We have recently returned from a week in Mustique at the Cotton House. The island, hotel and staff are simply beyond compare.
We stayed in one of the upper Grenadine suites - ours was spacious and elegant. I would certainly recommend the upper level suites over the lower level(more expensive) suites with plunge pools as the terrace and pool areas perhaps lacked some privacy. The main pool and beach are so close by that I really don't think that having your own plunge pool is worth the considerable extra cost.
We hired a mule for the entire stay which is recommended. This way you get to see the whole of this small, stunning island. Having lavish picnics delivered by the hotel to the various beaches at lunch time was a fantastic treat.
We have visited many of the top hotels on the larger Caribbean islands. For sheer luxury, relaxation and having entire beaches to yourself the Cotton House beats them all. I don't doubt that we will return again and again. Indeed, we are already planning to go back later in the year.

We returned from 4 days in Mustique at the Cotton House last week and think that we may have found a new favorite island in the Caribbean and a top notch resort to go along with it. The Cotton House staff was friendly and very helpful throughout the booking and planning process, from the girls that work at the front desk to the food and beverage manager that was greatly helpful in working with me to plan a special dinner, to the new GM who was a very welcoming guy.

The experience really begins at the airport in Barbados, when you’re met by a Cotton House representative and ushered through the process of checking into your small plane transfer to Mustique. While waiting in line to board the plane we were giving bottles of water, towels to refresh our hands with, and a nice letter from the GM. Only people going to Cotton House received this and it’s a nice little touch. We were met at the airport by more Cotton House staff and transferred to the resort, which was literally about 2-3 minutes from the airport.

Check-in was great, easy and stress-free. There is an interim (I believe interim) GM there now (Jon) who was terrific and spent some time chatting with us while we sat on one of their comfy couches in the great room and had a nice fruity cocktail. Then it was on to the room. We stayed in a sea-front master room with plunge pool. The room was great, with a very comfortable bed. I loved the pillow menu. We liked the bathroom with its indoor/outdoor shower, as I would describe it. There was a small flat screen TV in the room that we didn’t turn on once during our stay. The room had a great view of the ocean which wasn’t far away, and provided nightly sunset views. The plunge pool was nice; we ended up only using it once though. Nice to jump in and cool down if the sun is beating down, though.

I really liked the resort’s main pool, there was hardly anybody there whenever I used it and it was great to swim around in and the area got really good sun exposure all day long (though there were lots of clouds the weekend we were there). We didn’t ever use the resort’s beach chairs which are setup near their beach café, but saw that these were generally being used by guests each day and seemed a popular spot.

The food at Cotton House was generally pretty good, and we have high standards like I’m sure many do on this site or that visit this type of place. We did room service for breakfast each morning. The fruit selection was good, smoked salmon was fresh and we loved the banana bread. Scrambled eggs weren’t quite cooked all the way to my liking, but I did have a pretty good omelet one morning. We had lunch at the beach café one day and had a really delicious blue marlin sandwich - really tasty. We had dinner in the main dining room on our last night and were pleased. I’m a big steak fan, and have been lucky enough to eat at all the best steak houses in New York City, and let me tell you, they cooked a killer tenderloin that my girlfriend had. It was fabulous. They also had a really delicious ravioli appetizer.

We also used the gym and spa and found the place to be comfortable and well run. I think there were 4 or 5 treatment rooms at the spa, and both of us had very relaxing massages. The gym is more suited to getting a cardio workout in, as the free weight selection is very limited, but there is one universal type machine that you can use if you want to lift weights.

In general we really liked the resort’s grounds; it is well laid out and not cramped at all. We liked the wide open field of grass which led to the spa. We did get off the resort a few times to explore the island, and really fell in love with the place. We rented one of their “mules”, which is basically a golf cart, to get around the island. We spent one day at Macaroni beach, which seems to be the most popular on the island. That said, it wasn’t crowded at all. It was a very nice beach, but I think most would probably find another beach or two in the Caribbean they’ve been to that they would like more. We had the Cotton House deliver a picnic lunch to us while we were there, and be forewarned, there was a ton of food. We ended up throwing half of it away.

We also went to Basil’s Bar twice, once for lunch and once for dinner. The place was hopping for dinner, but we unfortunately we seated next to some very loud, drunk and obnoxious yachtsmen that kind of ruined the night for us, but we did have pretty good food which saved the evening. Try the Mustique Blues which is some type of lobster preparation that I really liked. The Bar is in a great spot though, right out over the water with great views.

We had drinks at Firefly one night and ate dinner there another night. Speaking of views, their views of the setting sun are phenomenal. Get there half an hour or an hour early to claim a choice spot to get your sunset pics, as it seems like a popular thing to do. The bar staff and waiters there were fantastic, very personable and friendly. I thought the food was hit or miss though. I had a seafood curry that was very bland and forgettable. But do make sure you check this place out though, very cool and comfortable bar scene, and great staff as I mentioned.

