If you'd told me a year ago that the trip I'd still be talking about at dinner parties would be the one we took to Curaçao, of all places, I might have laughed. Then I might have Googled where exactly Curaçao is.
This trip wasn't even our idea, which might be my favorite part of the whole story. One of our closest friends was turning 50, and somewhere in the process of hunting for the perfect milestone birthday trip, he found Baoase. He sent it to the group chat, we all read the reviews, and it was an immediate, unanimous yes. Zero debate. Sometimes the best trips are the ones where you just trust a friend with excellent taste and show up.
And now here I am, writing a whole blog post about it. So, that tells you something.
Wait, Where Is Curaçao Again?
Fair question, I asked it myself before this trip. Curaçao is a Dutch Caribbean island, part of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao) off the coast of Venezuela, which puts it comfortably outside the hurricane belt, a small but very real perk if you're planning a trip and don't want to be refreshing a storm tracker the whole time. Willemstad, the capital, is this gorgeous strip of pastel Dutch colonial buildings right on the water, and Papiamento, a local Creole language, is spoken everywhere alongside Dutch, Spanish, and English. We flew from DFW to Curaçao via Miami and back through Charlotte. It was a long travel day, but we splurged and used our American Airlines points and were able to enjoy first class travel the whole way, which made the long day not so bad!!
And then there's Baoase.
First Impressions: This Is Not Your Average Resort
Here's the thing about Baoase that I didn't fully appreciate until we walked in: it doesn't feel like a resort. It feels like someone's (extremely tasteful, extremely wealthy) private estate that they've generously decided to let a small number of guests borrow for a few days.
They picked us up straight from the airport, luggage and all, and drove us right to the front door. And here's the thing: from the street, it doesn't look like much. Just a wall, and these huge, heavy wooden doors that give absolutely nothing away.
We all just stood there for a second. And then, voilà, the doors opened, and we walked into paradise.
I mean that literally. One moment you're standing on an ordinary street, and the next you're looking at this. It's the kind of reveal you'd expect someone to have designed on purpose, because they did, and it worked. My jaw was somewhere near the ground.
It's no surprise, honestly, that U.S. News just gave Baoase a Gold Badge and named it the #1 hotel in Curaçao for 2026, and put it in the top five hotels in the entire Caribbean. We knew Baoase had been named a top resort, but wow….it’s hard to appreciate what that means until you have been there!
Where We Stayed
We split a villa with two other couples, which ended up being one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. There's something about sharing a stunning private space with people you love, instead of everyone scattering into separate hotel rooms, that turns a hotel stay into something closer to a house party, just with dramatically better views.
Our home for the trip was Villa 8, but at Baoase the villas don’t just get numbers, they get names. Ours was Bunga Flamboyan, carved right into the wooden sign by our door (see below!). Of course I had to look it up. “Bunga” means flower in Indonesian, and the flamboyan is the flame tree, the one that bursts into bright red blooms all over the Caribbean. With all of Baoase’s Balinese touches, it fit perfectly. It’s hard to go back to a plain old room number after that!
The private pool and outdoor kitchen were where we spent our time together when we were at home. There were some fun times in that pool, especially on the birthday boy’s big day!
The Food (Because Obviously)
Baoase has two restaurants on property, the Culinary Beach Restaurant and the Sunset Deck Restaurant. The night we arrived, the staff had a table waiting for us right on the beach, and we sat down to dinner with our toes in the sand and cocktails in hand. After a long day of travel, it was exactly what we needed!
Breakfast was an amazing spread every single morning, and it was included with our room. The only extras were specialty drinks like smoothies and fresh green juices, which we loved and happily ordered anyway. By day two, the staff already knew which of us just wanted a plain cup of coffee and which of us wanted the fancy lattes.
And one night, none of us felt like getting dressed up. So we ordered pizzas and salads from the hotel, had them delivered to the villa, and ate outside by our pool. Sometimes that’s the most luxurious dinner of all.
One more thing I have to mention about the food. Someone in our group has a severe food allergy, and the staff at Baoase took such good care of us at every single meal. They knew about the allergy before we sat down, checked with the kitchen on every dish, and never once made it feel like a hassle. Even on our private yacht day, they went through the snacks on board and removed anything with nuts in it! When you’re traveling with a serious allergy, that kind of attention means everyone can actually relax and enjoy the trip.
On the birthday boy’s 50th, we had a joint celebration since my birthday was the next day. The staff spoiled us!!
Welcome cocktails!
