“This is the private island resort the Caribbean has been waiting for,” says Julie Shifrin, a veteran advisor who’s seen nearly every version of island indulgence. Her point is simple: five-star, truly private island experiences in the Caribbean have been surprisingly scarce. The new Four Seasons Caye Chapel fills that absence without trying to outshine the landscape.
Set on its own island off the coast of Belize, the resort offers just 104 oceanfront accommodations. The headline draw is the overwater bungalows—long associated with Bora Bora, long-haul flights, and once-in-a-lifetime logistics. Here, they’re suddenly closer. Direct access from U.S. hubs like Miami and Chicago reframes the fantasy. This isn’t an escape that requires endurance. It’s one that respects time.
The design language leans calm rather than conspicuous. Low density. Open sightlines. Space that feels intentional, not extracted. It’s luxury without the performance of luxury—no crowds, no spectacle, no sense of being processed through paradise.
For honeymooners, it lands exactly where desire and practicality meet. For seasoned travelers, it feels overdue. And for the Caribbean, it quietly raises the bar—not by adding more, but by subtracting noise.
Sometimes the most meaningful luxury isn’t reinvention.
It’s finally getting the essentials right.
“This is the private island resort the Caribbean has been waiting for.”
Julie Shifrin
