In Marie Pampoen, a few minutes from Punda and Pietermaai, Baoase Luxury Resort Curaçao reveals itself almost by surprise. Past the entrance, the Balinese inspiration is immediately apparent: dark wood, high ceilings, small pools for rinsing your feet before stepping onto the sand. The resort has only twenty-three rooms, suites and villas, twelve of which have their own pool, all facing a private beach that lines a calm, almost still lagoon.

It's a family affair, run by the same owners since it opened, and that continuity shows in the attention to detail. The Baoase Culinary Beach Restaurant serves all three meals of the day right on the sand, blending international cuisine with Asian touches.

This intimate approach has been rewarded: in 2025, the resort was ranked the number one hotel in Curaçao by U.S. News & World Report, and that same year, Travel + Leisure named it the best resort in the Caribbean. A remarkable achievement for a property that stays deliberately small, far from the standards of the big beach resort chains.

The detail that catches first-time visitors off guard: at the end of a wooden walkway, a small island called Bibi's Island closes off the bay and holds a Buddha statue facing the ocean, a quiet vantage point over the lagoon that few visitors passing through Willemstad ever discover.