Grace Bay Club

The Grace Bay Club is the picture-perfect Caribbean getaway, a Mediterranean-style villa, red tile roofs and all, fringed with imported palm trees and opening onto one of the finest beaches in the Western hemisphere, a stretch of immaculate white sand framing the deep turquoise waters of the bay on the north side of Providenciales island.

This place was long known as an intimate adults-only hideout, and while it retains its small scale and exclusive atmosphere, the age requirements have been relaxed — children under 12 are still barred from the main hotel building, but are welcome in the new addition, the privately owned villa suites, in fact a complex of condos available for rental in the owners' absence.

It’s an all-suite property, and each suite is suitably luxurious, confidently decorated in a rather eclectic style. Appointments are modern, verging on excess in the larger suites — the multi-bedroom accommodations feature kitchens and washer/dryers.

Dining is a touchy subject in the Caribbean but Grace Bay’s Anacaona restaurant is a remarkable one — the cuisine is sophisticated French and the setting, open to the air beneath a thatched roof and lit by candles and torches, sublime.

Leisure activities include an expansive spa and fitness center, two outdoor pools, tennis, golf and every variety of water sports. Many, though, will elect simply to pass the days lounging on one of the world’s most famous beaches.