Canouan: Welcome to the Caribbean's best-kept secret

There are Picantes and Taiwanese Fried Chicken on the menu: two immediate giveaways that I am in a Soho House. Yet, there’s something amiss. There are no creatives talking shop— instead, all I can hear is the soft lapping of waves caressing the beach.

There’s also no rooftop view over an urban sprawl; instead, all I can see are a few lofty palm trees swaying in the breeze.

I’m in Canouan, a tiny island that is part of St Vincent and the Grenadines. And if you’ve never heard of it, you are not alone. This archipelago (pronounced Ka-no-wan), lying 30 miles south of St Vincent, is just 3.5 miles long and half the size wide, and has been hailed as the Caribbean’s best-kept secret.

On the island’s west coast, on an impossibly perfect arc of sand called Grand Bay, it seems almost incongruous to find an outpost of Soho House here, as if it has somehow washed up on these far-flung shores. Yet, Soho Beach House Canouan, the brand’s first property in the Caribbean, boasts all the trademarks of the club’s worldwide success plus a whole raft of extra benefits, too.

One bonus is that while 80 per cent of guests are members, you don’t have to be one to stay here. Be warned though: it’s highly likely you’ll join up by the time you’ve checked out.

Found across a higgledy-piggledy row of two-storey, wooden houses on stilts are 40 bedrooms overlooking the beach. From the white-on-white décor to the blue-tinned roofs, interiors ooze Soho House’s typical boho vibe.

There are mid-century chairs to lounge in, macramé art on the walls and white shutters to make the rooms cosy at night. Soft baby-blue rugs and pastel cotton bedspreads add subtle touches of colour.

“With just 1,700 inhabitants, who largely live in the tiny village of Charlestown, Canouan island feels beautifully untouched by tourism”

Meanwhile, bathrooms are bursting with Cowshed and Soho Skin products and the rooms are chocka with well-thought-out essentials: from a clothes steamer and extra phone chargers to a Dyson hair dryer and pin-striped beach bag.

You can browse the boutique, which sells a curated collection of homewear and chic resort wear, and work out in the split-level gym. There’s also yoga and Pilates classes on offer. But, overall, the vibe here is to sink your toes in the sand and do nothing.

It’s almost the antithesis of the networking ethos found at most of Soho House’s urban addresses. There’s also the fact that travelling to Canouan can take a while: you transfer from Barbados in a tiny plane that can often make stops at islands along the way.

To acclimatise, it’s all about downing tools. Head to the dining “Palapa” to order conch ceviche followed by red snapper with coconut rice with a Canouan Cooler (a local version of a rum punch) to wash it down. You’ll be on island time before you know it.

Brilliant turquoise waters

Opened in 2021, Soho Beach House Canouan still maintains the air of an insider’s secret, with most of its charm found in perfectly executed moments. There’s dining on the jetty under a sky blazing with amber stars. You’ll tuck into tuna and watermelon tartare, plantain chips and spicy dips and jerk chicken cooked on a wood-fire grill.

Then, it’s time to pad back to your room, where soothing music plays from the Robert’s radio (Netflix junkies, be warned: there’s no TV). It’s nonetheless just the right ambiance for settling down on the balcony with a good book and a Coconut Cosmo in hand.

“There are no creatives talking shop— instead, all I can hear is the soft lapping of waves caressing the beach”

By day, there are boat trips to the Tobago Cays — an uninhabited group of five islands famous for their brilliant turquoise waters and a horseshoe-shaped reef teeming with

After swimming with green sea turtles, you can lunch on grilled lobster, saltfish cakes and coconut-infused Tahitienne fish vibrant fish. After swimming with green sea turtles, Sparrow’s Beach Club on Union Island is a local hang-out where you can lunch on grilled lobster, saltfish cakes and coconut-infused Tahitienne fish.

Sandy lanes and emerald hills

With just 1,700 inhabitants, who largely live in the tiny village of Charlestown, Canouan island feels beautifully untouched by tourism. In fact, it has only been on the tourist scene since 1999, when a wealthy developer purchased most of the island with a dream of turning it into a version of Mustique.

As well as a handful of sprawling properties, he built a hotel on the north-east coast, which has since undergone various permutations and now operates as a lavish Mandarin Oriental.

Another bonus here is that a stay on Canouan offers guests an “invisible key” concept. This means that no matter where you reside, you can dip into all the facilities, which include tennis courts and an 18-hole championship golf course (which will reopen next year after a renovation).

The island is easy to explore: you can traverse sandy lanes and emerald rolling hills in one of the estate’s golf buggies or on an aesthetically pleasing aquamarine bicycle. There’s hardly any traffic, instead there’s an endless stream of resident red-footed tortoises pootling along everywhere.

Turns out that the island’s name means “Isle of Turtles” in ancient Carib and it is thought that there are more tortoises living here than humans. At Mandarin Oriental, Canouan, you can choose to stay in one of the 26 palatial suites — think: marble bathrooms, terraces with sea views and canopied beds.

At the hotel’s hillside spa, signature massages take place with the doors flung open so the ocean’s swooshing waves become a naturally soothing soundtrack. There’s also a selection of sleek villas belonging to the hotel, as well as those which come under the wider Canouan Estate.

The six-bedroom Silver Turtle house, for instance, has its own infinity pool and a framed letter of thanks on the wall from when Prince Harry once stayed.

Private culinary experiences across the island and a selection of five restaurants at Mandarin Oriental, which all guests can book, offer a good choice for eating out, and you can also have private chefs cook for you at your villa.

On my last day, I trek to the top of the highest peak, Mount Royal, with a local guide. As we go up the steep incline, hermit crabs shimmy across the path and swifts flit in between the trees.

At the 877-foot summit, the island’s green mounds are spread out below me. I spot the luxury yachts docked in the harbour and a private jet landing on the airstrip. Life looks pretty good from up here.

Stay at Soho Beach House Canouan from $815 per night and at Mandarin Oriental, Canouan from $1,400 per night for a one bedroom suite, including breakfast. sohohouse.com; mandarinoriental.com