The Best Luxury Resorts in the British Virgin Islands
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) has few chain restaurants, no large hotels and lacks mass tourism attractions. What the BVI does offer visitors are warm temperatures, turquoise waters, lush green hillsides and an abundance of glam.
In fact, while the territory’s 60 islands and cays collectively maintain a small-scale, authentic character that’s increasingly hard to find in the Caribbean, the BVI also offers a full menu of distinctive properties that combine exclusivity, intimacy and resplendent natural beauty with five-star amenities, facilities and services.
Here we profile three of the best BVI luxury resorts and share details on exactly what makes these properties particularly noteworthy.
Oil Nut Bay
The Big Picture: Oil Nut Bay will have just 117 luxury villa distributed across 400 hilly acres flush with natural foliage. The low-density, multi-generational resort is located on the eastern tip of Virgin Gorda’s North Sound and has the feel of a secluded, hilly private reserve with verdant indigenous foliage and calm-water, white-sand beaches.
Oil Nut Bay is in fact so secluded it’s accessible only via boat or helicopter (a helipad is located near the marina). Guests traverse the resort’s smooth, well-built roads with golf carts provided for each villa, and underground utilities enable uninterrupted Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean views at points all across the property.
Amenities, facilities and services: Oil Nut Bay villas are built into the island’s topography, with modern architecture highlighted by innovative designs that utilize stone, glass and other natural materials. Each villa offers an extended deck and private pool. Provisioning services stock each villa, and private chefs are available to prepare in-suite meals for guests. Children will enjoy the property’s small animal reserve, which features red-footed tortoises and an emu.
Facilities include a private beach club with three pools with a swim-up bar; a wellness center and gym, and two tennis courts. Also nearby is an open-air restaurant serving Caribbean cuisine. The area hosts culinary events including chef’s tastings. Guests will also find kayaking, sailing and snorkeling equipment and instruction available.
The Nut House Kids Club offers supervised programs and activities for children five and older. Gourmet dining is available at the Nova overwater restaurant and bar. The Marina Village offers a suspended pool with hammocks and daybeds, a games room, a 93-slip marina and a market and boutique.
Rates: Low season accommodations start at $550 per person, per night.
Rosewood Little Dix Bay
The Big Picture: Located on a broad, secluded calm-water bay on Virgin Gorda, Rosewood Little Dix Bay completed a four-year closure and comprehensive renovation in January 2020, only to be forced to suspend operations during the pandemic. With the BVI’s reopening in full swing, the 500-acre deluxe resort is again offering top-shelf accommodations, personalized services and an overflow of natural beauty.
The property was conceived by Laurance Rockefeller in 1964 as a combination of environmental sustainability and five-star refinement. Numbering only 80 villa and suite accommodations, each is staffed with a personal butler, and all face Little Dix Bay’s extended, panoramic beachfront. In an inventive delight, Buzzers are installed in beach palapa posts, enabling guests to request food and drink service.
Amenities, facilities and services: Butlers record guests’ preferences and other requests to customize their experience, including in-room check-in. The butlers remain available throughout the guests’ stay to arrange dining reservations, coordinate daily activities and fulfill any needs.
The resort’s 42 guestrooms, 35 suites, two beach houses and one hillside villa are designed to emphasize privacy and relaxation. Interior designs utilize BVI sands and boulders, and suites feature outdoor showers. To further the oasis-like atmosphere, most guestrooms and suites are “digital-free,” with no televisions and unobstructed views of the Caribbean Sea.
Accommodations include Tree House Suites inspired by Rosewood Little Dix Bay’s original stilt houses, and one-bedroom pool suites with private patios and plunge pools overlooking the bay. Ocean View junior suites feature room-connecting capabilities.
The Reef House features al fresco “farm-to-fork” dining. Fresh provisions and ingredients are sourced daily from an on-site garden and local purveyors. Sugar Mill, which showcases island-influenced tapas dishes, is housed in an open-air stone mill and offer panoramic bay views.
Pavilion is located beneath vaulted rooftops at the resort’s center and features international cuisine. The facility features an outdoor chef’s show kitchen that allows guests to observe the creation of dishes amidst a backdrop of sweeping sea views.
Rates: Ocean View cottages begin at $1,200 per person, per night.
Saba Rock
The Big Picture: Described by early visitors as “nonstop music and laughter,” Saba Rock is an iconic BVI way station located on an island between Virgin Gorda and Tortola. The laid-back, casual Caribbean property was originally developed in the 1960s by diving pioneer Herbert “Bert” Kilbride, and today remains popular with boaters, sailors and watersport enthusiasts, but now showcases a distinct luxury element.
Amenities, facilities and services: Saba Rock is scheduled to re-open in October, with reservations opening at the end of June, following reconstruction after the property was leveled by Hurricane Irma in 2017. The renewed resort will feature nine rooms and suites, a restaurant, lounge and bar.
While the accommodations are few, the room design and configuration are among the most inventive and attractive available at any Caribbean luxury resort.
The seven deluxe suites each offer Caribbean Sea views and décor that expertly combine bold colorings, distressed woods and other natural elements. Colorful suite murals feature photographs, paintings and memorabilia documenting Saba Rock’s extraordinary history.
The Saba boutique will house a nautical museum and offer logo merchandise, beach apparel, jewelry and accessories, while an on-site spa will provide select treatments. SNUBA, kiteboarding, kitesurfing and diving excursions will be available from on-site partner DiveBVI.
Boat charters are also available at the property, as well as a full-service marina featuring mooring balls, slips for overnight stays, electricity, water and ice.
Rates: Low-season suites are priced at $1,295 per person, per night.