In the Caribbean, summer is always a steal. But this year, it may be even more appealing that usual.
You know the drill: When New York temperatures rise, Caribbean hotel rates melt. Airline seats are cheaper, crowds thin out, and those same resorts that block out winter rooms for A-list Hollywood crowds are suddenly wooing mere mortals with serious discounts.
Thanks to this year's economic blues and increased air service to the Caribbean overall, you might be able to snag an even better bargain than in years past. Look for rates 30, 40, even 50 percent cheaper than in high season -- and be sure to ask when you book if other packages or savings might be available. Hint: New lodgings and those under rennovation often offer the best savings.
Here are six of my favorite stealth bargains for the coming months.
BELLS AND WHISTLES
• The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas.
The U.S. Virgin Island St. Thomas is famous for cruise ships and shopping bargains, but I like it for the resplendent views from the shoulders of muscular mountains -- panoramas that spill down steep slopes and across the bays to neighboring islands. The view from The Ritz-Carlton, the island's top hotel, is closer to sea level but no less stirring, and a sublime infinity pool drinks in the panorama of Turquoise Bay and nearby St. John.
Originally lavished with Italian Renaissance touches, the 180-room resort completed a $40 million renovation in 2007 that included gently updating decor and modernizing rooms while expanding the excellent spa. Bougainvillea is draped around the peach-colored buildings and lush gardens dividing them. There's a pristine beach, tennis courts, well-maintained health club and a dive shop with an array of watersports. Four dining options range from poolside to sophisticated. And every morning there's Shop Talk, a class coaching guests on where to find the island's best buys in handcrafts and jewelry, and a free shuttle into town for deal-seekers.
Details: Stay June 15-Oct. 31, and the nightly rate ($599 in winter) drops to $269, a 55 percent discount, plus a daily resort fee of $55. On some packages, Ritz-Carlton throws in a $100 credit toward a snorkel or sailing trip aboard the Lady Lynsey, the resort's private 53-foot catamaran. 800-542-8680 or 340-775-3333; www.ritzcarlton.com.
CLASSIC
• Jamaica Inn, Jamaica
Jamaica is booming. Tourism numbers have risen at a steady clip, with most visitors heading to massive, modern all-inclusive complexes. But the island also offers trendy boutique hotels plus a few wistful classics that cling to a bygone era. Then there's Jamaica Inn, a classic that has successfully carved a new niche for itself, bridging its noteworthy history with contemporary styling added the last few years.
Built in the 1950s, Jamaica Inn once drew celebs like Errol Flynn and Katherine Hepburn; Sir Winston Churchill was a regular and a suite still bears his name. Although the 47-room resort is sometimes knocked as a bit too yesterday, today's eclectic clientele includes au courant faces like model Kate Moss who come for privacy, a child-free environment and low-tech comfort. Yes, you'll trade the distraction of a TV for a huge patio or balcony suitable for hours of lounging, edged in the resort's trademark periwinkle blue and white color scheme, and croquet on the broad lawn -- but who will miss it? A pretty, cove-like beach is sequestered by peninsulas on each end that keep the riff-raff at bay; the spa specializes in treatments drawn from local plants.
Details: Rates start at $290 through Dec. 14, tax/service charges included, which amounts to 48 percent off the winter rates that start at $550. 800-837-4608 or 876-974-2514; www.jamaicainn.com.
UNDER THE RADAR
• The Landings St. Lucia, A RockResort
One of the most sensual-looking Caribbean islands, St. Lucia tempts visitors with deep green rain forests edged by peaks that plunge into the ocean. During the next few years, the island will add several new high-profile resorts and golf courses. One of these new resorts is open now, and for those who can handle a caveat -- read on -- it's a great deal this summer.
That resort is the Landings St. Lucia, set adjacent to Pigeon Island on Rodney Bay. This four-phase high-amenity residential resort by RockResorts offers one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, each with water views and full kitchens (featuring sleek Miele appliances). Though all units are individually owned, the Landings operates like a regular resort, so there's a spa and an admirable beachfront restaurant helmed by chef Roland Czekelius.
Here's the caveat: Only the first phase -- 62 suites of 231 planned -- is open, so much of the 19-acre property is still a construction site. But the beachfront is largely complete, and this fall the 80-slip yacht harbor, additional rooms and a second pool and restaurant should be open.