Our birthday dinner
What We Actually Did All Day
Each day we would pick a different private beach spot. One day we hung out in the lagoon lazing the day away in the overwater hammocks; the other day we went to the other side of the resort and swam in the open water. Each was more beautiful and peaceful than the next. The highlight of our trip was our private day out on the Baoase yacht. We had a captain and first mate who took us all around the island to the top snorkeling spots; we found sea turtles; stopped for a specially packed and prepared sushi lunch. The HIGHLIGHT was swimming into the Blue Room Cave. We were lucky that the weather cooperated and we were able to swim in….it was SCARY for a moment, but worth it all once we were inside. That was a day I will never forget!
The Souvenir I Never Found
One evening we left the resort and drove into town for dinner, and while everyone else was looking at menus, I was on a mission.
When I was little, my grandparents traveled constantly, and I have this specific, vivid memory of them coming home from a trip to Curaçao, sometime back in the '70s, with a pen for me. Not just any pen: one of those novelty ones with water inside and a tiny ship that floated back and forth when you tilted it. I loved that pen. I couldn't tell you what happened to it decades later, but I've never forgotten it.
So the second we hit the little tourist shops in town, I ducked into every single one looking for that exact pen. I asked. I dug through drawers of keychains and magnets and shot glasses. I probably looked slightly unhinged.
Spoiler alert: I did not find it.
But there was something kind of perfect about standing in the same little shops my grandparents wandered through fifty-some years earlier, chasing a memory instead of a souvenir. Some things you don't actually need to find for the moment to count.
The Little Luxe Details That Got Me
This is always my favorite part of a trip like this, not the big obvious stuff, but the small things a place does that make you go "okay, they thought of everything." On our friend’s birthday, they decorated the bed and left handwritten notes and a special carved wooden buddha. It just so happens that MY birthday was the very next day and I also received the buddha which now has a place of honor in our family room.
The other thing that made us feel special is that every morning we would walk out to the restaurant for breakfast and they would greet us by name and escort us to a table that had already been set aside for us. They didn’t just know the birthday boy, but they knew ALL of us. The hospitality was unmatched.
Is It Worth It?
I'm not going to pretend Baoase is a budget destination, because it isn't, and I don't think it's trying to be. But it was the kind of place that I will never forget and will ALWAYS recommend.
If you're the kind of person who wants a big flashy resort with five pools and a lazy river, this isn't that. If you want somewhere quiet, private, and genuinely beautiful where the luxury is in the details rather than the size of the property, this is where Baoase earns its Gold Badge.
Check availability at Baoase on Expedia
A Few Practical Tips If You're Considering It
Best time to go: we went in December which was beautiful. The lovely thing about Curaçao is that you are outside of the hurricane belt so you have so much flexibility!
Getting there: We flew from Dallas which had connections through Miami and Charlotte.
Booking: You can find Baoase on Expedia, which makes it easy to compare villa options and bundle your flights. And if you’re celebrating something special, let the team know ahead of time. They made our birthdays unforgettable!
What to pack:
Reef safe sunscreen is a must! Here is one that I like: Sunscreen Spray; but if you prefer a lotion, I like this one as well: Reef Safe Lotion
Comfy dresses worked for me and I found several on Amazon that I love
Drop Waist Ruffle Dress – I have this in MULTIPLE colors, I love it so much!
I’ve started wearing compression socks on longer flights….#midlife: Compression Socks
Luggage: I’m a Travelpro girl! I know there are much cooler and fancier suitcases out there, but these have never steered me wrong. For this trip I needed to check a bag, and we also brought the carry-on size for the things we wanted to keep close. And my personal item bag has a trolley sleeve to slide over the suitcase handle. I REQUIRE a trolley sleeve. I won’t even look at a bag that doesn’t have one!
I HAD to check a bag for this trip, so AirTags went into each bag!! AirTags
Sleep mask – our villa windows let some morning sun in and I wanted to sleep just a bit more. I love this one and especially the black color, just in case all of that mascara isn’t off of my eyes before sleep! Mulberry silk sleep mask
My go-to travel makeup bag these days is actually a puffy striped knit clutch! It holds all of my makeup, and it doubles as a cute clutch for dinner out. Striped Knit Clutch
The Best Part Had Nothing to Do With the Resort
Chasing my grandparents' footsteps decades later in the same shops, on the same island was pretty powerful. They lived a life full of love and adventure until my grandfather was taken from us far too young. It’s a reminder to live every day well and to cherish those memories with those most important to you.
So if a quiet, unapologetically beautiful escape sounds like exactly what you need right now: go find your own Baoase.
Dushi vibes only.
—Kim