The Best Resorts in Curaçao, the Caribbean

Surrounded by palmy, tropical gardens, this eco-friendly resort in Jan Thiel is a five-minute walk from the beach. There’s a Caribbean vibe to the teak furnishings and broad, breezy balconies for lazing on – even in an entry-level Apartment Breeze accommodation. The largest spaces – Villas Ambiente – sleep up to eight guests. It has a family swimming pool, a natural pool and a spa for facials, body scrubs and massages. The eco-ethos keeps the resort car-free – bolderkarren (traditional Dutch carriages) are available. To start your day, the on-site Restaurant Fuego makes fine fruity breakfasts.

Like socializing? You’ll be happy at the Van der Valk Kontiki Beach Resort in the heart of coastal Willemstad, the entertainment district of Curaçao. The 80 modern rooms with balconies are set among lush green foliage, and the hotel has a real jungly atmosphere, helped by the four lagoon-style pools, waterfalls and tropical plants. Fancy a sea dip? While the hotel is not located directly on the shoreline, you’re just footsteps away from the popular Mambo Beach, and when you’re ready to dine, you’re within proximity to the Mambo Beach Boulevard shopping center. Meanwhile, on the sands, the Cabana Beach does a great fish market night on Fridays, complete with Caribbean beats.

With its guarantee of luxury throughout, Baoase’s 23 rooms, suites and villas have been meticulously designed for comfort, with furnishings attractively adorned with Balinese-flavored details. The villas feature private plunge pools or direct access to the resort’s infinity pool. If requested, you’ll even have access to a personal butler. A nice touch is the resort’s private beach, but you can have equal me time in the spa and the airy restaurant, eating a prime burger at your leisure while overlooking the ocean.

As the name suggests, LionsDive Beach Resort is a hit with watersports fans, who flock to its bright-white sandy beach. You can hire snorkels or learn to dive at Ocean Encounters dive center. With a 50m pool and two other recreational pools within the complex, water babies needn’t fret if the sea is choppy. There’s also the Body Beach Wellness Club and its fitness classes for land lovers. There’s no faulting the quality of the rooms; even the entry-level accommodation has garden, pool or street views and a shared terrace or balcony. However, you’ll want to be out mingling with the upbeat crowd filling its lively restaurants.

Away from the main drag, this casual, unpretentious property is perfect for independent travelers seeking privacy. A scattering of bungalows over a hillside delivers startlingly blue sea views. The architecture is plantation style, and lush, colorful gardens surround the pool and sun terraces. You can choose one or two bedrooms, with a living-dining area, kitchenette and air conditioning, and self-catering is a cinch as a free twice-daily shuttle drops you off at the nearby supermarket. However, you’re not short on dining options here on Mambo Beach or in Willemstad, a 10-minute drive away.

Just 6mi (10km) from bustling Willemstad, in the hills above Jan Thiel Bay, you’ll find this colorful, laid-back eco-hotel steps away from Jan Thiel Beach. With 160 self-contained studios, apartments and bungalows, it’s essentially a mini-village, complete with a friendly ambience. Watersports fans will love this place, whether enrolling in a PADI course, joining a guided dive, snorkeling or splashing about on a kayak rented from Scuba Do dive center. Of course, you could always just relax on the pearly white sand before returning for the catch of the week at the on-site Restaurant Bina.

This resort manages to make you feel you’re in the barefoot Caribbean without stinting on international luxury. The rooms have beds that wouldn’t be out of place in a Fifth Avenue grande dame in New York, yet they echo the island’s soft natural colors in fabrics, louvered shutters and tiled flooring. Balconies are front-row seats for the vibrant grounds or the mesmerizing shades of the Caribbean. You’ll also find the 18-hole Old Quarry Golf Course, tennis courts and a spa influenced by the ancient culture and rituals of the original Arawak people. The resort has several restaurants, but our favorite is Shore, with its romantic, night-time outdoor dining.

Indigenous turtles and flamingoes make a nature lover’s paradise here on the western side of Curaçao, just 37mi (60km) from the Venezuelan mainland. The mood is deliciously “unreconstructed Caribbean,” with 22 luxury villas tucked into the cliffside, overlooking the sensational coastline. Among the natural beauty, you’ll find a freshwater swimming pool, an outdoor jacuzzi and exposed steps that lead straight into the inviting Caribbean waters; then again, maybe you’ll be tempted by the private jumping spot if you’re feeling brave enough to make a proper splash.