Golden Rock Inn

Style

Sugar and spice

Setting

Gingerland jungle

Set on the slopes of Mount Nevis on a teeny-tiny island, Golden Rock Inn is a hilltop hideaway nestled into the jungle, which overlooks the Caribbean Sea. A cluster of brightly painted cottages and former sugar mills have been transformed by appropriately named landscape architect Raymond Jungles and filled with souvenirs from the artist-owners’ Helen and Brice Marden's globetrotting. The meandering paths connecting the cottages are roamed by friendly feral donkeys, who share their vermilion- and indigo-painted home with wilder critters and the Inn’s handful of lucky guests.

Facilities

Rooms

11, including three suites, scattered across the grounds in villas and standalone cottages.

Checkout

Noon. Earliest check-in 3pm, but if your room is ready earlier the hotel is happy to accommodate.

More Details

Rates include à la carte breakfast with island favourites such as Nevisian-style omelettes, Caribbean French toast, eggs any way, pancakes, parfait, fruit and yoghurt, washed down with rich coffee and fresh tropical juices.

Also

Wheelchair access is limited due to the hotel’s hilly location and the steps, rocky paths and cobbles throughout the grounds.

Hotel Closed

The hotel is closed annually from the middle of August until early October.

Free Internet Access

Pool

At the Hotel

Freshwater swimming pool; gardens; on-site parking; free WiFi throughout. In rooms: cafetière and local coffee, free bottled water, skin-friendly insect repellent, Le Labo bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

All rooms are comfortable and colourful, decorated in a traditional West Indian style with no tech-y distractions like TVs (only four rooms have them), air-conditioning or phones. Appropriately named and impossibly romantic, Paradise Cottage is the stuff of holiday-hideaway dreams. Cut from ash-grey local stone, the freestanding cottage has a large back terrace shielded from prying eyes by a stand of bamboo and views towards Windward Beach. Two-storey Sugar Mill is named after the old conical mill building it’s set in; it’s ideal for families with room for up to four guests.

Poolside

Resting between the treetops swaying in a jungly mist above the hotel, greenery declining away to the sea below: the pool is in a scenic spot. It’s the ideal backdrop for Instagrammable bikini snaps. Refreshing rather than heated, the freshwater pool is fed by a spring and surrounded by boughs of bougainvillea and hibiscus; palms overhead provide shade.

Packing Tips

Bring your driving licence. Nevis is easy to explore and hire cars are cheap and readily available (keep to the left).

Also

All payments include a 10 per cent service charge. The hotel has several hiking trails nearby, including the Source hiking route which heads up Mount Nevis; the chance to spot wild monkeys alone makes it worth packing your walking shoes.

Children

All ages are welcome, and baby cots are available. Because of the hotel’s cobblestone walkways, steps and rocks the property isn’t accessible with a pushchair. Extra beds can be added to some rooms for $50 a night (subject to availability).

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

All meals are served alfresco on dining decks overlooking the sea, but the hotel also has secluded supper spots around the grounds, such as inside the pavilion.

Dress Code

Blend in with brights or stand out in gauzy white linen; the restaurant is as colourful as the rest of the hotel.

Hotel Restaurant

The Rocks is renowned across the island for its modern take on Caribbean cuisine. Designed by architect Ed Tuttle (the man behind Aman hotels’ much-loved minimalism), the indoor-outdoor eatery overlooks the gardens and reflecting pools, which sparkle in the sun by day, and are lit with hundreds of oil lamps by night. Chef Ricky Finch’s contemporary Caribbean comfort food focuses on seafood, such as the hotel’s famous lobster sandwich, coconut-curried shrimps or grilled mahi-mahi with orange and clove. Fish-phobes can try spicy savouries like jerk pork with corn fritters and sizzling chicken roti, accompanied by an impressive selection of wines by the bottle.

Hotel Bar

The cool, cave-like setting of the hotel’s bar is ideal for escaping the sun and sampling a glass of fiery, house-rum-laced punch, ubiquitous across the island. Pull up a spindly-legged stool in the vaulted former sugar mill and try the potent signature cocktail, the Mount St Helena (Absolut vodka, jalapeño, fresh rosemary, lime and cranberry juice).

Last Orders

A la carte breakfast is served 8am–10.30am and lunch is a leisurely 11.30am–3pm. Night owls will need to adjust their timings accordingly as dinner is served 6pm–9pm. The bar opens at 10am and closes at the end of dinner service.

Planes

Fly to Robert L Bradshaw International Airport (SKB) on neighbouring St Kitts and from there take a ferry or water taxi to Nevis. The hotel can also arrange a roundtrip transfer service via speedboat (for $175 per person). Transfers to and from the ports are included and the transfer time is roughly one hour. Nevis is well connected to the USA and Caribbean Islands via smaller airlines and ferry services. Alternatively, fly direct to one of the larger Caribbean Islands such as Antigua or St Maarten, around a 30-minute journey, with Winair, Tradewind or LIAT.

Automobiles

You can easily hail a taxi on the island, but to make the most of the rugged scenery and blissfully secluded location you’ll want to hire a car. Find a car-hire kiosk at the airport or enquire at the hotel, who can arrange for car to be delivered to you. The car hire company will help you obtain a local driving license which costs $25. Once you’ve arrived, driving around the various beachy towns and jungle settlements is a breeze.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Submerged in lush, colourful jungle and overlooking the sparkling waters of the Caribbean, Nevis is topped off by a slumbering volcano and ringed by dreamy white sand beaches – in short, it’s the stuff of Caribbean fantasies. Lesser-visited than its more travel-accessible neighbour St Kitts, Nevis is an island of simple pleasures. Hiking boots are a suitcase essential for exploring the local jungle and only your most colourful swimwear will do for lazing on local beaches. Drive 20 minutes north and you’ll find the blissfully soft sands of Newcastle and Nisbet beaches, the ultimate contrast to the tangled greenery of the interior. In the same amount of time you could head west to the tiny capital, Charlestown, or the golf courses and manicured lawns of the Four Seasons Resort.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .