Club Med La Caravelle

This large, all-inclusive hotel does what it can to give guests every excuse not to ever leave the property, and the mostly French clientele -- largely families with children -- run rampant over this 47-acre property, which juts out into a gentle, turquoise-colored sea. Guests get soaked windsurfing, fly through the air at the trapeze school, get in a little target practice at the archery range, or (mostly in the case of teenagers and young adults) get their groove on at the beachside Mango Bar while the DJ alternates spinning The White Stripes and Leonard Cohen. Many of the younger children march around all over the property in double columns like the world's most fashionable little ducklings, singing French songs in (reasonably close) time to the hotel's seemingly endless supply of child caretakers. Not surprisingly, though, the action (or inaction) stays mainly on the beach, where it can get so dense with sunbathers that it may be hard to find a spot to throw down a towel on the sand closest to the central areas of the lobby and Colibri bar. Luckily, there's enough beach to go around -- though the strand is narrower and surf and sand less pleasant on the other side of the mini peninsula, there also tend to be fewer people there. That's also true of the beach near La Biguine restaurant and kids' club, though there seems to be a lot of surf-shop activity and fishing around that part. The hotel's open-air lobby is a historic monument for its notable architecture, most evidenced by a soaring concrete roof that was designed to look like a manta ray in mid-swim. (New Yorkers and fans of the "Mad Men" era may be reminded of Gotham's own Pan Am terminal at JFK.) Sure, it may not be everyone's cup of tea -- especially for those who like their French architecture to remain firmly rooted in the 19th century or before -- but it's one of the most memorable hotel lobbies many guests are ever likely to see, and a moving reminder of the kind of elegant, optimistic design that has rarely made it past the drafting table since the 1960s. Past the lobby and down the stairs, a small army of professional entertainers keep all ages occupied day and night with interactive activities, plays, movies for the kids, live performances, nightclub DJing, and nightly shows for the adults.

The hotel is located about 30 minutes from the airport, which won't make much of a difference to most guests, because the hotel expects them to take the hotel shuttle from the airport and spend the vast majority of their time on the property. (There's a Hertz rental desk in the lobby, but besides Hertz's reserved spaces, there's not really any guest parking to speak of.) Still, day-trippers have plenty to do if they want to leave the nest -- they're on the sightseeing-heavy southern part of Grande-Terre, after all. The town of Sainte-Anne is a 10-minute walk away along the beach, and Gosier and Saint-Francois are a half-hour drive in either direction. Though the immediate surroundings are nothing to write home about -- the road leading to the hotel turns right off the highway -- the ocean-facing property is blessed with a small peninsula of land that sticks out into the ocean, allowing it to have two beaches with different personalities.

Though some rooms are on the small side, they let in plenty of natural light and have tasteful modern decor -- accent walls made up of horizontal planks of medium-shade wood, large, plush beds with cheerful red checkered bedspreads, and white tile floors. (Guests who don't like color red may not be fans -- it's obviously the hotel's theme color). Most rooms are in large older buildings that, despite a mostly successful makeover, show subtle signs of age here and there, like missing or cracked concrete from the bottoms of balconies. Reasonably sized bathrooms have generous sink space, good lighting, swing-out close-up mirrors, and large, glass-walled, tile showers; Suites have touches like glowing sinks, while both Double Rooms and Suites have decent closet space but no bureaus with drawers. Families with kids will likely prefer the Suites, which have separate living rooms in which the couch can be made up as an extra bed.While most rooms have balconies or terraces, those housed in the two-story Grand Terre building do not. Not all buildings have elevators, though the five-story Basse Terre building does (not to mention ocean views from the fourth and fifth floors). All rooms have air-conditioning, safes, and mini-fridges (those in the Suites are stocked with minibar items). 

The hotel gears itself toward families with kids, and younger guests are likely to have their days filled with staff-curated activities. The kids' club sits in its own building away from most of the other hotel buildings, and includes an on-site adult supervisor and a variety of games and a sandy outdoor playground. Staff lead children in physical activities all around the property, and it's common to see columns of kids trooping around singing songs and engaging their supervisors in conversations about the natural sights around them. There is even a section of the main dining hall with knee-high tables and kid-sized seats in Crayola colors.

There are several food options at the hotel, including the bright-red Mango Bar snack bar on the beach (which does a brisk trade in popsicles), and Le Colibri, the more adult-oriented cocktail-heavy bar in a large, open space under the lobby, where parents and singles lounge on dark wooden furniture away from most of the kids. The majority of the eating takes place in the Hibiscus Restaurant in the main building, a cafeteria-style buffet restaurant with several dining rooms spinning off the main food hall (including that wing with an area dedicated to kids, with kid-sized seating). On the far end of the beach, the somewhat fancier and quieter option is Le Biguine, a restaurant with a long deck with encompassing views of the beach and the option of either buffet or a la carte meals. During off-meal hours, it's also guests' best bet for a feeling of seclusion on the beach.