-story coral-stone atrium is adjacent.

What to expect: Thick, tall, tropical plantings screen buildings and create the tranquil privacy that attracts couples to this Barbados hotel.

Amenity highlights: Lined with coral boulders, the resort's sea frontage extends 45.8 meters (150 yards) and leads to an adjacent 76-meter (250-yard) beach. Lounge chairs and umbrellas are also available on wooden deck area with loungers. A deck surrounding a 16.7-meter-long (55-foot-long) kidney-shaped pool provides another sunbathing area. Water skiing, windsurfing, sailing, snorkeling, kayaking, and hobbie cat are complimentary.

Terraced from a low bluff to the ocean, this Barbados hotel draws couples, singles, and families looking for uncomplicated beach holidays, casual dining, and beachfront-bar socializing.

Compactly terraced on a flower-bedecked hillside overlooking the Caribbean Sea, this resort appeals to families and couples seeking active holidays centered on the beach and water sports. Tranquil spots can be found, including an open-air lounge off the lobby with a bleached-wood ceiling, overstuffed seating, and a view of the sea and sunsets.

Opened in 2005, this Barbados hotel is spacious enough so that attendees in the separate conference center don't disturb vacationing couples and families. The Needham’s Point setting is 3 km (2 mi) from central Bridgetown yet isolated from the busy resort districts.

Located on the fabled west coast of Barbados, Mango Bay is an intimate resort with just 76 guestrooms. Calm Caribbean waters and a white-sand beach invite swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, and sunbathing. Holetown bars and boutiques are a two-minute walk. The resort appeals to vacationers seeking an all-inclusive experience with a friendly, personalized touch.

Driven by steady tradewinds, the Atlantic Ocean arrives just east of Barbados' southernmost point in long, rolling swells and medium surf, making this hotel a prime destination for kite-surfers, windsurfers, and surfers. Others prize the breezy, peaceful locale and the panoramic views of the majestic ocean.

This open-air resort in Barbados attracts couples, singles, and families for relaxed holidays centered on the beach during the day and on dining and nightlife in St. Lawrence Gap after dark.

Coralstone walls and pink-and-gray marble floors in an open-air lobby herald the relaxed, Mediterranean-Caribbean ambience at the Tamarind Cove Hotel, which attracts couples and, during school-holiday seasons, families.

Popular with business travelers because of its proximity to Bridgetown, The Savannah also appeals to adult leisure travelers seeking a tranquil beachside holiday with ready access to downtown shopping. Locals use the hotel for special occasions and meetings.

Breezy informality with contemporary style begins in an open-air, marble-floor lobby under Turtle Beach Resort's signature whitewashed latticework ceilings of tropical pine and extends through tropical gardens to a long beach. Couples find peace and quiet while families stay active on the beach and in pools.

Recognized as the Caribbean's oldest continuously operating hotel, The Crane Resort and Residences in Barbados stands on a cliff above a picture-perfect beach, where pink-tinged white sands meet the azure Atlantic. The resort maintains its original 1887 ambience, exemplified by the lobby's creamy coral-stone walls and manicured, sculpture-dotted grounds. The hotel primarily draws celebrating couples.