Hilton’s best-kept secret: A review of the Zemi Beach House, LXR Hotels & Resorts

Getting there

Amenities

Naturally, the highlight of the resort was its amenities. And because there weren’t a tremendously high number of rooms, the public spaces never felt too crowded.

The centerpiece of the property is a zigzag-shaped infinity pool. It overlooks the ocean and even has an underwater window, which makes for a great photo op. It is only slightly heated but gets plenty of sunshine during the day.

There are plenty of loungers around the pool and they all have a good view of the ocean thanks to the pool’s zigzag design. There are also a number of cabanas that are free to use. Although this pool is open to families, it was always fairly quiet during our stay and there was never a fight for chairs. However, the hotel’s electronic music selection felt a bit out of place.

The pool deck was stocked with fruit-infused water and free sunscreen — another thing you don’t need to pack (or overpay for on the island).

The resort’s other pool, a three-tier adults-only infinity pool, is just up the hill closer to the guest rooms.

It offered plenty of seating, but there were rarely other guests here. That’s likely because it didn’t get nearly as much sunlight as the main pool, didn’t offer ocean views and the water felt much colder. However, if you’re looking to swim laps, this is the place to do it.

Where I (and most other guests, for that matter) spent most of my time was on the beach. The water shone a pristine turquoise color, perfectly complementing the soft, white sand. While some parts of the beach are a bit rocky, they were avoidable.

The beach offered enough loungers to go around and reserving a chair wasn’t necessary. However, unlike at the pools, people started to reserve them anyway during the second half of my stay when the resort got busier. Despite that, the beach still felt more exclusive than your run-of-the-mill resort and had no locals trying to sell you something.

There were attendants to help guests find a spot and set up the chairs. They also always offered complimentary bottles of water in bags of ice, which I much appreciated.

The beach also had a station with sunscreen and more water.

The resort offered kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and snorkeling gear at no charge to guests. Unfortunately, the staff determined the water was too rough to actually use any of the equipment during my stay — a potential downside to staying on the Atlantic side of the island.

Another standout feature of the resort was its Thai-style spa. The treatment rooms are housed in a 300-year-old wooden house shipped from Thailand. Other features include a vitality pool, the island’s only hammam, various relaxation areas and a juice bar.

Offerings include massages, facials, healing rituals and scrubs, with 50-minute massages starting at $170. I had the five elements massage, which was a truly relaxing experience. The massage therapist was thorough and tailored the session to my needs.

Just across the spa is an astroturf tennis court. It is free to use during the day and racquets are included, too. The hotel had provided a cooler with water bottles, towels and bug spray, which was a thoughtful touch.

For those who prefer working out indoors, there is a 24-hour fitness center. It is on the smaller side but still well-equipped (sans Pelotons). It would have been nice if the resort offered group fitness or yoga classes, but it sadly didn’t.

While I didn’t see many children during my stay, there was a kids club for those ages 4-12. It was included for no additional charge, which could be a real money-saver for families.

Free Wi-Fi was available throughout the resort, including at the beach. Speeds measured 19.15 Mbps download and 18.28 Mbps upload. That isn’t the fastest I’ve encountered but should suffice for streaming movies and FaceTiming relatives back home.

Food and drink

Food and drink is an area the hotel could improve in.

With one exception, none of the dishes I had were particularly bad — but none of them were particularly exciting, either. Overall, the food felt more akin to what you’d expect from a megaresort than a hotel of this caliber. Prices were a bit steep but in line with expectations for the island.

The hotel’s main restaurant is called 20 Knots. It’s right by the beach and was open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

There were a variety of seating options, but my favorite was outside at the tables on the sand. There’s just something so satisfying about dining barefoot with your feet sinking into the sand.

Breakfast was buffet-style and included for all hotel guests. It offered the usual suspects like made-to-order eggs, French toast, pastries, cereals, cheeses and cold cuts, but lacked some local flavor. For instance, it would have been nice to have tropical fruit like mango or coconut in addition to the berries and melon.

My companion and I also ate most of our dinners here, though it didn’t take long to get tired of the food options. The menu ranged from pizza and pasta to tacos, lobster and steak.

