Barbuda has no mains grid worth leaning on, so the first thing we check is whether a stay makes its own power instead of burning diesel. Frangipani Eco Lodge runs fully off grid on solar power, with solar lighting and chargers throughout, so nothing about a stay there draws on a fossil fuelled generator.

On an island where fresh water is scarce and shipped in at a cost, we look hard at water conservation. Barbuda Cottages reclaims its own rainwater and has run on solar since 2008, which on Barbuda is less a marketing line and more a survival skill the rest of the island could learn from.

We verify where the food actually comes from rather than taking the word for it, and we credit genuine local sourcing. Barbuda Belle serves locally sourced food from its clubhouse on a deserted eleven mile beach, so what reaches the plate has not been freighted halfway across the Caribbean first.

Finally we look at who owns the place, because on Barbuda that decides whether the money stays on the island. Emerald Sands is Barbudan and woman owned on the quiet south west coast, the kind of sustainable property where the people running it are the people who live with the consequences.

The eco lodges, cottages and beach hotels on this list of best places to stay in Barbuda have proven they are making a real effort to protect the island while taking care of their guests. If Barbuda is only the start of your Caribbean adventure, our guide to the best sustainable hotels across the Caribbean gathers the whole region in one place, or cross the water to its sister island Antigua, north to St Kitts and Nevis and on to tiny Montserrat.