Hotel Ávila

Opened in 1949, Avila Beach Hotel has run as a beachfront address in Willemstad for more than seven decades, on Penstraat in the Pietermaai district. It sits a fifteen-minute walk from downtown and about twenty minutes by car from Hato Airport, a location the hotel calls halfway to everywhere on the island. Room types run from a 32 m² La Belle Alliance standard to a 150 m² three-bedroom penthouse, most with a kitchen and terrace. Two private beaches sit apart from the busier public stretches nearby, backed by an infinity pool and a house reef for snorkelling. You can walk to more than ten restaurants beyond the hotel's own two dining rooms and two bars. The grounds hold a spa, a fitness centre with Technogym equipment, and an outdoor jacuzzi with sea views, alongside a tropical garden that has become one of the hotel's more photographed corners. The hotel holds a Travelife Gold sustainability certification and runs a coral nursery with the surrounding reef. A free shuttle connects guests to the city centre. It remains, after decades of trade, a working beach hotel rather than a resort built for spectacle.