St. Barths

[Landomatic 3813]

Tenth Anniversary upcoming and strongly considering.  Tell me what I need to know.  Hurricane ruin it?  If not, is it back to being somewhat normal again?

I just checked some of the top hotels and most are still not taking reservations.  Hotel Christopher is though.  I don't want to waste a trip there if half the places are closed or boarded up or if the place looks like shit.  Or is it possibly the best time to go for some great deals?

I think there were some regulars from the other site and I just went over and read the thread on it.  But I have a feeling a lot has changed over the last few months.  @Johnny Sack?  @wild_turkey?

[wild_turkey 3223]

Depends on what you are looking for. We went for our tenth anniversary and now we are hooked. We like the French culture, French cuisine, low crowds, nice beaches, friendly people, and the relative remoteness and exclusivity of the island. It's not the easiest place to get to and there are no cruise ships or mega resorts. We love that about St. Barth.

I'm going the first week of June. I think Johnny Sack was there around Thanksgiving.

We stayed at Hotel Christopher last time and loved it. Great location with gorgeous views. We booked again for this trip but their restaurant (Taino) caught fire as they were finishing their post-Irma renovations. Terrible for the hotel and they had to postpone their re-opening for later this fall. The hotel itself was not damaged, just the stand alone restaurant. As a result, we cancelled that reservation but we still intend to visit the hotel for their spa (which will remain open) during our stay. 

We are now staying at Tom Beach Hotel (which may have just renamed to Pearl Beach?), located in St. Jean near the airport. It has overall good reviews and it's right on the beach, whereas a lot of other hotels are not directly on the beach. I can give a trip report in roughly a month. 

IMO, having your hotel located on a particular beach isn't a huge deal. There are beaches all around the island and we like to spend time at several of them. A few of the beaches have hotels or restaurants with provisions. Many of the beaches are isolated, so there will be relatively few people, topless sunbathing, no restaurants or development. We pack some beer, rosé, cheese, bread, towels and and umbrella, and that's our afternoon. You can rent a catamaran if you want. Not a lot of diving or other activities so prepare to be lazy.

Restaurants, for the most part, are business as usual. There are a few that remain closed because they are part of a hotel that hasn't yet reopened. Eden on the Rocks comes to mind. Most of the independent restaurants are open. For this particular trip, we will be looking at Bonito (perhaps my favorite restaurant anywhere), L'Isola, L'Isoletta, La Plage, Le Ti, and Nikki Beach. The food on St. Barth is amazing so even with a couple places closed, we will have no trouble filling a week with excellent dining.

[Landomatic 3813]

Is there a main area to stay near for the most shopping, dining and night life?  Gustavia?  Like the St Barth’s equivalent to staying on the strip in Vegas or on South Beach in Miami?  Or am I not looking at the trip right?

And speaking of night life...how’s that?

Also, I know it’s French but do most places speak English?

And how well versed do I need to be with Euro Dollar exchange rate?

[Hollywood 362]

1 hour ago, Landomatic said:

Tenth Anniversary upcoming and strongly considering.  Tell me what I need to know.  Hurricane ruin it?  If not, is it back to being somewhat normal again?

I just checked some of the top hotels and most are still not taking reservations.  Hotel Christopher is though.  I don't want to waste a trip there if half the places are closed or boarded up or if the place looks like shit.  Or is it possibly the best time to go for some great deals?

I think there were some regulars from the other site and I just went over and read the thread on it.  But I have a feeling a lot has changed over the last few months.  @Johnny Sack?  @wild_turkey?

When are you going? Highly recommend Hotel St. Christopher. We booked on JetSetter.com and got a solid deal there. 

[Hollywood 362]

17 minutes ago, Landomatic said:

Is there a main area to stay near for the most shopping, dining and night life?  Gustavia?  Like the St Barth’s equivalent to staying on the strip in Vegas or on South Beach in Miami?  Or am I not looking at the trip right?

And speaking of night life...how’s that?

Also, I know it’s French but do most places speak English?

And how well versed do I need to be with Euro Dollar exchange rate?

