A is for Alternative Caribbean

You're off to the Caribbean. What joy. But how can you escape the ubiquitous pink gilt and fake bamboo? Try one of the new breed of chic boutique hotels for 2002...

Villa Nova, Barbados This newly refurbished, 28-room inland retreat will make buffet dinners on the island's Platinum Coast seem laughably infra dig. A 19th-century plantation house, once a favourite of fashion photographer Norman Parkinson, Villa Nova is a 10-minute drive from the island's unspoilt eastern beaches. The look is pared-down Nina Campbell - pale, colonial-style rooms decorated in mahogany and toile de jouy.

La Banane, St Barth?lemy It's quite normal to see models taking their morning jogs on the French island of St Barth's, where beach picnics consist of foie gras and Cristal champagne. Ugly resorts don't exist here. Instead, expect pretty plantation-style hotels, one of which, La Banane, has recently had a radical makeover. The nine bungalows, built around two swimming pools, combine chrome, blond wood and vivid colours.

Laluna, Grenada If you're looking for faux rustic, head for Laluna, where Italian Bernardo Bertucci, a former consultant to Prada, has designed a series of cottage-style fiefdoms. Instead of the usual Caribbean bamboo in polyurethane, you get Indonesian teak and white muslin draped whimsically around four-poster beds.

The Landing, Bahamas Recently refurbished by ex-Ralph Lauren model India Hicks. The style is classic colonial plantation house (the building itself dates from 1800) with mint-green Adirondack chairs, wide verandas and waxed hardwood floors. Don't miss the restaurant, run by Antipodean chef Jenny Learmonth.

The Water Club, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico has long languished in the backwaters of fashion, but that's set to change with the arrival of San Juan's Water Club. The 79 rooms are as cutting-edge as island life gets: walls of glass cut by a Murano-trained specialist, a rooftop pool and bar, sleek waterfalls (not the piddling type), a lounge-style club and soft blue-lit rooms.

La Banane, St Barth?lemy (00 1 590 590 27 6825; www.labanane.com), doubles from £187.

Laluna, Grenada (00 1 473 439 0001; www.laluna.com), doubles from £201.

The Landing, Harbour Island, Bahamas (00 1 242 333 2707; www.harbourislandlanding.com), doubles from £142.

The Water Club, Puerto Rico (00 1 787 728 3666; www.waterclubsanjuan.com), doubles from £156 (book through Design Hotels: 0800 169 8817)

A-Z travel guide for 2002