If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD525.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Antigua has a beach for each day of the year – but out of the island’s 365 Caribbean Sea-lapped spots, Tamarind Hills Antigua claims two of its finest. Easy, breezy days are spent barefoot between Ffryes and Darkwood beaches, ordering piña coladas to your pineapple-shaped cabana, and kicking back by whichever infinity pool takes your fancy (steps from the sand, or up on the bluff back at yours). Whether it’s a one-bedroom studio suite or five-bedroom villa, your luxury holiday home brings the blue-and-white backdrop in – decked out with driftwood four-poster beds, coastal artworks, and full-height glass to frame those swimmingly good views.
Smith Extra
Get this when you book through us:
A bottle of chilled rosé on arrival; if four guests are staying in a villa, they'll get a magnum
11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £491.87 ($614), including tax at 17 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional service charge of 6% per booking prior to arrival and an additional room tax of $5.00 per person per night prior to arrival.
More details
Rates exclude breakfast, but you can enjoy a full English at the Clubhouse (from $25), and yoga and pilates three times a week and two guided hikes are included in your room rate.
Also
The resort is scattered across steep, tiered terraces and most of the accommodation can only be accessed via steps, making it sadly unsuitable for guests with mobility issues.
Hotel closed
The property closes for the month of September each year.
At the hotel
Beach club, lounge, charged laundry service, and free WiFi. In rooms: smart TV, air-conditioning, private infinity pool (villas and townhouses), Jacuzzi (one-bedroom suites), pool towels, barbecue, fully equipped kitchen, and Botanical bath products.
Our favourite rooms
With Beachfront, Oceanfront, Ocean View, and signature Tamarind Suites to decide between, you’ll be utterly spoiled for choice at Tamarind Hills. We like that the three-bedroom Colibri Dance villa practically puts you on the beach (the infinity-edged pool deck leads directly onto the sand) and is spread across three floors (so the sea views are elevated in every sense of the word). You can spy St Kitts from the panoramic deck of Ocean Five, which edges you closer to the golden sands of Darkwood Beach. As its name suggests, the two-bedroom Panorama suite has superlative vistas from its wrap-around terrace.
Poolside
Many of the suites and villas come with their own private infinity pool, which means you swim in blissful seclusion with only the crashing Caribbean waves as company. Most spectacular of all is the 56-foot infinity-edged pool which fronts the entire length of the five-bedroom Ocean One villa, with a stylish sun deck and spacious gazebo to lounge around on. For steps-from-the-sea swims, head down to the resort’s beach club – where you’ll find its shoreside saltwater infinity pool (open daily from 8am to 6pm) to cool off in, with multi-level decking, comfy day-beds and chic cabanas.
Spa
You’ll hardly notice that there’s no dedicated spa space, as the in-villa treatment menu is so extensive – and all the more exclusive from the comfort of your room. Soothing massages and facials will boost your island glow, and the range of beauty treatments (such as waxing and hair-styling) help you feel at your beach-going best. Salute the sun with some free morning yoga (8am classes on Mondays and Fridays) or pilates (8am sessions on Wednesdays) on the Tamarind deck overlooking the sparkling sea, or get watersports-ready in the resort’s fully-equipped gym. Guided hikes are an exhilarating option, too.
Packing tips
All the watersports equipment you could wish for is provided by the resort, but you’ll want to have a few practical options mixed in with your stylish swimwear.
Also
The views from the resort are mostly an endless expanse of glittering blue, but on clear days you can spot the pear-shaped outline of neighboring Montserrat.
Children
There’s plenty of space for families to spread out (particularly in the four- and five-bedroom villas), and one-bedroom suites have space for a baby or toddler.
Best for
All ages (beach babies will be in their element).
Recommended rooms
Larger families and multi-generational groups will love Ocean One, the resort’s only five-bedroom villa (with the biggest private infinity pool, and its own games room to keep little ones entertained indoors and outside).
Activities
Keen swimmers can make a splash with the many watersports on offer, including snorkeling, paddleboarding, and kayaking. Over-10s can work towards their PADI certification with the resort’s scuba-diving instructors, and refresher courses (for parents) are available too. Young adventurers can head into the rainforest (20-minutes’ drive from the resort) for zip-line canopy tours, guided by eco-rangers who’ll help you spot wildlife from above.
Swimming pool
Kids are welcome to swim in the main pool by the beach club, which is a calming spot for beginners to build their confidence before braving the waves a few steps away.
Meals
Wild Tamarind restaurant and the Clubhouse both welcome children at all dining times.
Babysitting
Babysitters are available from $25 an hour (with at least 24 hours’ notice).
No need to pack
The resort can provide baby cribs and highchairs on request.
Sustainability efforts
Tamarind Hills is a certified B-Corp resort, which makes the most of its sun-drenched setting by using solar energy to heat its water and power its lighting throughout. You’ll find eco-friendly amenities in the bathrooms, and the showers use harvested rain water.
Every table comes with Caribbean Sea views, so it’s just a question of how close to the waves you want to be.
Dress Code
Linen shirts over swim-shorts, floaty cover-ups, and a splash of nautical prints will give you a fresh-off-the-yacht look.
