Its often said that if you want to evaluate a hotel, one should observe its guests. Nowhere is this saying more true than at Tingum Village Hotel — an independent, characterful guesthouse whose patrons come back again and again to enjoy the sun-kissed beauty of Harbour Island from a prime, beach-accessible location.

Tingum Village’s rustic cottages have high pine ceilings; sea-colored furnishings; quaint netting above the king-size beds; and two-person whirlpool tubs overlooking the yard’s gardens out of floor-to-ceiling corner windows. In front of the hotel is Ma Ruby’s Restaurant, home of Jimmy Buffet’s original “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” where you can sample Bahamian food on a breezy covered patio three times daily. Leave room for Ma Precentie’s home-baked bread, coconut tarts, key lime pie, or pound cake!

Tingum Village is on the town’s south end and a short walk from Harbour Island’s famous pink-sand beach.