8 Best Hotels in Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe

This complex of colorful duplex bungalows may not impress you at first, but its service and customer satisfaction have earned many kudos. The stone and wood wall around the expansive, tropical garden and pool blocks any street noise. Owners Catherine and Christophe Paulet truly care about making their guests happy and freely spend time communicating (in English, too), stressing ecotourism possibilities. The simple, playfully decorated bungalows, which sleep two to five people, are fun—but even more so are the hillside villas (for three to eight people), which are weekly rentals without breakfast. The hotel is down the road from a long, beautiful beach.

A decidedly special place, this stalwart, hurricane-proof mansion built in 1948—The County House—was the great house for the owner of a sugarcane plantation; rooms have artsy decor, luxurious bedding, and quality mattresses—maybe the best in Guadeloupe. Spend the extra euros for one of the huge rooms with access to the wrap-around terrace. All rooms have a mini-fridge; some have seating areas. The bungalow is a real value for a family or two couples, as it has two bathrooms and a small private pool. Vestiges of distillery machinery serve as outdoor sculpture; and although cane still sways in nearby fields, it's no longer the primary business. The restaurant features refined, French classics artfully presented, with views of the verdant landscape included. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and guests are granted access to the pool.

This former coffee plantation offers unique accommodations in its great house or in unique tree houses—ideal for a family that wants to play Swiss Family Robinson. The owners tastefully restored this 18th-century property, adding antiques, chandeliers, and other period furnishings. The hosts are welcoming and hospitable. Three tree houses—accessed by ladders—are comfortable and are equipped with electricity, hot showers, dry toilets, refrigerators, and Wi-Fi. The two guest rooms in the main house are elegant, with nice bathrooms, mini-fridges, and Wi-Fi. A beautiful pool is a welcome addition. Weekly rates offer a real value. (No children under 2 permitted in treehouses for safety reasons.)

This well-priced, friendly, and fun resort offers both simple beachfront bungalows and regular rooms in a mostly all-inclusive environment geared toward less fussy travelers. Contemporary Nordic style characterizes everything, including a complex with a big wooden deck, a restaurant, beach bar, a huge pool, and a whimsical kids' club. The decor in the bungalows mimics that of the larger hotel rooms—contemporary minimalist, with splashes of vivid color and red tile floors. The global staff is young and dynamic, and all speak English. The resort offers a wide range of excursions as well as a litany of water sports and even evening entertainment from November to August, with everything from karaoke to local bands. Although several meal plans are available, most guests go all-inclusive; nonguests can buy a day pass. However, this resort is probably not going to please older, sophisticated travelers.

This inviting hillside inn is on a former coffee plantation, where trees laden with fruit are like the temptations of the Garden of Eden. Two atmospheric guest rooms and one suite are in the antiques-filled colonial house of dark hardwood, but the chic, creole-style cottages are more private and have patios with hammocks and contemporary Italian bathrooms. An infinity pool looks out to the mountains and the sea, but the nearest beach is 20 minutes away. You will need a car for a stay of more than a couple of days.

This rental complex is in a small market town in the heart of Basse-Terre—the mountainous, wild side of Guadeloupe, where eco-sports and scuba diving are the main draws. The architecture is meant to resemble a plantation great house (it’s a stretch, though) and deluxe apartments are connected by a water installation that is a modern take on a distillery’s aqueduct and water wheel. It's just 20 minutes from Guadeloupe’s international airport; but, alas, it's 30 minutes from any beach. The villas are named after rum punches (liqueurs). Villa Coco, which includes three bedrooms, has a terrace that overlooks a private pool. Weekly rentals are the norm.

The globe-trotting Frenchman who designed these seven Indonesian teak cottages resembling Guadeloupean cases from the 1920s that overlook a long unspoiled beach, Plage de Grande-Anse, has passed on; his son and daughter have now taken charge of this small paradise. The raised, open-air bungalows have wool and silk carpets and four-poster beds with mosquito netting (some have private outdoor hot tubs). You can lounge on elevated Indonesian beds, get a massage, or dip into the pool just steps from the sea. If you want to watch TV or go online, you will have to go to the reception area, where both are free. Dinner is available both for guests and for the public with 24-hour reservations. Flavorful Creole meals with French overtones are what to expect. In the summer, rates drop by half.

The result of a remarkable 10-year saga, this quirky and inventive rain-forest resort consists of both tree houses and ground-level bungalows, as well as a wonderful restaurant—Le Poisson Rouge—and a moderately priced spa. Owners Sylvie and George Carreyre built the tree houses first for their family and then for paying guests. The newer accommodations are more upscale, romantic, wildly colorful bungalows with gingerbread fretwork, but all of the bungalows and tree houses have a funky, rustic charm. The restaurant, which serves both lunch and dinner from Wednesday through Sunday, specializes in inventive preparations of the freshest seafood; the menu changes daily. The spa, like everything else here, has a magical, Zen quality and offers treatments in addition to yoga, tai chi, and some spiritual training.