Even on a stormy day, Lovango , a small semi-private island resort in the US Virgin Islands, is beautiful. I arrived on the last rainy day in a week of rainy days. Picture-perfect tropical weather would come later, but the rain created colorful first impressions of deep greens and vibrant flowers.
Listening to the rain on the jungle canopy, I spent the afternoon drinking coffee in a low-slung chair on the porch of my private “tree house.” In fact, the wooden cabin was tucked into the hillside, looking down at cerulean waves breaking on the private beach and Congo Cay, a restricted and undeveloped island bird sanctuary across the channel. I felt like I was the only person on the island.
Privacy was one of the big draws for the Snider family, Lovango’s owners and operators. Part of Little Gem Resorts, the Snider portfolio includes the Nantucket Hotel & Resort and the Winnetu Oceanside Resort in Martha’s Vineyard. Here, they’ve created an increasingly rare no-passport-necessary Caribbean sanctuary contrasting with the hulking cruise ships docked in nearby St.
Thomas and the crowded beaches of St. John. Lovango is the first newly built hotel in the US Virgin Islands in over 20 years and was designed to blend into the landscape, maximizing privacy while offering excellent and eco-friendly accommodations in varying levels of luxury.
From glamping tree houses to the private three-bedroom villa, the architecture blends brutalism with island whimsy. Poured-concrete rainfall .