Turtle Inn

Turtle Inn's 17 cottages, eight villas, pavilion home, three restaurants and three bars are Francis Ford Coppola's stylish and intimate hotel offering. The hotel offers everything from massage therapists from Thailand to administer treatments in authentic rice houses (which he had shipped over from Indonesia).Ultimately, Turtle Inn's most powerful draw is its location. There's some of the world's best diving and fishing right offshore. A half-hour boat ride away is the Monkey River, in a primeval jungle that's home to more than 50 species of birds, as well as colonies of howler monkeys. Nearby Placencia gives a taste of the Caribbean circa 1968, with its hippie cafés and funky guesthouses. The ideal way to get to the village is on one of the resort's fleet of wildly painted retro bikes. It's those kinds of stylish details that are making Turtle Inn the talk of the region.

Rooms to Book: One of the 1-bedroom cottages - a seashell's throw from the beach.

Doubles from $375, two night minimum stay.