Port St. Charles

Port St. Charles is a private yachting and beach community that rents out a number of its villas and apartments for short and long-term use. The development is vast, set on 22 acres that are navigated by car and via water taxi, which conveniently picks guests up at the dock outside their residences. Guests include many families attracted by the space and option to self-cater, but plenty of privacy-seeking couples as well. 

The property has a clubby, residential feel but it also delivers a few hotel-like amenities such as a modern gym, tennis courts, a restaurant, and two community pools. The hub of social activity at Port St. Charles is Sunset Island. Surrounded by the lagoon, the area holds the Port St. Charles Yacht Club restaurant, a boutique, swim-up bar, pool, and an extensive dock area with lounge chairs, ideal perches for watching the sun set.

While the property does have one restaurant, it is not open for breakfast and offers a limited lunch and dinner menu. A handful of restaurants are nearby in Speightstown and Holetown, but the rhythm of a stay at Port St. Charles seems to involve stocking the refrigerators and preparing private meals. Depending on the villa, guests can take advantage of well-appointed kitchens that are equipped with modern appliances; some villas include built-in Miele espresso machines. Stylish dinnerware, glassware, and decor as well as dining tables set on terraces overlooking the sea make it tempting to stay in and enjoy the views. 

While it's possible to arrive by boat and clear customs and immigration at Port St. Charles, most guests arrive at the airport and are shuttled via private transport to the property. The impressive arrival involves checking in at the huge two-story lobby, clad in marble with columns and arched windows that frame the lagoons and the rows of subtle-hued homes with yachts docked at their doorstep. The lobby's decor is distinctly nautical, highlighted by navy blue sofas, coordinating throw pillows with anchor insignia, and a giant marlin set along a wall that appears to be caught leaping from the sea.

Port St. Charles is a residential marina community set along the northwest coast of the island. It's walking distance to restaurants, shops, and the sidewalk stalls of Speightstown, the first established port on Barbados.

• Five-minute drive or 15-minute walk to Speightstown
• Five-minute drive to Mullins Beach
• 12-minute drive to Barbados Wildlife Reserve
• 20-minute drive to Apes Hill Golf and Polo Club
• 20-minute drive to Holetown
• 20-minute drive to Animal Flower Cave
• 30-minute drive to Bridgetown
• 35-minute drive to Accra Beach
• 40-minute drive to St. Lawrence Gap
• 40-minute drive to Oistins Fish Fry
• 45-minute drive to Grantley Adams International Airport
• 55-minute drive to Bottom Bay

Port St. Charles offers 29 villas and apartments for rent. Set in two-story buildings facing the canals of the marina or the private beachfront, the residences range in size from basic (825-square-foot) one-bedroom villas to luxuriously furnished six-bedroom homes with private pools and more than 6,000 square feet of living space. The privately owned homes are decorated and furnished according to the owners' tastes, but most follow a design theme that falls in line with the architecture of the development and its location. Some units are furnished in nautical style with white wicker furniture topped with navy blue cushions and coordinating ocean-inspired artwork while other homes maintain a more contemporary neutral-toned color palette. Traditional Caribbean colonial style with mahogany wood furniture as well as more eclectic decor accented by colorful local artwork and sculpture are also prominent in individual homes.

The villas and apartments all feature outdoor terraces or balconies with views of the ocean or the surrounding lagoon. Some of the smaller residences offer plunge pools tucked into the corners of balconies and terraces, while the larger ground-floor beachfront residences feature small pools surrounded by grassy areas and lushly landscaped gardens. Homes on the lagoon come with private boat slips while homes along the oceanfront feature paths to small white gates that open to the sand and the sea.

All of the homes come equipped with full kitchens, which can be stocked pre-arrival through the concierge. Most of the homes have indoor dining rooms as well as dining tables on the terraces or balconies. The bedrooms, some which open directly to the terrace, are equipped with en-suite bathrooms and are finished with bedding and linens at the level of what would be found in a luxury hotel.

The main draw for residents at Port St. Charles is its marina. The individually owned homes come equipped with private boat slips and the marina is also an official port of entry to Barbados, meaning residents and visitors arriving by boat can clear customs and immigration dockside. The marina offers a handful of transient berths for boats ranging in size from 60 to 250 feet, and additional moorings for mega-yachts.

Watching the passing of boats arriving and departing the area is also a draw. Guests can take a water taxi to Sunset Island, a man-made island that is home to the Port St. Charles Yacht Club, the property's only restaurant. The island also holds a bar, small pool with swim-up bar access, and a long dock set with lounge chairs facing the stretch of white sand beach across the lagoon.

The restaurant, decorated in the same nautical style found in the lobby, serves lunch and dinner, but not breakfast. Dining tables ringed with cushioned chairs are set beneath an open-air terrace, offering expansive views of the harbor and the beach. During prime dates, the yacht club features live music as well as scheduled activities for children.