Details: Through Nov. 26 rates start at $192 plus 18 percent tax/service -- a healthy 55 percent off the winter rates that start at $420. 877-657-7625; www.landings.rockresorts.com.
BEACH HAVEN
• Kú, Anguilla
We're told Kú is an Arawak word that translates to ''sacred place'' in the indigenous language of Anguilla's first settlers. On the other hand, any place with such a fine collection of beaches as this island deserves to be considered sacred.
Anguilla has been discovered by high rollers who are on a buying spree and developing a coterie of luxe resorts -- which is why it's so refreshing to have Kú on the scene. And while this classy, 27-room hotel sits on one of the finest beaches in all the Caribbean, its summer rates aren't wallet-gouging.
Every ''room'' is a smartly-appointed 775-square-foot suite, providing more than just on a bed on a beach. White-on-white sets the tone, with ultra-plush bedding and extras like a CD/DVD player and fully equipped kitchen; prime differences are based only on view (though all have at least a glimpse of the sea).
There's a 75-foot-long bar, with a restaurant enhanced by a DJ spinning cool sounds several nights a week, plus live music on Sundays. An adjoining market sells paté, cheese and wine. Facilities include a dive shop, gym and small spa; the freeform pool is wrapped by swaying palms. And when you want a change of scene, it's a short walk from Kú to Shoal Bay's other chill beach bars, like Uncle Ernie's or Gwen's Reggae Grill.
Details: Summer rates start at $160 plus 20 percent tax/service, through Dec. 21, which is 43 percent off the entry level price of $315. 800-869-5827 or 264-497- 2011; www.kuanguilla.com.
HISTORY
• Hermitage, Nevis
Pennsylvania couple Richard and Maureen Lupinacci have been Caribbean residents for four decades now, almost all of it on the tender island of Nevis, where they bought a plantation house high on the slopes of Nevis Peak. But while converting this home into a small inn, they discovered Hermitage was no ordinary plantation. The small greathouse is upwards of 340 years old -- probably the oldest wooden house extant in the Caribbean, built before Alexander Hamilton and Admiral Horatio Nelson lived on the island.
The 15 rooms they converted or added kept with the original style: wooden, fringed in gingerbread and swathed in bright colors. A small pool was added, and a stable for Richard's collection of horses. The inn now has a staff of 29 but is still very much a family affair; the couple and their son Richie are the day-to-day managers, with three daughters pitching in as needed.
The restaurant serves elegant dinners, and the Lupinaccis often join guests at communal table for dinner and robust conversation on the veranda.
Although Hermitage is about relaxation in a pastoral setting, there are a few activities on site, including horseback rides, tennis and in-room spa treatments.
Details: Rooms start at $170 with breakfast through Dec. 14, plus 19 percent tax/ service, amounting to 48 percent off the high season rate of $325. 800-682-4025 or 869- 469-3477; www.hermitagenevis.com.
PRIVATE ISLAND
• Cooper Island Beach Club, British Virgin Islands
You've heard of private island resorts -- outposts where a single hotel lavishes guests with a kind of dreamy seclusion.
At most of these places the bed and dinner tab heads north of $1,000 a night in high season. But one-and-a-half by half-mile Cooper Island, reached by a 35-minute ferry ride southeast of Tortola in the BVIs, isn't usually mentioned in this group.
And to be sure, you won't find a spa, swimming pool or fancy wine cellar on Cooper Island. What you will find is a generator-powered outpost with six quaint, gingerbread-fringed cottages, each containing two units that have rattan furnishings, a kitchenette (a propane stove and fridge), a semi-outdoor shower and a porch facing the Sir Francis Drake Channel.
The snorkeling from the beach at your doorstep is excellent, plus there's a small PADI dive shop catering to hotel guests; the carcass of the R.M.S. Rhone -- possibly the Caribbean's most revered wreck dive -- is just a short boat ride west.
You can bring groceries from Tortola to prepare simple meals in your room, but the hotel restaurant is good and fairly priced, with dinner entrees under $20.
Cooper Island isn't a literal ''private island'' -- several part-time homeowners share this rocky station. Manchioneel Bay in front of the inn is usually brimming with yachts idling their way through the islands, meaning there's always a fresh face to meet.
In summer, the price for this seclusion and quiet runs $125 a night plus 17 percent tax/service, June 1 through Oct. 31, a price 43 percent below this winter's rate of $220. 800-542-4624; www.cooper-island.com.
