Sparking Jewel of Barefoot Island Luxury

Mustique is only three-miles long and part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Windward Islands. Here you’ll find a tiny bamboo airport building, protected coral reefs, scenic hiking trails and a community spirit that encourages quiet beach side picnics as well as lively nights of music under the stars.  Mustique is uniquely luxurious and tranquil.

The Serene and Social Isle

It’s the kind of place where the phrase ‘if you know, you know’ is aptly applied.

Long the sunny escape chosen by royalty, rock stars and business leaders searching for paradise without paparazzi, Mustique is now home to over a hundred architecturally jaw dropping private villas and The Cotton House boutique hotel with its elegant colonial chic décor. 

While Mustique is open to all who book a visit here, privacy remains paramount.  The island is owned and operated by the Mustique Company, established over fifty years ago to govern the island and its development. Today protecting the environment on land and sea is an island priority as well.  

Water filtration systems provide clean drinking water to encourage the use of refillable personal containers instead of plastic water bottles. Going beyond protecting threatened reefs a coral nursery restoration project began in 2015 to add more healthy coral to the underwater landscape. Wildlife populations are protected too including indigenous seabirds, green sea turtles and land tortoises.  To further protect water born critters, ocean safe sunscreens are advised and the only type sold on the island. Hit the hiking trails that wind all over the island for incredible views of the biodiverse beauty being protected for generations to come. 

Mustique is a private island. You can’t just show up here. Pre-approved travelers arrive via small planes from the larger airports in St. Lucia or Barbados. And you must arrive before dark because there are no lights on the runway in Mustique. 

Once here guests get around the island’s coastal and hilltop roads via beach buggies fondly called “mules” but they won’t find any street signs, billboards or golf courses. Instead, touring around Mustique is an immersive experience through a lush wildlife sanctuary dotted with the manicured gardens of villas tucked into the landscape. 

Free from throngs of beach going crowds, there’s still a need to plan some daily outings.  Reservations are required to book your rustic table under the palms for a catered beach picnic, one of the most treasured traditions on Mustique.  Securing a spot overlooking the deep blue waters and wide white sands of Macaroni Beach is a coup. But not to worry there are plenty of other picturesque beaches to enjoy a swim and a lazy lunch of grilled fish, colorful salads and bottles of chilled rose wine. 

More active pursuits include cycling, horseback riding, fishing, sailing, diving, snorkeling, and guided boat trips to neighboring islands.  And after all of that the lovely spa at The Cotton House soothes body, mind and spirit with a range of treatments. 

The Social Set

The nightly social scene is subdued but lively on Mustique with a calendar of events that brings all guests and residents together.  There’s backgammon night in the Great Room of The Cotton House, the Beach Café Happy Hour & a Half on Fridays, sunset live music sessions at Basil’s Bar on Sundays and the weekly not to miss Mustique Company cocktail party that almost the whole island attends. 

Parties are a way of life on Mustique and have been since Scotsman Colin Tennant (later Lord Glenconner) bought the island in 1958 to develop the ultimate tropical holiday spot for a select group of high profile friends.  Villa building commenced under the architectural direction of Oliver Messel, formerly a London theater set designer.  Messel’s villas (including Les Jolies Eaux for Princess Margaret and her husband Anthony Armstrong-Jones) feature an open plan so that from the front door you look straight through the house to the view beyond. Gardens grow in and around the houses and latticework trim is often painted in a now famous color, Messel green. 

Your Villa or Mine?

With exotic names like Indigo, Frangipani, and ‘ti Soleil the villas on Mustique are a reflection of the owners’ fantasy expressed in a diverse range of architectural designs.

Whether contemporary or traditional most homes are built with a sense of ‘alone together’ providing guests a tranquil hideaway to read a book and a center hub for social activities and dining. Swimming pools glimmer in the sun often perched on the edge of hillside properties with a great view looking out to the Atlantic or Caribbean Sea. 

Villas are available to rent year round complete with chefs, butlers, housekeepers and gardeners who know every corner of the villa and how to care for them. 

Make The Cotton House Your Home

The Cotton House is more clubhouse than hotel and is the social center of the island. Originally a sugar and cotton warehouse, the main buildings were also designed by Messel. The property occupies three acres alongside the turquoise waters of Endeavor Bay. Accommodations range from charming cottages to two story suites with private plunge pools. The Veranda Restaurant in the main house offers quiet breakfasts in the company of light breezes and songbirds and in the evening elegant candle lit dinners inspired by the West Indies cuisine.  

The Beach Café and Bar overlooking the Caribbean Sea is the place to be seen at lunch, perhaps with an airy caftan over your swimsuit, to enjoy fresh seafood, slow cooked pork and everyone’s favorite these days, delicious tacos.

Craving a deeper dive into tropical flavors? Join the weekly Rum Master Class held in the Great Room to taste from an extensive collection of rums and learn more about the nuances of this historically Caribbean spirit. 

Meet us at Basil’s Bar!

For any island visit to be complete, there must be at least one visit to Mustique’s most famous watering hole, Basil’s Bar.  Founded in 1974 and named for barman and consummate host Basil Charles, this open-air bamboo pavilion was newly crafted in Balinese-style by architect Philippe Starck.

This is where the music plays and the cocktails flow. The annual Mustique Blues Festival attracts top blues artists, but guests celebrate every day and night at Basil’s Bar enjoying an impressive menu of refined beach cuisine and cold drinks with a view of Britannia Bay. 

www.basilsbar.com

Mustique Island