The Royal Isabela marries luxury with a strong environmental ethos, as good as anything on the island. The vision of Stanley and Charlie Pasarell has risen out of a former sugarcane plantation into an enticing tract of vegetated cliffs, rocky coves and undulating, copse-fringed greenery. Colonial-style rooms are studies in understated chic; there's a full list of services to boot.
The 20-odd idyllic casitas are cocooned away within the folds of this estate, so hidden that you can barely see one from the next. Needless to say, they're a soliloquy in style, with dark-wood flooring, carved beds, walk-in four-jet showers and luxe toiletries. Each has its own private plunge pool and paths wind down to private alfresco dining areas – ideal for honeymooners.
As for the 19th hole of the resort's golf course, the vista across the grounds, sweeping to the sea, is magnificent. Next to the open-air bar is the terracotta-roofed restaurant Jota.
