82 Caribbean Travel + Life 2 0 0 8

right: victor elias
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2008
style points
High-concept design
at Amanyara on Provo
(opposite); low-key
luxury at ME Cancún.
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Close your eyes and imagine a Caribbean hotel room.
What do you see? Wicker furniture, soothing pastels
and watercolor prints? A British-colonial vision of
ornate mahogany four-posters, imposing armoires
and heavy floral drapes? Eyes wide open now: If the
aesthetic trend in hotel design continues to take
hold, you might have a harder time finding that kind
of time-tested, traditional West Indian décor.
More and more, hotel designers are moving away from
carved wood, bright patterns and tropical motifs in favor of
a new approach. In its purest form, this look is spacious and
spare — a carefully edited amalgam of muted colors, clean
lines and contemporary furnishings that imparts a sleek, urban ambience that wouldn’t look out of place in Miami or
Manhattan. Tropical Minimal, you could call it. At first glance,
the look may seem austere and self-consciously “design-y,”
but there’s function in its form. Rather than compete with
the vibrant Caribbean palette just outside, this new, subtle
décor yields the spotlight to it. When it’s done well, Tropical
Minimal also uses local elements — native hardwoods, stone,
traditional fabrics — to capture an authentic sense of place.
Carlisle Bay, an 82-suite property on the south coast of
Antigua, was arguably the first hotel to make a splash with
this less-is-more concept when it opened in 2003. “I felt that
the Caribbean needed a hotel with a sleeker, calmer design
sensibility,” says owner and designer Gordon Campbell Gray.
“Out with the dated rattan furniture and fabrics festooned
with tropical birds; we wanted a fresher look that would provide a calm background for all the color going on outside.”
Accordingly, Carlisle Bay’s rooms are washed in barelythere hues of white, cream and gray, the walls accented with
black-and-white photographs. Fields of color come only
from silk panels framing the windows, a couple of pillows
on the sofa and a single potted orchid. Upon entering the
room, your eyes are drawn immediately to the kaleidoscopic
beauty outside. This effect isn’t lost on Campbell Gray’s core
clientele, who he says appreciate Carlisle Bay’s tropical interpretation of an Eastern-influenced aesthetic.
“I wasn’t trying to make the hotel look Asian,” he is quick
to add. “You always have to consider the soul of where you are
and to integrate a sense of place into the design. When you
stay at Carlisle Bay, there’s no question that you’re in the Caribbean; but there is an incredibly relaxed feeling that I think
comes partly from the hotel’s simple and subtle design.”
The trend has even washed ashore on Isla Mujeres, the
sleepy islet off Cancún known more for its languid pace
and flip-flop vibe than for cutting-edge architecture. At the
boutique Hotel Secreto there, the dozen suites are a study in
tasteful restraint, with minimal furniture (a crisply dressed
four-poster bed, white slip-covered sofa and oversized mirror) and sliding-glass balcony doors that invite in the nearby
seascape. Yet there’s still a feeling of luxury, particularly in
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the bathroom’s European fixtures, curvaceous vessel sinks
and the teak floor of the spacious shower stall, separated
from the sleeping area by a glass wall.
“I wanted to create a private-beach-house concept, where
guests would feel as if they were staying in a movie star’s
staffed beach pad,” says Scott Boyan, the hotel’s American
owner. Inspired by the simplicity of Greek and Asian architecture, Boyan and Javier Muñoz Menéndez, an architect
based in nearby Mérida, collaborated on a design that minimizes the separation between indoors and out. Floor-to-ceiling glass brings in light and color, and at the hotel’s center, a
cube-like infinity pool sits elevated on a hardwood deck.
Secreto’s modernist design, Boyan claims, is not only stylish but practical. Fossil-stone floors provide texture and also
traction for barefoot guests. Neutral walls are inexpensive to
maintain. “In a hot, humid, hurricane-prone climate, an overly furnished hotel is difficult to keep up,” he says. “Less furniture means less work to pack it all away before a storm.”
On Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Amanyara comes by its Asian style honestly; its parent company,
Amanresorts, is based in Singapore. Its 40 identical 1,250square-foot suites occupy low-rise wood-and-shingle pavilions set amid reflecting pools, sea-grape trees and sand. Wraparound verandas offer open-air living space, and glass panels
on three sides slide back to bring in the outdoors. Inside, terrazzo tile, teak, sisal and glass create an earthy, Zen effect.
“Amanyara is a beach resort, and we wanted it to feel like
one,” says Jean-Michel Gathy, the resort’s Belgian architect.
“So we used oversized windows to create an open, airy feeling, constructed 8-foot roof overhangs that shelter the room
from heat and sun, and chose a simple interior design that is
easy to live in and easy to maintain.” Amanyara’s pervasive
feeling of luxury comes not from expensive materials but
from such dramatic touches as high ceilings, oversized doors
and ample space.
So are we witnessing the final days of floral bedspreads
and matching drapes? Not so fast. “Classic interiors have
their place,” asserts Secreto’s Boyan. “Older, historic properties wear that look well, and pared-down styling isn’t for
everyone.” Even Campbell Gray concurs: “Ice-cold, selfconscious, all-white interiors aren’t necessarily creative; they
just happen to be trendy,” he says. “I think that in the future
people will crave more comfort and warmth in hotels. In the
end, good design is about being above fashion.”
OCTOBER
2008
SEVEN
WITH
STYLE
A Tropical-Minimal Gallery
AMANYARA
Providenciales
“The Turks and Caicos Islands don’t have a specific architectural style, so we decided to create our own,” says Amanyara’s
architect, Jean-Michel Gathy. The resort on the west end of Provo conveys a simple and luxurious feel in its generously proportioned suites by applying an addition-by-subtraction principle to furnishings and accessories ­— forbidding, for example,
such “design redundancies” as pillows and throws. Come sundown, the resort illuminates its large reflecting pools and acres
of man-made lakes to dramatic effect. From $1,100 in low season ($1,450 high). amanresorts.com
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In the main living quarters of Kamique’s six villas on Anguilla’s south shore, there’s almost no distinction between indoors and
out. Designed by New York architect Lee H. Skolnick, the four- to six-bedroom retreats blend clean, Asian lines with more
traditional island touches like wooden shingles and open-beamed ceilings. The pièce de résistance: a wide-open layout that
embraces the mesmerizing panorama of turquoise sea and St. Martin hills just beyond the pool deck. “Contemporary Caribbean,” Ira Bloom, one of Kamique’s managing partners, calls it, “with a touch of Zen.” From $3,000 in low season ($3,500 high). kamique.com
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left: gary bogdon
KAMIQUE
Anguilla
CARLISLE BAY
Antigua
“Our rooms are designed to be a calming backdrop for the lushness of the island,” says Gordon Campbell Gray, Carlisle Bay’s
owner and the man behind hip London boutique hotel One Aldwych. Known for their subtle and understated style, Carlisle
Bay’s 82 ocean-view suites are havens of uncontrived luxury. Which doesn’t mean the resort is a theme park for conspicuous consumption. “The hotel isn’t about bling or ostentation,” Campbell Gray insists. “It’s for people who want to escape the
razzmatazz and just relax.” From $775 in low season ($1,150 high). carlislebay.com
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AQUA
Cancún
A muted palette of white, beige, chocolate and (of course) aqua harmonizes with the focus on tranquility and well-being
at this 371-room high-rise. Reopened last December after a days-before-Hurricane-Wilma false start, the resort feels like an
oasis, worlds away from the hubbub of the Hotel Zone, thanks to designer Francisco Hanhausen’s calming décor of dark
wood, marble floors and Mexican onyx accents. The spa-like ambience continues with fountains and chimes in each room and
aromatherapeutic scent diffusers on every floor. From $319 in low season ($499 high). feel-aqua.com
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right: dan forer/beateworks/corbis
SAN JUAN WATER &
BEACH CLUB HOTEL
Puerto Rico
Beds dressed in ecru linens are positioned — sometimes on the diagonal — to exploit expansive ocean views. An elegant
espresso headboard conceals a cantilevered glass desk, and Murano glass doors ensure nothing disturbs a guest’s repose.
Theatrical lighting sets the mood after dark, when night owls roost at the stylish rooftop Wet Bar. This 78-room beachfront
boutique stands out among San Juan’s towering chain hotels for its splashy design, and its attentive service lures guests to
return. From $99 per person in low season ($138 high). waterbeachclubhotel.com
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HOTEL SECRETO
Isla Mujeres
A Greek Islands honeymoon provided the inspiration for Scott Boyan and his wife Maria Del Mar’s 12-suite labor of love.
Neither had a background in design, but they knew exactly what they wanted: a stylish, casual beachfront inn open to the
elements, with rooms decorated in sleek, modern style. Mission accomplished: Their realized dream features airy suites, teak
daybeds covered in white terrycloth clustered around a cubist pool, and a refreshingly unpretentious and welcoming atmosphere that’s in synch with the chilled-out Isla Mujeres vibe. from $225 year-round. hotelsecreto.com
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right: victor elias
ME CANCÚN
mexico
Lounge music reverberates through a dramatic lobby kitted out with mod sculptures and a striking water feature. “We use
art, design, scent and music to take our guests on a sensory journey,” says ME Cancún’s Johnny Sfeir. The hotel’s “sensorial architecture” encompasses everything from in-suite whirlpool tubs to custom-blended aromatherapy scents diffused in public
areas. Inside the 448 rooms, dark wood furnishings hold techie treats like surround-sound stereos and MP3 docking stations.
Even the guests seem to have beamed down from a hipper, more stylish planet. From $195 in low season ($225 high). mebymelia.com CT+L
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