Nevis

One Mountain, Thirty Six Square Miles, No Traffic Lights

Nevis is a single volcanic cone rising out of the sea, almost circular, with a peak that spends most of the day wearing a cloud, which is how it got its name from the Spanish for snow. Twelve thousand people live here. There are no traffic lights, no cruise berth and no large scale development, and there is a real chance nothing about it will change, because the island has spent decades deliberately not becoming St Maarten. What it has instead is a handful of restored sugar plantation houses turned into inns, which is a category of hotel that essentially exists nowhere else in the world at this concentration.

The planning decision: plantation inn or beach

The plantation inns sit in the hills, in gardens, in eighteenth century stone buildings with great houses, cut stone terraces and a dozen or twenty rooms. They are cool, quiet, extremely charming and about ten minutes from the sand. The beach properties sit on Pinney's Beach, the four mile stretch of pale sand on the west coast, and give you the water at the door. Many people who know the island do a few nights of each. If you are choosing one, the inns are the reason to come to Nevis rather than somewhere else, and the beach is ten minutes away either way.

Season, and the quiet months

December through April is the dry season and the busy one, with the island still feeling empty by Caribbean standards. May and June are lovely and quieter. Hurricane season runs June to November, and several of the smaller inns close for part of September and October, which is worth checking rather than assuming. Culturama, the island's carnival, runs at the end of July into early August. Nevis is small enough that even in high season the beaches stay uncrowded, which is much of the point of coming.

Where to base, and how you actually get here

Nevis has a small airstrip, but most arrivals come through St Kitts, which takes direct flights from New York, Miami, Atlanta and London. From there it is either a short ferry across the two mile channel or a five minute water taxi or hop by light aircraft, and the transfer is genuinely part of the pleasure rather than a chore. Antigua and St Maarten are the other regional connections. On the island one road runs around the coast and takes about forty minutes to complete, which tells you most of what you need to know about the scale.

Stay strategy

Montpelier Plantation and Beach is the best known of the inns, family run, with its own beach club and a serious kitchen. Nisbet Plantation runs an avenue of palms straight down to its own beach on the north coast and is the only plantation inn on the Caribbean with a beach attached. Golden Rock, restored with real design intent, sits high in the rainforest and is the most striking of them. Hermitage is the oldest wooden house on the island. On the sand, the Four Seasons Nevis holds Pinney's Beach with a golf course and is the full service choice, particularly for families.

When to begin

Six to nine months for the winter season, and a year for Christmas and New Year, because the inns are tiny and the Four Seasons fills. Four months in the shoulder. Note that the inns have a dozen to twenty rooms each, so a specific room, a specific view or a party of more than two rooms needs real lead time. The hike up Nevis Peak, and the gentler rainforest walks, should be arranged with a guide rather than attempted alone.

Four experiences worth building the days around

• Lunch at a plantation inn you are not staying in, which is how you see the others and is a very Nevisian thing to do.
• Pinney's Beach in the late afternoon, ending at the beach bars near the north end, which is the whole social life of the island.
• The Botanical Gardens and the rainforest trails on the lower slopes, or the full climb up Nevis Peak for anyone fit and properly guided.
• Charlestown, including the small museum in the house where Alexander Hamilton was born.

Who this trip suits

Nevis suits couples, honeymoons, repeat Caribbean travellers who have done the big islands, and anyone who genuinely wants quiet. It works beautifully as the second half of a trip that starts somewhere with more energy, such as Antigua or St Barths, both short hops away.

When another plan may fit better

There is very little nightlife and no shopping to speak of, so anyone wanting either should look elsewhere. Families with teenagers often find it too quiet unless they are at the Four Seasons. And anyone who wants a large resort with several restaurants and a kids club should know that only one property on the island is that.

Plan it with one accountable advisor

The inns here are small, personal and booked by people who go back every year, so the relationship matters. Tell us your dates and we will get you the right house and the right room. Our luxury leisure travel planning covers the island hops around it too.