Checking in: Three New Caribbean Retreats

Homey or historic, these recently opened Caribbean lodgings pamper you with extras.

> The Island House (Nassau, Bahamas) 

On an island of soft sand beaches and big resorts, this newly built, 30-room inn feels like a cool, contemporary vacation home—if your vacation home included its own 48-seat cinema. Guests and locals catch a movie just steps from the airy lobby, which is brightened by Bahamian art.

There’s also a spa, a lap pool, and spicy wagyu beef salad for dinner—which happens all the time at your vacation home, too, right?

> Condado Vanderbilt Hotel (San Juan, Puerto Rico)

Jay Gatsby would have approved of this revitalized grande dame, a Roaring Twenties haunt of royalty and movie stars amid the shopping-and-nightlife buzz of the Condado neighborhood.

A 2014 renovation added two all-suite towers, a spa, and an infinity pool that overlooks the ocean. But in the original 1919 building, which was designed by the same firm behind New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, old-time glamour reigns once more with Murano glass chandeliers and sweeping staircases fit for the likes of Daisy Buchanan.

> Casas del XVI (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)

Situated in three restored houses built for European settlers, this ten-room boutique hotel adds to the Zona Colonial district’s historic atmosphere with its checkerboard-tiled floors, antique maps, and shell-inlaid wooden furniture.

Loaner iPhones break the nostalgic reverie, but keep them turned off to fully enjoy breakfast served by house butlers under a mango tree in a serene courtyard where elegant señoritas once fanned themselves.

This piece, written by Christopher Hall, appeared in the December/January 2015-16 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine.