Malliouhana, Auberge Resorts Collection

The low limestone bluff that separates Meads Bay from Turtle Cove, on the west end of Anguilla, gives a view along two beaches at once. In 1984 the Englishman Leon Roydon opened Malliouhana on it, taking the name the island's first inhabitants gave to Anguilla, usually translated as an arrow-shaped sea serpent, after the island's long, thin outline.

History

Anguilla had very few hotels when Roydon built here, and almost none of real standing. Malliouhana changed that. Its restaurant, with the Parisian chef Michel Rostang advising the kitchen, and a wine cellar that ran to tens of thousands of bottles, gave the island a reputation among food lovers that it has kept. For two decades the hotel was the reference on Anguilla, and much of the island's later growth followed its example along Meads Bay and the west end beaches.

The Roydon family ran the hotel until it closed in 2011. New owners rebuilt and renovated it, and it reopened at the end of 2014 under the management of Auberge Resorts Collection, the Californian group that runs small hotels rooted in their settings. Hurricane Irma struck Anguilla in September 2017, and Malliouhana closed for repairs before reopening.

Architecture and design

The white buildings follow the bluff, with arches, terracotta and wide terraces in a Mediterranean manner that suited the island's light. The renovation kept the layout and opened the rooms further to the sea, with pale stone, wood and fabrics in sand and blue. An infinity pool sits on the edge of the bluff above Meads Bay, and gardens of palms and flowering shrubs run between the buildings. Steps lead down to both beaches.

Rooms and suites

Rooms and suites look over the sea or the gardens, with terraces or balconies, and the larger suites add sitting rooms and outdoor space. Some stand on the bluff itself, with the water directly below.

Dining

Celeste, the main restaurant, sits on an open terrace on the bluff with the sea on three sides, and serves Caribbean and French cooking with a focus on local fish and lobster. A beach bar on Meads Bay serves lunch and drinks on the sand. The wine list still carries the memory of the old cellar.

Wellness

The spa occupies its own building in the gardens, with treatment rooms and a fitness centre, and Turtle Cove below is the quieter of the two beaches for a morning swim.

Weddings and events

Ceremonies take place on the sand of Meads Bay or on the bluff above it at sunset, and receptions use the terraces and lawns. The hotel takes small corporate retreats and private celebrations rather than large conventions.

Location

Meads Bay is one of the long white beaches of Anguilla's west end, with a string of restaurants along the sand that makes dinner out easy. Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport, near The Valley, is about fifteen minutes by car and takes small aircraft from neighbouring islands. Most visitors arrive through Princess Juliana International on Sint Maarten and cross by boat: private charters run from the airport, and public ferries from Marigot in French St Martin land at Blowing Point in about twenty-five minutes. The island is low and flat, made of coral and limestone, so the attraction is the beaches and the sea rather than hills or rainforest. Shoal Bay East, often listed among the finest beaches in the Caribbean, is a half-hour drive east. For a resort on Anguilla, it carries more history than any other.