Sublime Samana Hotel & Residence

Sublime Samana Hotel & Residence

Twenty-six suites and villas rise three floors above the Bahía de Coson on the Samaná Peninsula, each with floor-to-ceiling windows and a private balcony or terrace facing the Caribbean Sea, jungle-covered mountains behind. The villas carry fully equipped kitchens, so a couple staying a week can cook the catch bought that morning instead of ordering room service every night, a level of self-sufficiency few 26-room properties bother to build in. Architect Antonio Segundo Imbert gave the place its whitewashed, minimalist lines, most visible in the Bistro, where chef Patricio Mardones runs a farm-to-table kitchen on produce grown in the hotel's own garden and seafood off that day's boats. Two spas operate here rather than the usual one, a rustic spa on the beach and a full spa built into the jungle, both working almost entirely in coconut, the same fruit that turns up in the bar's coco frío. Membership in Small Luxury Hotels of the World signals the standard the owners are chasing, and the excursion list backs it up: guided hikes to the 52-metre El Limón waterfall, speedboat runs into the caves of Los Haitises National Park, and, from January to March, humpback whales breaching offshore. Divers, sailors and horseback riders are covered too. Families get a kids club and a children's pool, though the indoor Bistro Privée is adults-only after dark, a small sign that this property is built for couples and grown-up groups first. Pets are not permitted, and the airport sits ninety minutes away, which rules out anyone wanting a quick weekend drop-in. What stays with a guest afterward is that everything, spa oil to cocktail, tastes faintly of the same coconut grove. Twenty-six suites and villas pair fully equipped kitchens with a beach spa and a jungle spa built around coconut treatments. Chef Patricio Mardones runs a farm-to-table Bistro, and El Limón waterfall and winter whale watching are close by. Pets aren't allowed, and the quiet suits couples more than groups.