SPEIGHTSTOWN, Barbados — The gentle beaches of Barbados' west coast are strung with a necklace of luxurious hotels and resorts that have been favorite winter haunts for Hollywood movie stars, European opera singers and the international jet set for decades. While they all glitter, few can match the intimate elegance of Cobblers Cove, one of only five Relais & Chateaux properties in the Caribbean.
Located in the parish of St. Peter just south of Speightstown, the island's second-largest community, Cobblers Cove is a cluster of 40 suites in 10 two-story cottages and a pink-and-white English-style country house. The main building — of a style known in the Caribbean as a great house — as well as the surrounding cottages, swimming pool and alfresco restaurant are tucked into manicured tropical gardens filled with a fragrant array of flowering plants.
As with most of Barbados, sugar and the wealth it generated played a part in the history of Cobblers. The property was built in 1943 by the Haynes family, who first settled on the island in 1647 and were among its original circle of sugar barons. They lived on the east coast, where turbulent Atlantic waters crash against the shore and built Cobblers as a beach house on the calmer west coast facing the Caribbean Sea.
In 1968, the property was sold to Alan Godsal, a descendant of the Colleton family, another prominent sugar-growing tribe who also founded the British colony that would eventually become South Carolina. Godsal converted Cobblers into a hotel catering primarily to families. In the early 1980s, the hotel repositioned itself into the luxury market with major renovations and an emphasis on fine cuisine.
Despite all the modern touches and amenities, there is much at Cobblers Cove that reflects its Bajan heritage. The original steel in the buildings came from the old island railway and the decorative coral rock in the great house was cut locally. Today, all the furniture is made in Barbados, and the restaurant's menu is heavy with local delicacies. The great house, with its crenulated roof, may be reminiscent of an English castle, but the sun-washed pastels of the Caribbean would never do in Cornwall.
The 38 one- and two-bedroom standard suites in the two-story cottages are casually elegant with tiled floors, white walls and furniture covered in warm, pastel-colored fabrics. Each has a spacious living area separated from a private balcony or terrace by full-length louvered shutters. Bedrooms are air-conditioned. Eight of the suites are oceanfront, just steps from the beach.
If money is no object, guests can stay in one of Cobblers Cove's two specialty suites on the top floor of the great house. Designed by English decorator Prue Lane Fox, the Camelot and Colleton are easily among the finest hotel rooms in the Caribbean.
The Camelot features a king-size canopy bed and a spacious sitting area that opens to a porch overlooking the sea and swimming pool. A spiral staircase of carved stone winds up to a rooftop terrace with a private plunge pool.
The Colleton is truly a study in over-the-top luxury, with four rooms, an Empress canopy bed, sumptuous furniture, a huge rooftop balcony with plunge pool, oversized Jacuzzi tub and a marble bathroom featuring a shower with two heads. A whimsical mural traces the history of Barbados and of the Colleton family.
The emphasis at Cobblers Cove is on casual living in a country-house atmosphere that is a pleasant combination of British reserve and easygoing Bajan friendliness.
Guests tend to vary with the season. In the summer they tend to be families, while the prime winter season attracts mostly older empty-nesters. From January to mid-March, children under 12 are not accepted.
A centerpiece of a stay at Cobblers is the superb food served in the beachside Terrace Restaurant.
There's more to do here than sit in the hotel's fragrant gardens.
Complimentary water sports with equipment include water-skiing, snorkeling and windsurfing. There is a small but well-equipped, air-conditioned fitness room adjacent to the tennis court. Available for extra cost are parasailing, scuba diving, yacht charters, deep-sea fishing and cocktail cruises. Just minutes from Cobblers are the Royal Westmoreland and Sandy Lane golf courses. Island tours can be arranged.
If you go...
Cobblers Cove has just reopened after its annual refurbishment. Phone: 1-246-422-2291; fax: 1-246-422-1460; e-mail cobblers@caribsurf.com; or visit www.cobblerscove.com
Until Dec. 14, Cobblers is taking part in a "Best of Barbados" tourism promotion that includes a $400 air credit per couple, the first night free on a seven-night stay and daily breakfast.