Saint Barthélemy

Saint Barthelemy, a French-speaking Caribbean island that is filled with white sand beaches, exquisite cuisine, luxurious hotels and villas, high end designer shops, small boutique shops and mega yachts!

The best time to visit is early December when the weather is warm but not too hot and before holiday season when tourists overflow the island. The island is small so I advise you rent a car since Uber doesn’t exisit on the island. No matter where you stay, most locations are within 10-20 minutes. You can ask hotel for taxi service but they charge a flat expensive rate.

You cannot fly direct so you will need to take a flight to St Martin where you can either take a 1 hour boat ride to the island or a 10 mins flight in a very small plane.

You can also fly into Puerto Rico and take a 1 hour flight via a small plane, Tradewinds.

HOTELS

There are many hotels you can choose to stay, but my personal favorite is, Le Barthélemy Hotel. The hotel is small and luxurious. The rooms are modern, spacious and all have spectacular views of the ocean or the bay with a garden. It is situated on a beach that has clear blue water and sea turtles you can see from a kayak that thre hotel offers for free.

The service is 5 star and the cuisine at the hotel restaurants are some of the best I have ever tasted in world! The hotel is only a 15 mins drive to downtown Gustavia which is the heart of St Barths where most restaurants and shops are located on a marina.

Other options to consider:

• Hotel Christopher (it doesn’t have a beach only a pool overlooking the ocean)

• Cheval Blanc

• Eden Rock

• Hotel Manapany

• Le Toiny (the beach is not on property)

• Rosewood

RESTAURANTS

• Tamarin (Drive 10 mins from hotel) - This hotel is by far my favorite and magical! The cuisine is delicious and the ambience is a lush garden.

• Le Petite Plage in Gustavia (Drive 18 mins from hotel) This restaurant offers a dance party vibe with an amazing DJ on Thursday - Saturday in season

  
  

• Le Cafe in Gustavia (Drive 20 mins from hotel) This restaurant has a piano player and singer so the vibe is swanky

• Bagatelle in Gustavia (Drive 20 mins from hotel) This restaurant has a party vibe with DJ and dancing on the table

• Black Ginger - This is a low key Thai restaurant in Gustavia

  
  

ACTIVITIES

• Rent a boat for a few hours and see it by day or take in the sunset

  
  

• Jet ski you can rent from most hotels and they typically have kayak and other water sports

• Nature Hike

  
  

  1. Colombier Beach Hike (20 mins drive from hotel) A popular 30-minute hike that starts at Flamands Beach and leads to a secluded white-sand beach

  
  

  2. Pointe Milou Trail (7 mins drive from hotel) A 45-minute hike along the rugged coastline that starts at the Christopher Hotel

  
  

  3. Natural Pools Trail (7 mins drive from hotel) A 30-minute hike that starts at the parking lot near Grand Fond and leads to natural pools for swimming and snorkeling

  
  

• Shopping- There are two shopping areas on the island. One is a 10 mins drive from the hotel and only has a few boutique and art gallery shops. The primary area to shop is 20 mins drive from the hotel and is in Gustavia. That is where you will find high end shops, boutique and tourist shops. It is small so you can walk the whole area within an hour. There are many restaurants in that area and it’s pretty to sit and watch the boats at the marina.