Hotel restaurant
‘Dining with a view’ doesn’t really do Wild Tamarind restaurant justice. You’re close enough to Ffryes Beach to put your toes in the sand while sampling the international menu (which focuses on fresh-from-the-sea ingredients and regional produce). Colorful poke bowls and spiced ramen can be delivered to your beachfront cabana from the Clubhouse, or treat yourself to a night-in with one of the resort’s private chefs – who’ll whip up whatever you fancy in your villa’s state-of-the-art kitchen.
Hotel bar
You need not move from your poolside lounger for refreshments, The Clubhouse bar (open between 8am and 2pm) has got you covered. The cucumber vodka mojito is likely to be your on-repeat order. Wild Tamarind’s bar (open from 10am to 10pm) also fronts Ffryes Beach, decked out in palm-tree prints, bohemian lanterns, and rattan chairs. There are regular happy hours around sunset, with free-flowing tropical cocktails and live music. The ruby-red Hibiscus Fleur is a bubbly, prosecco-based delight garnished with hibiscus (save the flower and wear as a hair accessory). Or try the Ting-topped (Jamaican grapefruit juice) Red Zone, packed with fresh watermelon, lime and cucumber. After-dinner tipples include sipping rums, cognacs, and international wines if you want to take the party back to your villa.
Last orders
Breakfast is from 8am to 11am, lunch from noon, and dinner from 6pm.
Room service
There’s no in-room dining menu, but you can request for your kitchen to be stocked with your choice of groceries on arrival.
Tumbling down a waterfront bluff on Antigua’s south-west shore, Tamarind Hills is between Ffryes and Darkwood beaches.
Planes
V C Bird International Airport is under 30 minutes by car from the resort. Direct flights from London Gatwick and Heathrow are available with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, and Antigua is well connected to major US cities including Miami and New York. The resort offers round-trip transfers for $150 (for up to three passengers).
Automobiles
Unless you’re planning to fly-and-flop, having your own set of wheels will allow you to discover day-to-day island life beyond the resort. There are several car rental desks at the airport, and free secure parking at Tamarind Hills.
Other
If this is part of an island-hopping itinerary, you can moor your yacht at nearby Jolly Harbour Marina & Boatyard (just a five-minute drive from the resort).
Worth getting out of bed for
Although it might be tempting to spend most of your sun-drenched days horizontal here, the calm, cerulean waters which lap Ffryes Beach and Darkwood Beach are a siren call for watersports enthusiasts: SUP and kayaking are available from the hotel's beach, and snorkeling, scuba-diving, deep-sea fishing, wind-surfing, and sailing are all on offer through Tamarind Hills’ concierge. Back on dry land, you can join the resort’s free guided hikes (on Tuesdays and Thursdays) to hit the island trails while learning about its tropical flora and fauna (including bird-watching at Frigate Bird Sanctuary), or join the three free yoga and pilates classes a week. Get into the Antiguan swing of things at the 18-hole championship Cedar Valley Golf Course (30-minutes’ drive north of the resort); Tamarind can book private lessons or some tee-time for visiting players. Jeep rentals are a great way to explore nearby Fig Tree Drive, a steep yet scenic route through the fruit-filled rainforest – stopping off at local juice and jam stalls as you go, which sell just-plucked pineapples, mangoes and bananas. Take a yacht-spotting stroll along Nelson’s Dockyard and English Harbour, where beautifully-kept Georgian buildings line the waterfront. And if you’re staying on a Sunday, head up to Shirley Heights for an afternoon of steel-band music at this restored garrison (which now hosts the island’s biggest weekly barbecue).
Local restaurants
Tie up the yacht and tuck in to one of Jolly Harbour’s waterside dining spots. Sheer Rocks handpicks market-fresh ingredients from local farmers and fishermen, plating up Mediterranean-inspired tasting menus from its clifftop perch. There’s a relaxed, reggae-backed atmosphere at Sea Dream, a marina-facing eatery with ample space to dance off their must-try burgers.
Local cafés
Family-run Petal’s Café dishes up the most authentic brunch in town – the Caribbean breakfast plate is tipped, piled high with cloud-like Antiguan johnnycakes, salt fish, and fried plantain.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from these Caribbean Sea-facing villas in Antigua and unpacked their swimwear and sand-sprinkled sun hats, a full account of their blissful beach break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Tamarind Hills…
Casting away to the Caribbean is all about settling into your own slice of island paradise, a tropical daydream which Tamarind Hills Antigua delivers in (buckets and) spades. Brimming with contemporary coastal charm, the suites and villas vary in size but share the sort of sea views which grace the covers of luxury yachting magazines. From your headland perch, the golden sands of Ffryes and Darkwood beaches blend into a sweeping stretch of shoreline (lapped by that signature shade you’ll only find in these tropical waters). The indoor-outdoor spaces of the glass-fronted units seamlessly immerse you in those swathes of blue, as do the glittering private pools afforded by most rooms.
You can be as sociable or as hermit-crab as you please here – mingle at the Clubhouse over fruit-packed rum punch, host your own barbecue on your outdoor grill, or let the resort’s private chefs take over your villa’s kitchen (they had us at ‘lobster prep’). The Leeward Islands are not easy to leave, and you’ll be made to feel so at home in this Antiguan hideout that it might just become a more permanent address – especially once you’ve seen the freeholds for sale.
