The tiny, thatch-roofed bamboo airport is your first clue that arriving on Mustique means touching down in another world. It’s a fantasy island of glitterati and glamour, of royalty and rock stars. But as I learned during a visit to this ultra-private paradise, that’s just the gloss, the residual sheen from Mustique’s heyday as Princess Margaret’s playground. Sure, you might see Daniel Craig jogging down the lone road or maybe, just maybe, rub elbows with Mick Jagger at the Tuesday evening cocktail party, but you’re more likely to make friends with the many tortoises who totter about, nibbling on hibiscus blossoms.
This undulating island, a barely three-mile-long speck among the turquoise waters of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean, is both a hideaway for the ultra-rich and famous and a getaway for mere mortals (well, those with means) who may never traverse a red carpet but appreciate laid-back luxury, empty beaches, sublime sunsets, and serious backgammon competition.
Sadly, the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, and their kids had departed shortly before I arrived, and though I took plenty of pics of Jagger’s compound (proximity counts, right?) and Tommy Hilfiger’s home, I saw no celebs. I did, however, see jaw-dropping, Hollywood-worthy scenery at every turn, especially from my hilltop perch at Toucan Hill (more on that below) and in one hidden cove I dream of returning to.
It’s not happenstance that the island feels like a theatrical design. Mustique’s backstory is a made-for-movie tale, and thanks to mentions of it in The Crown, curiosity around it has been rising. But in 1958, when Sir Colin Tennant bought the island for a mere £49,000, it was more a scrub brush and mosquito haven (Mustique comes from moustique, French for mosquito) than a plush retreat. Tennant was a dandy with a flair for the theatrical, and through mere audacity he basically willed the undeveloped island—then with no electricity, no water—into an aristocratic hot spot. It helped that his wife, Anne Glenconner, was Queen Elizabeth’s maid of honor and Princess Margaret’s lady-in-waiting, and that on a brilliant whim, the Tennants offered the princess a ten-acre parcel of their far-from-the-tabloids island as a wedding gift. Who to design the princess’s villa (“the only place I can relax,” she once described it) but the famed British stage and costume designer Oliver Messel, who would go on to create thirty house plans for the island, eighteen of which were built. The stage was set decades ago.
How to Get There and Where to Stay
Today the Mustique Company owns and manages the private island, operating its own fleet of Twin Otter aircraft to whisk you from any of the nearby international airports on St. Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, and St. Vincent. Private boat charters to Mustique are also an option. Visitors can arrange villa rentals or a stay at the Cotton House, the island’s only hotel and its main social hub. The hotel offers seventeen guest suites and cottages with private verandas and glorious sea or garden views.
The villas, if budget allows, are the best way to get the OG Mustique experience—once upon a time, the only entrée to the island was by invitation of a villa owner. Choose between eighty-four of these manors (extravagant homes that are perfect for extended families or small house parties), some of which are original Messel designs. I stayed at the four-bedroom Toucan Hill, the literal peak of Mustique, crowning the island’s tallest point in an Arabesque fantasy, with Moorish arches framing spectacular views, a Mirador terrace, and plenty of space for gathering or privacy. Patricia, the lovely villa manager, and our personal butler tended to every need.
Dining and Imbibing
Every villa has its own staff and private chef, so meals are customized to guests’ desires. At Toucan Hill I ate a candlelit seafood dinner in a different romantic location each night—an open-air Moorish pavilion one evening, a breezy poolside terrace another, always with elaborate place settings (my villa had thirty china sets). One lunch featured a linen-tablecloth beach picnic (on Mustique, lavish picnicking is competitive sport). Restaurant options include alfresco lunches of fish tacos or fresh sashimi at the waterfront Beach Café, and dinner at the Cotton House’s Veranda, which offers shared plates and mains (crispy chicken wings slathered in rum sauce, whole spiny lobster tails, spice-rubbed beef tenderloin). A visit to the legendary Basil’s Bar is nonnegotiable, whether you come for Taco and Tequila Thursdays or just to sip sundowners a la The Crown.
What to Do
Make sure your visit includes a Tuesday night, when all guests and residents congregate at the Cotton House’s Great Room—its West Indies–flavored, Messel-designed bar—for the Cocktail Party, the see-and-be-seen weekly island ritual. Return on Wednesday evening if your backgammon game is strong. While these tony traditions give Mustique its elevated, clubby air, the real feel is friendly and unpretentious, with rum a spirited unifier.
Beyond nightlife, there’s plenty of action. A full equestrian center offers horseback riding lessons or guided trail and beach rides, complete with an equine ocean dip. The use of five tennis courts, plus pickleball and padel, is complimentary, or book a lesson to finesse your forehand.
If water is more your element, find all the toys (snorkeling gear, SUP, windsurfing) at the Watersports Centre on Endeavor Bay, where you can also reserve a scuba excursion or beginner divers can get certified. Besides a relaxing sunset sail to experience Mustique from the water, we spent our days hiking the hills and exploring pristine beaches via trusty “mules” (souped-up golf carts), and reading by Toucan Hill’s infinity pool that spills off into a dreamy Caribbean horizon, giving the sense that you’re simultaneously on the edge of the world and on top of it.
One final note: Whether you visit the island in person or just in your wanderlusting dreams, I highly recommend Anne Glenconner’s best-selling memoir, Lady in Waiting, for its wildly colorful history of Mustique and an introduction to many of its most famous characters.
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