The Ocean Club, A Four Seasons Resort

Free champagne and strawberries for everyone, every afternoon: that enduring tradition pretty well sums up the The Ocean Club. The Bahamian resort has been associated with decadence since its first day, when William Randolph Hearst, Zsa Zsa Gabor and too many dukes and earls to name showed up to party at the inaugural ball, and if the atmosphere has loosened up a bit as the tuxes have turned to Polo tees, it certainly hasn’t dampened the distinct rich-at-play spirit of the place. A self-contained world of elegant colonial-style rooms, vast and primly mowed lawns (with the occasional wily coconut palm popping through), and classic white-sand-dune Paradise Island beachfront, the Ocean Club is about as timeless a vision of the Bahamian beach resort as one could ever want.

Which is not at all to say it feels outdated. Proper upkeep, after all, is the secret to cultivating a sense of timelessness, and here, after countless rounds of modernization, the rooms look as good as new. In the more contemporary Crescent Wing, louvered doors open onto private patios or balconies overlooking the ocean, while the airy, sun-drenched interiors feel every bit as fresh as the open-air spaces. For a more traditional look, the Hartford wing retains more of a Colonial aspect, with mahogany and cane furnishings, though all the same modern luxury hotel fittings, like big baths with properly deep tubs, are there as well. Whichever you choose, fresh flowers, nightly turndown service and even such services as luggage-unpacking and shoe shines are the norm.

Of course a full-scale Caribbean resort of this ilk wouldn’t be complete without enough dining, playing and pampering options to satisfy a planeload of aristocrats. To that end there’s a range of dining options, from frozen grapes by the pool to gut-busting gustatory indulgence at the predictably pleasurably Jean-George Vongerichten restaurant; an 18-hole, par-72 golf course that wends along the water; a spa with all the massages, yoga sessions and beauty programs to bust the stubbornest bit of stress; and of course any number of ways to enjoy the water, from diving and snorkeling to sailing and wind surfing. Or you can just lie in the soft white sand on the beach; that hasn’t gone out of style, either.