A lot of these questions depend on the time of year you are going. Summer is offseason and Winter is high. 

[Landomatic 3813]

Thinking July or August.

[wild_turkey 3223]

31 minutes ago, Landomatic said:

Is there a main area to stay near for the most shopping, dining and night life?  Gustavia?  Like the St Barth’s equivalent to staying on the strip in Vegas or on South Beach in Miami?  Or am I not looking at the trip right?

And speaking of night life...how’s that?

Also, I know it’s French but do most places speak English?

And how well versed do I need to be with Euro Dollar exchange rate?

The 2 main areas are St. Jean and Gustavia. St. Jean has the airport, some hotels and shopping, and perhaps the most popular beach. Gustavia is the capital and largest town, has the big marina where your yacht will be moored, and has some shopping and restaurants. That being said, you can get anywhere on the island in 10 minutes or so. It's tiny. Stay wherever you find a hotel that you like and that fits your budget. It's hard to go wrong on accommodations.

Night life kinda depends. We tend to stay out and occasionally find a DJ or other interesting spots with music and late night drinks. It isn't Barcelona, but there's stuff to do if you look for it.

Most places speak enough English for you to get by.

The exchange rate is easy. Withdraw a bunch of Euros from the ATM once you arrive. Pay for most meals or other big expenses with your normal credit card. There isn't much to it.

Also, you will want to rent a car. My suggestion would be a Jeep or a Mini Cooper with a soft top. The roads are narrow and winding, so keep that in mind.

[Landomatic 3813]

1 hour ago, wild_turkey said:

Also, you will want to rent a car. My suggestion would be a Jeep or a Mini Cooper with a soft top. The roads are narrow and winding, so keep that in mind.

If one didn’t rent a car, are there public transport options?  You know...for when we’d like to have drinks with lunch or mimosas with breakfast.

[wild_turkey 3223]

You will have mimosas with breakfast and you will have drinks at lunch but you will want a car. There are possibly taxis, never really paid attention, but the lack of a car would severely limit your ability to explore the island. 

[Hollywood 362]

13 hours ago, Landomatic said:

Thinking July or August.

We went around that time. I think August and keep in mind that some of the restaurants close anyway since it is low season. We stayed at St. Christopher and rented a car through the hotel. I would suggest renting a car anyway. Allows for trips to the grocery store and you can enjoy all of the beaches. It's fun to drive the island. 

[wild_turkey 3223]

If you are planning to fly into Saint Maarten, then you will either take a short flight or a ferry ride to St. Barth. The flight is a lot of fun, so I would recommend that if you can arrange it. However, those flights are very limited so you should start looking ASAP. The two companies available are St. Barth Commuter and Winair.

https://www.stbarthcommuter.com/en/

https://www.fly-winair.sx/

[Landomatic 3813]

Friends just got back from a 3 week stay. Found out whole island curfew was gonna be 10:00 the day before they left. Bumped to 9:00 after they were there for a few days. Then bumped to 8:00 for the last week or so. They still enjoyed it, but they admitted that did put a bit of a damper on a lot of things. Fuck covid.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

3 hours ago, Landomatic said:

Friends just got back from a 3 week stay. Found out whole island curfew was gonna be 10:00 the day before they left. Bumped to 9:00 after they were there for a few days. Then bumped to 8:00 for the last week or so. They still enjoyed it, but they admitted that did put a bit of a damper on a lot of things. Fuck covid.

It gets dark early there this time of year anyway.  8:00 would kind of suck.  But we go often and have gotten to the point we spend our money on expensive lunches with a view because it is dark at dinner time anyway.  And then cook dinner or grill out by pool at Villa.  Nice not having to rush around and get ready for dinner out at night or wait on the wife to blow dry her hair.

Going back this spring.  My favorite months to go are November and April.  Price is right.  Enough stuff is open.  But it is not crazy high season for rentals and not as crowded.

[wild_turkey 3223]

Headed back in December. It will be our 4th trip since Covid started. The curfew is going away but they are implementing a health pass to take its place. Fine by me.