Carimar Beach Club: A Beachfront Home Base on Meads Bay
A low-key, all-suites hideaway with your toes in the sand on one of Anguilla's most storied stretches of beach.
Why Go
Forget mega-resorts and buffet lines. Carimar hands you a keys-and-kitchen villa a few footprints from the Caribbean, drops a paddleboard on the sand, and leaves you to run your own barefoot week on Meads Bay.
The Experience
Carimar Beach Club is a small, family-run cluster of six two-story Mediterranean-style buildings tucked directly onto the powdery white sand of Meads Bay on Anguilla's western end. The property has just 24 one- and two-bedroom suites, each with a full kitchen, marble bath, dining area, and a private balcony or patio angled toward the sea. The vibe is intentionally quiet and residential: no lobby bar scene, no in-house restaurant, no piped-in music - just the sound of the surf, the clink of neighbors making coffee, and the soft thwack of a rally on the on-site tennis court. Long-time repeat guests (many of whom have been coming for decades) treat it like a shared beach house, waving from their patios and swapping snorkel intel over morning smoothies. It has landed repeatedly on TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice list for Top Small Hotels in the Caribbean, and it's easy to see why: staff know your name by day two, the beach out front is stunning, and the rate includes bikes, snorkel gear, tennis, paddleboards, and kayaks so you can spend zero and still stay busy from sunrise to sunset.
What to Try
Start the day with a snorkel from the beach - the reef off the west end of Meads Bay is genuinely swimmable from your sun lounger. Book a court and a lesson at the on-site tennis facility, then cool off in the small freshwater pool. Grab a Carimar bike and pedal the flat coastal road down to Barnes Bay or up to the West End for a change of scenery. Because there's no on-site restaurant, lean into the kitchen: hit the market for local snapper, mangoes, and a bottle of rose, and cook one long, unhurried dinner on your patio watching the sun drop into the sea.
Insider Tip
Ask for a suite in Building 1 or 6 (the end buildings) if you want the quietest stretch and the best sunset angle - the middle buildings sit closer to the neighboring beach bar and the daytime day-tripper action can drift over on weekends. And because Carimar has no restaurant, pre-order a grocery delivery to arrive the afternoon you check in; the front desk will stock your fridge before you even land, saving you a jet-lagged supermarket run.
The Practical Stuff
Location: directly on Meads Bay beach, roughly 15 minutes by taxi from Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport and 20 minutes from the Blowing Point ferry terminal. All 24 units are suites with full kitchens; there is no on-site restaurant, but Blanchards, Blanchards Beach Shack, Jacala, and Straw Hat are all a short walk down the sand. Included in the rate: WiFi, parking, bikes, snorkel gear, kayaks, paddleboards, tennis, fitness room, and laundry. Airport transfers available on request. Best booked directly for repeat-guest perks and longer-stay discounts; the property is closed for part of September for annual maintenance.
Pair It With
- Blanchards Beach Shack — Casual, toes-in-the-sand lunch spot from the same family behind fine-dining Blanchards - a two-minute walk down Meads Bay for lobster rolls, rum punch, and key lime pie.
- Straw Hat — Beachfront dinner next door with a Caribbean-fusion menu and one of the best sunset tables on Meads Bay - easy barefoot walk back to your Carimar suite.
- Jacala Beach Restaurant — French-Caribbean cooking on the sand a few doors down, ideal for a long, wine-forward lunch on a slow beach day.
- Shoal Bay East — Anguilla's other legendary beach on the northeast coast - grab a Carimar bike or a taxi for a half-day trip to compare sands and eat conch fritters at Gwen's Reggae Grill.