In an effort to balance this review since I have so many positives, let me point out a couple of areas for improvement. The Cotton House has a bunch of cats that roam the property and beg food if you happen to be eating outside of your room. We’re guilty in that we fed a couple of cats, but the problem was they were incredibly loud on a couple of different nights while we were sleeping. I think part of it was due to mating, though, and may not happen every night. If you’ve ever heard cats mate it’s loud enough to wake the dead, but hopefully this isn’t an every night occurrence and you may not even notice or hear it on your visit. Another thing that I wish was different is they don’t serve food at the pool or at the beach chairs. You have to get up and get it from the Beach Café. It would have been nice to have food delivered right to the pool, I’m not sure why they don’t do that. I mentioned the gym before, and it would be nice if there selection of dumbbells went over 30 pounds.

These are all very minor points, though. All in all we loved Cotton House and Mustique. Perhaps there is something to be said for the experience being fresh in our minds, but we both agreed upon returning last week that this has for the time being become our new favorite spot in the Caribbean. The island was so quaint and laid back and easy to explore that you immediately feel at home with it. The Cotton House was fantastic. We’re already thinking about a return visit because we enjoyed ourselves so much.

We just returned from 2 weeks at the Cotton House on the island of Mustique in the Grenadines.

The island is a fantasy, and the resort is wonderful. The attention to detail is obvious from the moment you arrive until you depart.

The staff is absolutely wonderful, from the marvelous manager, Pippa, who not only greets you, but also personally bids you farewell. From housekeeping to food service, you could not ask for better staff. They are charming, friendly and very good at what they do.

We had breakfast in our room every day on the patio (very special), lunch at the Beach Cafe or at Firefly and wonderful dinners at the Verandah on the Cotton House property. The food was wonderful. After eating at the same place for 2 weeks, you'd think we'd get tired of it, but not so, the selection was wonderful with daily specials for dinner. The fish was fabulous, from Barracuda to Tuna.

The Island is beyond description. We swam, snorkeled and hiked every inch of the Island. The spa and gym were absolutely perfect.

If you are looking for a spectacular island to chill, this is the place for you.

I needed a break ! A friend suggested Mustique and the Cotton House so I checked it out & liked what I read here and also their website - booking wigth Simonique was such a pleasure - the gentle suggestions of which room type would suit best and then offering to book our flights from Barbados - all so easy but making one feel so royal.

As the rest of the aircraft stampeded to customs and immigration in Barbados, we are gently escorted to the transfer area a more private feeling and luggage tags taken as the staff head off to find our luggage - all we do is complete the immigration forms and sip chilled water and read the welcome letter from Pipp ( the hotel general manager) and then go though to the departures area and await our 40 minute flight to magic - I felt great already, even if my body clock was telling me I should be asleep!

Mustique grew larger though the window of the plane & I knew we had made the right choice - it looked magical with pristine white beaches and villas camouflaged into the hillsides.

After a warm welcome at the airport from Pippa and then the quick ride ( in ac car) to the hotel to be met on the steps of the Great Room by the famous Simonique - a rum punch ( lime squash for those who wish to abstain till dinner time) was offered as we sank into big white sofas, ceiling fans gently turning above us - oh yes we were here for a reason - registration, but it is a very small formality. This moment is more for the welcome and the hospitality of Pippa and her team and was a taste of what was lavished upon us for the remainder of the week. During this time Bobsen has already delivered our bags to the room - no waiting for luggage to arrive once you are in the room - they even offered to unpack and press all our clothes - I though this was our VIP treatment but it is actually the norm at the Cotton House.

Our room was a Duplex Suite overlooking the Atlantic side and the gentle sounds of the waves was audible on the balcony - large plunge pool and two loungers and big umbrella - our private sanctuary - heaven. The living room was upstairs and our bedroom downstairs and opened straight onto the deck of the pool so we often had breakfast by the pool - other option was down at Great Room Verandah

We were on half board and the daily dinner menu was Italian or local Caribbean dishes - the highlight and we hope they do it more often ( next time ) was themed buffet and BBQ night down at the Beach café - super location - Michael the wine sommelier knew his wines and helped us with some nice choices for dinner and lunch - he also does a little wine tasting course on Monday which is fun and gave us opportunity to meet other hotel guests

Beach café was where we had lunch most days apart from one picnic at lagoon beach, caribbean side of island - Basils Bar is great for drinks on Sunday evening as jazz as well as dinner on Wednesday and live music - not over full when we were there but good atmosphere.

There was a small selection of shops ( at the hotel spa ) and in the vilalge to find a few souvenirs and nice clothes - so not devoid of shopping and don't hold your breath to shop in Barbados Duty Free (the airport shopping is limited) .

Our week went by far too quick, lots of lazing at the hotel beach ( only serviced beach on island) but do get to Macaroni for the waves and sand - and there was no one there even though hotel & island was full - or so we learned at the Tuesday cocktail party when everyone on island (not just the hotel) is invited !

The snorkelling at the hotel beach is brill and the equipment is included in your room charge

We passed on using the hotels mountain bikes and rented a mule to get around the island ( golf cart) - do remember your internaitonal driving licence to get your St Vincent one ( will frame that I think)

All in all a super holiday and we are hooked - Mustique captures you immediately and is the perfect destination to chill out and be zen ( those who want action can get it but we prefered to watch the tennis players and divers as that seemed far too much activity for us ) we kept saying we would do it but suddenly it was time to be dropped back to the airport and the trip home - ah well we know why we have to come back - to play tennis of course !