Trip Report
St. Barths

We set off for St Barts from Providence, RI, connecting to St Barts via JFK and St. Maarten. Upon arrival in St. Barths, I was immediately impressed with the size of the refurbished airport terminal (new since my last trip) – other changes I noticed were the plethora of Smart® cars and the relative absence of Mokes, formerly the island's signature "fun" vehicle. Luckily for Jan, my traveling companion, her lime-green Smart car was color-coordinated with her equally smart attire (cotton capris by Versace, halter top by Armani, hair by Giorgio of Newbury Street) – I shudder to think what would've transpired if they were out of this color. My bright red Smart car, by the way, went very well with the spaghetti stains on my shirt.

And so we were off.

Our home-away-from-home was villa SIB BAC in St Jean, an adorable West-Indies-style cottage with pool, hammocks, and a peaceful overlook encompassing both hill and sea. The two principal bedrooms were decorated in Antilles style, with door curtains wafting in the breezes, colorful original artwork, antique armoires, mahogany floors and bright blue shutters around the windows. Bathrooms were artistically designed with mahogany countertops and hand-painted French tiles. Jan and Mark, our guest from Maryland, had these two Queen rooms, one with four-poster bed; I was in the upstairs twin bedroom above the living room – quite pleasing, actually. Parisian loft sort of feel.

Now… time to let you in on a little travel tip, something I should've remembered from my younger Hansel & Gretel days – ALWAYS take breadcrumbs with you when you're in new, uncharted territory (or, failing that, croissant crumbs). Yessir, nothing like blithely dipping in the pool at sunset before boppin' on down the steep driveway to the maze of roads beyond, getting an island "feel" before it gets too dark – only to awaken to the Grimm realization that you have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE which of the dozen unmarked tracks is your driveway… and sunset in the Caribbean lasts a mere 10 minutes before it gets pitch black – that's always good for an additional rush of adrenalin. So there I was, hapless as Magellan or Drake, desperately circumnavigating St. Barths in the dark in a futile attempt to find my house. Up one driveway, down the next path, getting nowhere fast, and realizing that I wasn't even 100% sure what my villa looked like even if I had stumbled upon it.

Pull yourself together, Bill.

Fortunately, I still had enough wits about me to think to call Jan at SIB BAC and tell her I'm lost. A perfect plan, really. And it would have succeeded flawlessly had I the smarts to remember to bring the villa phone number with me. Rule #2 – always have your villa phone number with you. On to Plan B.

Not about to miss my dinner date with Jan and Mark, I remembered Jan saying we were meeting at La Mandala - conveniently located within walking distance to villa - at 8:00. I figured I could join them there and simply follow them home after dinner. It pays to keep a cool head, after all. So off I went to La Mandala – you know the place, I’m sure – it's the one with the sign out front saying "CLOSED" (Although it is open on Monday nights during the winter, during the slack season in the summer it is closed on Mondays). Go figure. So back I went to the old neighborhood and tried all the other driveways I missed the first time around. And I eventually found it, too - courtesy of Jan's lime-green Smart car that practically glowed in the dark.

Adventures aside, the rest of the trip was a huge success, whether seeing villas with Isabelle, Cathy & Anne from Sibarth, meeting up with one of my long-term clients whom I'd never met before, visiting with hoteliers, or sampling the haute cuisine and local fare of the island's enticing restaurants. St. Barths certainly has it all, that's for sure. The three of us started out the first night at Eddie's, a Gilligan's Island-sort of place behind a proverbial hole in the wall. Very soft mood lighting, open-air seating underneath palm fronds - really just the perfect place to get into the island swing. After a delectable fish dinner prepared with ginger, our evening's fare was capped with a jigger of locally-made vanilla rum, de rigueur nowadays at all of St. Barths’ restaurants. A couple of nights later we went to l'Esprit de Saline for another great meal, and our last night together was at Le Repaire, right at the entrance to the port. Other odds and ends of places would have to include the Santa Fe Bar high atop Lurin (excellent escargots provencales for 12 euros a dozen, and a decidedly "local" ambience – altogether a good choice) and Le Select, the hangout to end all hangouts.

My highlight?

La Rotisserie - my personal favorite for 10 years running. With both a Gustavia and St. Jean location, La Rotisserie is a tiny "deli" (for lack of a better word) that features gourmet comfort food in single servings – perfect for "on the go" worldly sophisticates like myself (or gourmands, if you'd like - I'm not fussy). Anyway, every day they dream up 7 or 8 snazzy little items you can pop in your mouth, maybe a feuilleté St. Jacques (scallops in a puff pastry), quiches (plain, tuna, carrot etc.), meat pies, terrines, delicious fruit tarts, individual jellied fruit (grapefruit, passion fruit, apple etc.) and bite-size chocolate truffles – and that's just Monday - (sigh) it's going to be a long week... The best part, though, is that it's not expensive and there's no waiting; no fuss, no muss - just little food vignettes to tantalize the palate.

When the sugar wore off, I managed to compose myself and ventured to all the far-flung corners of the island, and was able to experience firsthand the magic that is St. Barths. I was very impressed with the overall quality of our villas, we visited over 30 during our stay.

After days of reviewing our villas it was on to the hotels that we represent, what a first rate collection! Le Toiny Hotel, of course, was impeccable. Unfortunately, the general manager David Henderson was out doing errands, but I did get to meet with Virginie who had just come back from vacation the day before. The Hotel Christopher was also in tip-top shape. In St. Jean I met Fred from the Eden Rock Hotel and saw the Greta Garbo Suite, a beautiful and evocative accommodation if there ever was one. A real eye-opener, though, was the Emeraude Plage, which I hadn’t seen since the early 90s. Genevieve Nouy, owner and manager, was a true delight to behold, a breath of fresh air on an island which is getting more and more frenetic as tourism soars to dizzying (and ultra-lavish) heights. The property is cute as a button, with all of the rooms painted a crisp white, with stylish bathrooms and casual terraces – a veritable oasis of tranquility on busy St. Jean Beach. The last two hotels I visited were the Isle de France and the Carl Gustaf. The former is the epitome of refined elegance, classic and well-run in every aspect, and the latter is stylish in a quiet way. I liked both hotels very much.

On Sunday, Bastille Day (July 14), the island kicked off the festivities by doing, really, well, not much... The ONLY restaurant open at lunch was the Santa Fe, and the empty streets of Gustavia reminded me of a vintage 1890 postcard with nary a soul in sight. Kind of eerie. Later that evening, though, there were fireworks in the harbor but they lasted all of 8 minutes. (I’m still waiting for the Grand Finale - I think they may have been shot off first, by mistake.) How retro.

The trip was over all too quickly. Believe me, there is no off-season in St Barts, its as special in July as it is in January…and the water is warmer!