Oasis Marigot, St. Lucia Villas

Marigot Bay has drawn visitors for its calm water and steep green hillsides long before this stretch of the St Lucia coast had any villas at all. Oasis Marigot has been run by the same family for more than 20 years, and the arrangement is unusual for the Caribbean: 12 self-catering villas set into the slope above the bay, reached only by a short boat crossing from the landing on the far shore. There is no road in. A tram carries guests and luggage up the steep hillside path, since the site climbs hard from the water. Villas range from one-bedroom units in the Vacation Club to the five-bedroom Great House, which opens onto a colonnaded living room and a cliff-side terrace above the bay. Kitchens are full and stocked in advance through a provisioning service, useful given the nearest supermarket is a taxi ride away. Doolittle's, the one restaurant on site, sits at the base of the hill by the marina. You can watch yachts move through the bay's mouth from almost any balcony, and the pool, cut into the slope, catches shade by late afternoon. Staff arrange sailing trips, transfers, and excursions to the Pitons through an on-site concierge office. Rooms are simply built, air-conditioned only in the bedroom, with fans elsewhere and stairs throughout the grounds.