It’s not at a bad place by any means — it has the 15,000-sq-ft Emerald Mist Spa & Fitness Center, 38,000 square feet of convention space, and it’s right on a beautiful beach. But on a small island that’s increasingly plagued by bigger-island problems like crime and drugs, a different approach to development (more upscale, less casino) seems to have emerged. Especially now that St. Kitts’ star is rising (it’s hosting the Cricket World Cup this month).

Auberge (the people behind the posh Napa property you may have heard of) is opening up Sandy Bank Bay in ’08, their first Caribbean property. It’ll be a secluded luxury spa/golf/villa resort overlooking the Atlantic on St. Kitts’ southeast peninsula (aubergeresorts.com).

Further down that same peninsula — atop a hillside with views of Sandy Bank Bay, but a safe distance away — is a gated estate development spearheaded by a good ol’ boy from Oklahoma. Sundance Ridge is a collection of 15 lots where large villas (a minimum of $2.1 million to buy) will offer future dwellers 360-degree views of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Only eleven lots remain, and construction has just begun (each villa will take about a year’s time to complete) – already the developer is hosting weenie roasts on site (sundanceridgestkitts.com).

Kittitian Hill (formerly Heights) is a $140 million resort community that will sit on 390 acres in a northern area of St. Kitts known as Whitegate. It’ll consist of 300 villas and cottages, each built on .5- to 1-acre lots, as well as a small hotel, golf course and spa. Construction will begin as soon as this month (kittitianhill.com).

Even the Marriott Resort has started to roll out its new all-villa Vacation Club (adjacent to the main property) — 22 are open now, 88 by the end of March (vacationclub.com).