We tried our best to stick to local dishes that would exemplify island cuisine, but our options were limited. My favorite dish was the red Caribbean curry ($26) with tofu, mixed vegetables, raisins, coconut rice and mango chutney, while my companion was a fan of the grilled spicy lobster ($55). The local red snapper fillet ($28) was tasty, too, albeit not very authentic with its thick lemon butter sauce. The Caribbean lobster mac and cheese ($28) and tuna tartare ($23) were bland and worth skipping.

20 Knots also provided the beach and poolside food. The fish tacos ($23), mahi-mahi skewers ($23) and burger ($26) all hit the spot. That said, I’d still recommend trying out the nearby beach shack Gwen’s Reggae Grill for lunch instead (where I highly recommend their grilled seafood and rum punches).

The hotel’s other restaurant is Stone and it was only open for dinner. It was meant to be more upscale, with higher prices to match. However, its Asian-European fusion menu didn’t really appeal to us so we didn’t try it out.

The hotel also offered two themed dinners that we partook in.

The first was a Caribbean beach BBQ and it was not to miss. It cost $65 and included a buffet of salads and fresh-off-the-grill meat and seafood, including lobster. This was definitely the tastiest meal we had on site at a relatively good value.

The second was sushi night and it was a huge letdown, especially considering how much the staff had hyped it up. While our expectations weren’t very high, the meal was so bad that my companion and I left to eat at 20 Knots instead.

The prices were comparable to what you’d pay at a restaurant like Nobu — think $17 for a six-piece vegetable roll, $7 for a piece of tuna nigiri and $26 for a miso cod bite. But the quality was far from it. Our lobster and spicy salmon rolls were drenched in heavy sauces and the fish tasted off. (Not to mention, the order took an hour to come out.)

There are a total of three bars, with the main one being Bohio. There was often live music here and this is also where the sushi bar was located. Cocktails cost $16, mocktails cost $8 and beers were $6 to $8.

There is another bar on the beach right by 20 Knots.

And finally, there is the Rhum Room, an ultra-chic rum-and-cigar lounge. There was a dedicated “rummelier” who had extensive knowledge of the more than 100 varieties on hand.

I’m not usually a big rum drinker, but I thoroughly enjoyed my fruity “Guabanacex Sour” cocktail ($18) and learned a lot from my tasting session. The presentation was also wonderful.

If you preferred to eat in the privacy of your room or balcony, there was 24-hour room service available with no delivery fee. There was even a continental breakfast option that guests could order for no additional charge.

Service

Service definitely matched my high expectations from the LXR brand.

Everyone I interacted with was friendly and seemed well-intentioned. I was greeted by name throughout the stay and the beach attendants knew that I wanted a chair in a sunny spot each day.

Upon arrival, there was a Diamond welcome gift waiting for me: a fruit plate and bottle of prosecco. During our days on the beach, the staff brought around fruit skewers, cold towels and once even free cucumber cocktails. Nightly turndown service was automatically provided and always included freshly baked cookies and water bottles.

The service deteriorated a bit as the hotel’s occupancy went up, but I’ll give the hotel the benefit of the doubt and assume it was because it had recently reopened and wasn’t fully staffed yet.

Accessibility

The resort did not cater well to those with disabilities.

There were no specially adapted accessible rooms and the property lacked some key accessibility features like a pool lift, Braille signage, ramps for all public spaces and grab bars in the bathrooms. As mentioned, the resort was set on a steep hill so those with mobility concerns probably would need to call up a golf cart to get around.

Overall impression

All in all, my first experience with the LXR brand was a success. The Zemi Beach House has beautiful grounds and the service was top-notch. This is not your run-of-the-mill Hilton.

The resort was generally quiet and relaxing, and although there were family-friendly amenities like a kids club, it didn’t feel overly family-focused, making it perfect for couples and families alike. While getting there wasn’t a total breeze, the island had an exclusive feeling and ultimately wasn’t that far, especially considering the new nonstop flight options from the U.S. My Hilton elite status didn’t go very far, but I still felt like I got terrific value from my free night certificates and points.