1 It's a bumper year for hotel openings in the Caribbean. Antigua has just added Sugar Ridge (sugarridgeantigua.com),
a 60-bedroom hotel, and Nonsuch Bay (nonsuchbayresort.com), a sailing resort with 80 apartments and villas, to its growing portfolio of luxury properties. In Barbados, the venerable Atlantis Hotel (atlantishotelbarbados.com) on the island's east coast has been renovated as an intimate ten-room property. The Mount Hartman Bay Estate, in Grenada, has just opened an exclusive eight-suite hotel (mounthartmanbay.com), and luxury is the byword, too, at The Viceroy in Anguilla, which features 166 contemporary guest residences (viceroyanguilla.com). St Lucia wins the prize for the most unusual property, with the opening of Hotel Chocolat (hotelchocolat.co.uk) by the chocolatiers of the same name. Up to 12 guests can stay at this hotel set on a cocoa estate where the company is engaged in a project to reintroduce this crop to the island.
2 A cool £60m has been spent on Caribbean favourite Jumby Bay Resort (jumbybayresort.com), set on a private island off Antigua. Twenty-eight new suites have been added and the 12 original guest rooms have been completely redesigned, plus there's a new spa, two restaurants and oceanfront infinity pool. In Jamaica, Ian Fleming's home, Goldeneye, at Oracabessa, is being expanded. This year will see the completion of 11 new one- and two-bedroom beach cottages (islandoutpost.com).
3 Want to know where to find the best beach in the Caribbean? According to the Blue Flag organisation (blueflag.org), there are now 19 worthy of special recommendation, all having passed strict tests for water purity and beach management. Eight beaches in the Dominican Republic received this eco-stamp of approval at the most recent round of awards, with Jamaica scooping five and Puerto Rico six.
4 Hide out with the celebrities at Parrot Cay on Turks and Caicos. This stellar resort — favoured by the likes of Robert De Niro and Barbra Streisand — has just added two three-bedroom villas, designed in the pared-down style of owner Como Resorts (parrotcay.como.bz). And be among the first to experience Christophe Harbour in St Kitts (christopheharbour.com). Though the luxury resort and marina isn't due to fully open until 2012, it's now offering four exclusive beachfront bungalows at Turtle Beach for holiday rental.
5 Spoil yourself with a spot of pampering at the Espa spa at the new Solis The Palmyra Resort & Spa at Rose Hall (thepalmyrasolis.com) in Jamaica. The two-level space, arranged around a courtyard garden, was designed in consultation with Espa founder Susan Harmsworth. Wellbeing is the focus of St Lucia's spa hotel The BodyHoliday at LeSPORT (thebodyholiday.com). Now it's offering a new menu of treatments just for men, including massages, scrubs and facials.
6 Caribbean cooking gets a contemporary twist at Marketfive by John Hazzard (byjohnhazzard.com) in the Satjay Bridgetown Centre, Barbados. The eponymous chef's dishes use local ingredients such as hummus made from yellow split peas served with plantain foccacia crisps, while sushi is the latest flavour at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad (trinidad.hyatt.com). And Barbuda's beachfront restaurant It's a Bit Fishy Seafood Grill and Bar (itsabitfishy.com) is open again for weekend dining to live reggae, calypso and jazz.
7 Take a tip from the 'rummelier' when choosing from the extensive selection of rums on offer at The Cane Bar, a new watering hole at St Lucia's The Jalousie Plantation (thejalousieplantation.com). Check out the romantic hammock for two at the SandBar on the beach in Sandy Ground, Anguilla (sandbar.anguilla@gmail.com). Comanche Mill Yacht-less Club (yacht-lessclub.com) on the Christiansted boardwalk in St Croix may be one of the smallest bars in the Caribbean — it once served as the honeymoon suite for a nearby hotel — but it has a large collection of rums, wines and spirits to enjoy.
8 Ten acres of lush green forest have been transformed into the Wadadli Animal Nature Park, on Antigua, a new home for deer, monkeys and parrots. At the Arikok National Park on Aruba, moonlight walks are being offered across the cacti-strewn landscape (naturesensitivetours.com). The park includes the Fontein and Quadarikiri caves, which feature ancient Caquetio Indian paintings.
