My wife and I normally go on nice holidays but nothing super expensive, so we thought we'd spoil ourselves this once for our honeymoon (island hopping in Antigua, Mustique and St Lucia). Our 3 nights in Mustique were ridiculous. Amazing. This place is so nice and the service is so incredible that we had to stop ourselves from laughing until we got to our room. We've stayed at Il Palazzetto in Rome and incredible riads in Marrakesh but this place is so beautiful, has such friendly but professional staff that I would recommend it to anyone. We stayed in one of the Cottages, which are the smallest rooms at the hotel but don't even sweat it - these rooms are massive and the beds are soooo comfy. My only beef with this place is the Tues evening drinks when Cotton House guests are invited to mix with the Mustique residents - it's such a waste of time, don't bother.

My wife and I came to this place with our friends, and we were all there for the first time. We saw the best water, only ran into people and breakfast and dinner, and was able to find a level of bliss I am still trying to get back to. The perfect example is Saturday night. We were in the main lodge with the bar, and there was no one else there. The resort was fully booked, but no one goes there to meet anyone else. If you're looking to meet some interesting travelers like yourself, this is not the place, and I mean that in a good way. I wear my white cotton house baseball cap with pride. My only regret is that my cotton house flip flops that I took home did not last longer than 6 months. Can't wait to get back to cotton house!

Anyone who writes a negative review about this place hasn't been to the same hotel as we have. We have just returned from 9 nights at the Cotton House. Our holiday was arranged by Prestbury Travel and I would thoroughly recommend them. All the arrangements went like a dream. We were met at Barbados airport and taken to check in for the Mustique flight whilst a member of staff transferred our bags. On arrival at Mustique airport we were given cool cloths and water from a silver tray covered in flowers and that set the standard. Everyone wished my husband a happy birthday and the General Manager went through everything with us (basically if you want it they can provide it) before we were shown to our cottage. This is the cheapest accommodation but I loved it as we were detached. (Some of the suites are in blocks of 4.) During our stay it was also my birthday. We were given Mimosas with breakfast, had champagne at sunset on the jetty and a special dinner alone at the edge of the sea served by our own butler. We had 2 further special meals whilst on the island and they were fantastic. All the staff are wonderful and somehow know your name even if you haven't seen them before. There is plenty of room on the beach (unlike Sandy Lane) and sunbeds etc are organised for you. I had thought that the Cotton House might be a bit stuffy but it was anything but. It knows how good it is so doesn't need to be! I could go on and on about all the little details which made our stay so wonderful but all in all this is a very special place and we can't wait to go back.

First, the pros -
The island is beautiful and there are all the lovely exotic empty beaches you could ever want. It was very quiet though we were to understand that it picks up quite a bit in the high season. The little town, Lovell, is charming and there are several interesting places to see on the island. The villas are also amazing.
Unique rooms - We were in the Cottages which were quite cute and cozy. They are however inland and do not get a breeze from the water, meaning the walk to them in the hot sun at midday was very intense.
Service - always excellent, we never had any issues.
Mules - expensive but worth it, it was a blast to zip around the island on the golf cart/4x4 cross.
Little birds - Some people found them disgusting, but I enjoyed shooting them with the waterguns provided by the Cotton House.
Dogs - friendly local dogs run amok on the property which made it feel homey.

Now for the cons -
The food - mediocre at the Cotton House, better at the Firefly, but not outstanding anywhere on the island.
The beach - it's okay, and there is an area for snorkeling which was nice. But you can't go in the water from the beach itself - it's too rocky. The other beaches on the island are much better. In fact of all the beaches we went to, the Cotton House's beach was the worst on the island.
Lack of upgrades - I normally wouldn't complain about this, but we and two other couples there on our honeymoons were not upgraded despite the resort being virtually empty. When we read all the reviews with free upgrades here we were somewhat irritated.
Overpriced - this is another thing I would normally never complain about - I expect the Caribbean to be expensive. However, when we realized that staying in a 2-bed luxury villa with food and butler included would have cost less than our trip to the Cotton House, we felt as though we'd overpaid.
SAND FLEAS - Everything after dark takes place at the beach bar, but the beach bar (and the beach itself) is simply awful after 4pm when the sand fleas come out. No amount of citronella or spray could get them to leave you (or whatever you were trying to eat/drink) alone. Many of the surfaces in the bar would literally be coated with a moving black shell of sand fleas. We usually fled to the bar in the main house which tended to be unfortunately empty.

In summation - Mustique is lovely, but if you go, shell out the cash to stay in a villa. If you want a good dinner try Firefly - we ate there twice and the food was good. The atmosphere there is also superior to the Cotton House as it seems to be where most visitors to the island hang out.