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| Courtesy Malliouhana |
When this father-and-son-run resort opened in 1984, it brought a new level of worldliness to the Caribbean. It still has an easygoing sophistication that few hotels can match. The 55 guest rooms are spacious; the service is, for the most part, warm yet precise; and the restaurant, by two-star Michelin chef Michel Rostang, is superb, as is the 25,000-bottle wine list. The spa, which was added in 2002, is a knockout. The 15,000-square-foot building sits on prime beachfront, and its eight immense treatment rooms are suffused with sunshine reflected off the sparkling sea. Some also have private terraces for enjoying that view. The treatment menu is wide ranging (tropical scrubs, European facials, Asian massages, Ayurveda), and the therapists are very skilled. The spa gets major bonus points for importing massage talent from Bali, Thailand, Nepal, and Canada (home of some of North America's best training). Design snobs, take note: Much of the hotel decor screams '80s, and the technology is less than cutting-edge (intermittent in-room Internet, via cables by the bed, not the desk). No matter. Like a confident Frenchwoman, Malliouhana wears its age beautifully. — A.A.
800-835-0796, www.malliouhana.com
