Rates reflect high winter season (prices are as much as 40 lower during the off season) for a standard room for two adults for one night; prices are in US dollars.
$ under $150
$$ between $150 and $300
$$$ between $300 and $450
$$$$ over $450

Special Features/Activities: restaurant, transportation to beaches.

TIP: Be sure to book early during the peak time of April's Sailing Week. Hotels fill up early at this time of year.

Curtain Bluff Hotel
PO Box 288, St. John's
 268-462-8400; fax 268-462-8409
Reservations:  800-672-5833
www.curtainbluff.com
$$$$
This exclusive hotel, home of one of the Caribbean's best wine cellars, is located on a private peninsula with two beaches. The all-inclusive property includes meals, drinks, afternoon tea, watersports, tennis, golf, and even mail service so you can send those postcards home.

Special Features/Activities: beachfront, casual and fine dining, watersports, dive shop, tennis, golf, squash, croquet.

Hawksbill Resort
PO Box 108, St. John's
Reservations:  800-223-6510
 268-462-0301; fax 268-462-1515
www.hawksbill.com
$$$
Located just a few minutes from St. John's, this resort is our favorite kind: quiet, restful, and located on not one, but four superb beaches. With a primarily British contingency, the resort is somewhat reserved, but just a few minutes from the action of St. John's. Nudists can wander over to the fourth beach to seek the total tan at the only nude beach in Antigua.
Special Features/Activities: beachfront, fine and casual dining, watersports, freshwater pool, nude beach.

Jumby Bay
PO Box 243, St. John's
 268-462-6000; fax 268-462-6020
Reservations:  800-327-3237
www.elegantresorts.com
$$$$
One of the Caribbean's most exclusive resorts, Jumby Bay recently reopened under the ownership of Jamaica's Half Moon Golf, Tennis, and Beach Club. The resort offers junior suites and two- and three-bedroom villas, some with private plunge pools.

This exclusive resort is located on a 300-acre private island. Guests enjoy the best of everything: gourmet meals, fine wines, sports.

Special Features/Activities: beachfront, all-inclusive, casual and fine dining, pools, watersports, tennis, massage and reflexology.

Sandals Antigua Resort and Spa
PO Box 149, Dickenson Bay, St. John's
 268-462-0267; fax 268-462-4135
Reservations:  800-SANDALS
www.sandals.com
$$
Like the other couples-only resorts in this popular chain, Sandals Antigua offers an array of activities that can keep even the most restless vacationer happy. Activity coordinators, or "Playmakers," keep things going for those who want to stay busy. For couples preferring inactivity, two-person hammocks and "love baskets" (swinging wicker baskets), offer quiet afternoons beneath shady palapas.

Many visitors are honeymooners or couples getting married on their honeymoon. During our late May visit, we counted three weddings on one afternoon alone.

This Sandals has low-slung buildings spread along a wide swath of white beach. We stayed in a rondoval room, an octagon-shaped cabin with a tall conical ceiling, louvered windows, and a true Caribbean atmosphere. Guests in the upper category rooms enjoy Suite Concierge Service for booking restaurant reservations or assistance with island tours, a fully-stocked, complimentary in-room bar, daily New York Times fax, and terry cloth robes.

Another romantic feature here is the excellent spa, although spa services are not part of the all-inclusive package.

The resort has many restaurants from which to choose: an open-air main dining room offering international fare in the evenings served à la carte, an Italian restaurant (with an excellent sunset view -- get there early for a beachside table), and a Japanese restaurant where active chefs will prepare your meal right at the table amid flurry of flying knives and implements.

Special Features/Activities: beachfront, all-inclusive, couples-only, spa, watersports, fine and casual dining at five restaurants, five freshwater pools, five hot tubs, tennis.

Sunsail Colonna Club
Hodges Bay, St. John's
Reservations  800-327-2276
www.sunsail.com
$-$$
If the two of you love the water and sailing, then you'll love Sunsail. This international company, with clubs as far away as Turkey, is a favorite among the sailing world. Here you'll find an array of vessels to take out and enjoy and, if you don't know stern from bow, you can take expert lessons here as well, part of the all-inclusive plan.

Sunsail isn't fancy, but it is one of the best bargains in the Caribbean. All rooms are air conditioned and include satellite TV, telephone, mini-refrigerator, and tea-and-coffee-making facilities. There are numerous twin and double rooms as well as apartments and two- and three-bedroom villas.

But the real attraction here comes in the form of watersports. The resort hugs a small cove where instruction is available in dinghy, catamaran, and yacht sailing as well as water-skiing and windsurfing. If your skills are up to par, you can take a vessel out or participate in one of the resort programs such as a yacht regatta or dinghy regatta. Waters are most challenging during the winter months; summer usually brings milder trade winds and conditions better suited to beginners.

Special Features/Activities: restaurant, pool, extensive water-sports program, tennis.