If you're looking for a truly ethereal place to reset body and soul, Parrot Cay is all that it's cracked up to be. This is easily one of the top resorts in the region, if not the world. Set on its own private 1,000-acre island, Parrot Cay even smells good—the resort's signature Invigorate soaps perfume the air. The footprint of the rich and famous looms large here, but Parrot Cay staff is warm and welcoming to everyone, from families to honeymooners. On a parallel track, Parrot Cay is also a premier wellness retreat, offering world-class spa treatments in the beautiful COMO Shambhala spa ★★★. In expanding its wellness parameters, the spa has brought in Ayurvedic expert Dr. Parth Mahajan for therapeutic consultations. (His diagnostic skills are practically telepathic.) Throughout, Parrot Cay has a most gracious staff, a polyglot assemblage of workers from around the world.

That graciousness extends to the resort's two restaurants: the Terrace, in the main building, and the alfresco Lotus, on the pool deck, serving inspired pan-Asian dishes, like a rich red curry made with Wagyu beef. The bar has been moved from the little stone house (now a boutique) to the other side of Lotus, a big, open-air stepped wooden platform overlooking the beach. Sunset drinks in the sand or on one of the built-in loungers are practically mandatory.   

Even when the resort is fully booked, you can have stretches of white-sand beach all to yourself. The clear, gentle waters make an ideal spot to sail, stand-up paddleboard, or snorkel—the soft bottom is littered with snowy sand dollars and pink-tinged tellins. Equally fine are the accommodations, set on the hill in colonial-style buildings or in spacious beach houses right on the sand. All rooms have a terrace or veranda, wood floors, beachy tongue-and-groove paneling, and four-posters draped in white-voile netting. Bathrooms have ceramic tubs and rain showers. Beach houses and villas have their own little heated plunge pools and paths leading over the dune to the beach. Larger beach villas have swimming pools and full kitchens. Stays in the beach villas and houses come with personalized 24-hour butler service.

The resort's efforts at self-sustainability include the creation of a coconut plantation, with the help of guests—you plant your own 3-month-old coconut palm, paint a sign with your name on it, and come back year after year to watch your baby grow.