Cap Juluca, A Belmond Hotel vs Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
Belmond vs The Ritz-Carlton — side-by-side hotel comparison
The Hotel Flock Verdict
Cap Juluca is Belmond's Greco-Moorish statement on Maundays Bay: white pavilions opening onto one of the Caribbean's most photographed crescents, rebuilt after Hurricane Irma and reopened in 2018. It is a bigger-inventory beach resort by Belmond standards (rooms, suites, and signature villas) with Pimms and Cip's as the social dining rooms and a Guerlain spa. Book it for that specific bay and a village-of-pavilions layout.
Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve is a different Caribbean bet: 96 rooms on a former Rockefeller estate on Puerto Rico's north shore, 25 minutes from San Juan, with far more land per guest than a standard Ritz-Carlton flag. Reserve is a separate, smaller tier. You are buying Ritz-Carlton service culture without a convention-hotel crowd. See what a Reserve is.
Pick Cap Juluca if the beach itself is the destination and you want Anguilla quiet. Pick Dorado Beach if you want estate scale, golf-adjacent land, and easier airlift into San Juan. Both are ultra-luxury beach resorts. They do not feel like the same product. Compare guest density and how you arrive before you compare spa menus.
Facts
| Metric | Cap Juluca, A Belmond Hotel | Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Beach | Beach |
| Tier | Ultra-Luxury | Ultra-Luxury |
| Opened | 1988 / Belmond Reimagination 2018 | — |
| Rooms | 108 | 114 |
| Architect | Oscar Farmer / Greco-Moorish Whitewashed Dome Beachfront Architecture | Laurance Rockefeller / Contemporary Eco-Luxury Low-Rise Oceanfront Architecture |
Dining
| Metric | Cap Juluca, A Belmond Hotel | Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve |
|---|---|---|
| Dining Venues | 2 | 2 |
Rooms
| Metric | Cap Juluca, A Belmond Hotel | Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve |
|---|---|---|
| Room Categories | 3 | 3 |
| Suite / Villa Types | 1 | 2 |
Spa
| Metric | Cap Juluca, A Belmond Hotel | Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve |
|---|---|---|
| Spa Programme | Yes | Yes |
| Spa Facilities Listed | 4 | 4 |
Good to Know
Cap Juluca, A Belmond Hotel
- The 108-room Greco-Moorish resort sits on Maundays Bay in Anguilla, Belmond/Forbes 5-Star.
- Includes Pimms, CIP’s by Cipriani, Guerlain Spa, Har-Tru tennis, and all rooms are directly on the beach.
- Located on Maundays Bay, a 15-minute drive from Clayton J. Lloyd Airport (AXA) or 25 mins by boat from St. Maarten (SXM).
Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
- The 114-room Forbes 5-Star Rockefeller reserve spans 1,400 private acres in Dorado, Puerto Rico, Ritz-Carlton.
- Includes COA with 3,200-bottle wine cellar, 5-acre Spa Botánico, 11-mile nature trail, and 2 pools.
- Located on 100 Dorado Beach Drive, a 40-minute drive from San Juan Luis Muñoz Marín Airport (SJU).