Most major travel organizations do some kind of annual award each year, from Travel & Leisure’s best hotel awards to the 50 Best Pizza Awards and annual World Culinary Awards. Matador Network also does its own, with our experts and travel team designating everything from the best wellness destination to where to go for adventure travel in 2025 and beyond.
Photo: BlueOrange Studio/Shutterstock
The 5 Best Hotels in the Caribbean for 2025, According to Caribbean Experts
But the Caribbean Travel Awards, inaugurated by Caribbean Journal in 2014, are a little different: the judges are all experts on the Caribbean, with a combined hundred years of experience in island travel.
Most of Caribbean Journal’s staff and freelancers live in the Caribbean, or in Miami, making frequent trips to the islands. It’s the largest news and travel website focused on the Caribbean, focusing on everything from conservation and green energy to new restaurants and culinary events. So it’s pretty likely that the winners of the 2025 Caribbean Travel Awards were heavily vetted, researched, and tested by people who know the islands inside and out. According to the announcement, judges spent time “exploring the region in depth and immersing themselves in the Caribbean with on-the-ground travel” when deciding on the winners.
While there are multiple awards, among the most exciting are those celebrating the best hotels in the Caribbean. Here are the big winners from 2025, from the best overall hotel to the best new openings.
The best Caribbean hotel of the year
View this post on Instagram
The top spot for the best hotel in the Caribbean went to British Colonial Nassau, in Nassau, in the Bahamas. While Atlantis Paradise Island gets most of the attention from US travelers, the town is loaded with historic and luxurious hotels, including the British Colonial. It has a storied history, starting with its original construction in 1901 by American industrialist Henry M. Flagler. After a fire destroyed the initial structure in 1922, a new seven-story hotel was swiftly erected, opening its doors on January 7, 1924.
It has a 300-foot-long private white-sand beach, with complimentary snorkeling and kayaking. It’s home to several restaurants, and has a tropical garden and freshwater pool overlooking the harbor. Interestingly, the hotel was a filming location for the 1983 Bond movie Never Say Never Again, staring Sean Connery as James Bond. The awards describe the property as “a symbol of the continued renaissance of downtown Nassau.” Rooms start in the low $200s per night in the low season.
The best Caribbean small hotel of the year
View this post on Instagram
Blancaneaux Lodge in Belize’s Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve took the top spot for the best small hotel in the Caribbean. It’s a luxury property purchased in the early 1980s by filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, who bought the then-abandoned lodge to use as family hideaway. After more than a decade as a private retreat, Coppola opened the property to the public in 1993, and now, it’s a 20-room resort combining natural beauty with rustic luxury.
The lodge’s rooms have big decks overlooking the jungle and river, and some even have private plunge pools. It’s close to attractions like Big Rock Falls and the Caracol Mayan ruins, though it’s easy to spend at least one day lounging at the resort, thanks to the on-site Thai spa and cool Jaguar Bar. The awards describe it as “a truly unique, bucket-list travel destination.” Standard rooms start around $359 night, and the lodge participates in the World of Hyatt program.
The best new Caribbean hotel of the year
View this post on Instagram
The experts chose Six Senses La Sagesse, on Grenada, as the best new hotel of the year, praising it’s “extraordinary blend of modern luxury and immersive wellness.” Because it’s a Six Senses hotel, it’s definitely expensive, but the brand is always a five-star experience. It’s the first Six Senses in the Caribbean and has no shortage of amenities, including a spa inspired by a traditional Caribbean village with treatments that incorporate local herbs and spices. Resort restaurants serve dishes that highlight Grenada’s rich culinary heritage — after all, it’s called “The Spice Isle” for a reason. Guests can choose from activities ranging from waterfall meditation sessions to tours with local farmers to guided rum tastings, among other offerings.
The best all-inclusive hotel in the Caribbean
View this post on Instagram
To stay in the best all-inclusive hotel in the Caribbean of 2025, you’ll need to head to Antigua. Galley Bay Resort & Spa, on the island’s west coast, is an adults-only, all-inclusive retreat spread across 56 acres of beach and gardens. A highlight are the “Gauguin Suites,” inspired by artist Paul Gauguin, each with a private plunge pool. And for foodies and cocktail fans, the Rum Shack is a huge draw. It’s a traditional “rum shop” where guests can sample Caribbean rums and participate in curated tastings.
The hotel pool has a cascading waterfall, and nearly all activities are included, including sailing and sailing lessons on the resort’s easy-to-steer catamarans. The Caribbean Journal offered personal insight on the resort, noting “every time we’ve stayed here, we’ve remarked at how breathtakingly beautiful it is.” Rooms are quite pricey, starting around $1,000 per person, per night.
The best small all-inclusive hotel of the year
View this post on Instagram
The best small all-inclusive is also on Antigua, but this time, it’s on the island’s Turners Beach, slightly to the south. It’s Keyonna Beach Resort, and it’s an adults-only boutique hotel with just 29 rooms. Many rooms have private pools and outdoor showers, and beachgoers will love one popular perk: there are enough Balinese day beds for every room on the beach, ensuring you don’t have to stress about finding space to lounge. It’s also the only hotel on Turners Beach, ensuring you aren’t surrounded by screaming kids and stressed family vacationers.
Foodies in particular may like this Caribbean hotel, as it serves meals in an open-air restaurant. And you won’t find any buffets at Keyonna Beach Resort. Instead, it focuses on plated meals using local ingredients, and all rooms rates include beer, wine, and cocktails — no nickel-and-diming for guests when you’re there. Rates start in the high $600s per night.
The best new all-inclusive resort of the year
View this post on Instagram
Almare, a Luxury Collection Resort, is a much larger all-inclusive hotel, but it’s also adults only. It’s on Isla Mujeres, Mexico, which is one of the country’s “Magic Cities.” There are 109 suites, each with a private balcony offering views of the ocean, mangroves, or resort grounds.
Guests’ unique experiences start before they even arrive, as many guests chose to be met by the resort’s private boat at the Isla Mujeres Ferry terminal. The resort uses mostly natural materials and decor, to the point where it looks a little Tulum-esque, but with fewer fist-pumping nightclubbers and more adult couples looking for luxury and privacy. In Isla Mujeres, you’ll find small fishing towns, access to scuba diving, and several tour companies offering the chance to swim and snorkel with seasonally migrating whale sharks. The Caribbean Journal award team praised it as “one of the region’s must-visit all-inclusive destinations.” 
.