Hix Island House

Hix Island House is an off-grid, solar-powered loft hotel set across 13 acres on the island of Vieques. The house is built from raw poured concrete across five geometric buildings and designed by architect John Hix around the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi, where a building is meant to weather and age rather than stay pristine. Casa Solaris, one of the five, was the first guesthouse in the Caribbean built entirely off the commercial electricity grid and running on solar power. The whole 13-acre hilltop property followed the same principle, making it Puerto Rico's first fully solar hotel when it opened in 2000.

Eighteen loft-style suites are scattered across the site, most with outdoor showers, full kitchens stocked daily with breakfast basics, and private terraces looking out over the Caribbean. There's no restaurant, no television, and Wi-Fi only reaches as far as the reception desk so this is a digital detox retreat. Complimentary yoga runs each morning in an open-air pavilion, and the saltwater pool is open all day for further relaxation.