I used to do broader travel recaps, but given that when we travel to the Carribean we get so relaxed that we rarely leave the resort, I switched the title and focus of these reviews to focus on only the resort!
One of our favorite things to do for our annual winter Carribean trip is research resorts thoroughly and select our destination based on the place we find. This time it was easy — we had visited The Belmond St. Martin a couple of years ago and were obsessed with it. Since then we’ve been looking up other Belmond properties and Belmond Cap Juluca in Anguilla has been high on our list.
Getting There
Anguilla is a French overseas territory in the Carribean, located in the British West Indies. It is the most northern island in the Leeward Island chain, less than ten miles north of St. Martin and 200 miles east of Puerto Rico. Anguilla has a very small airport but we opted to fly to St. Martin rathter than connect to Anguilla through Miami. From St. Martin, you can take a ferry over (about a 20 minute ride) or a little hopper plane (about a 7 minute ride). Due to some weather complications on our way in, we actually ended up taking a plane on the way in and the ferry on the way back. I preferred the ferry — we booked a private ferry so it was a little boat all to ourselves and a very smooth experience.
The Belmond did not disappoint and was a 10 out of 10. Probably my favorite place we’ve ever stayed! Every part of this resort seemed designed to elevate the experience for every guest.
The Resort
The resort has 64 rooms and 44 suites. It never felt full or even remotely crowded. We saw other people at the restaurants for meals, but the days felt almost like we had the beach to ourselves.
It was built in 1988 and fully overhauled in 2018, the year that Belmond bought the resort. The architecture is unique with memorable Moorish-style villas. The best part is each room has a private beach, and the beach in front of your villa is reserved for you every day. The second best part is that all the rooms are built in a cresent shape lining the ocean, so when you look left to right you can’t see anything else beyond this resort and it feels extremely private.
Rooms
We booked a one-bedroom suite facing the ocean. It was spectacular. We loved the space in the room and the huge back patio overlooking the ocean. The closet area and bathroom was huge, and complete with a two-person bathtub and shower overlooking a little private garden!
Amenities
In addition to the key beach setup which I mentioned earlier, we also loved the pool. There are bikes and golf carts for getting around the resort, or you can choose to walk to the main areas.
We tried the spa and thought it was good but not amazing, given how off-the-charts everything else was. Just after we left, Belmond completed and unveiled a top-to-bottom new spa which is sure to deliver.
One of my favorite things to do was drink champagne and watch the sunset every night from the lobby area. Just gorgeous!
Restaurants
Belmond Cap Juluca has four restaurants on site:
Pimm’s
Pimm’s is waterside, and when I say waterside, I mean 10 feet from the ocean. We almost got wet sitting here at night as the strong wind was pushing the waves up closer our table! It is super elegant and romantic and the cuisine is elevated Anguillan — Carribean classics with an international twist and a focus on the freshest seafood.
Uchu
Uchu has relaxed Carribean vibes with a Peruvian twist. It has a great bar and seating indoors or you can eat poolside by the gorgeous lit pool at night.
Cip’s by Cipriani
This is named after the sister Belmond hotel in Venice and thus, it has Italian vibes. We didn’t eat here at night but had a gorgeous breakfast here every morning right by the water!
Cap Shack
The Cap Shack is an amazing little beach shack where you sit in the sand on the beach just feet from the ocean. You can grab drinks, and we ordered fresh lobster and it was to die for!
I was living my best life at Cap Juluca — it was one of those vacations that felt private, rejuvenating and a few days there felt like a week. I would return in a heartbeat. Until next time, Anguilla!
Cheers!
xx—BB
awesome review thank you so much this is so helpful!
So glad! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Great review! The resort looks like it did when I visited 30 years ago (in a good way). Can’t wait to return! What is the ideal number of days, ie. how many nights were you there?
It’s amazing that they have been such a special place to so many people for so long! We were there for 4 days and 4 nights, plus travel time. I thought it was a perfect amount of time. That said, I would not have complained to stay longer 😉
thanks for the review! which villa # did you stay in?
Ami, I’m actually not sure. They are all in a line, and I remember it being somewhere in the middle of the group of villas. I don’t think you can get a bad view there as they all overlook that same gorgeous slice of ocean in front of the resort!