Saint-Barthélemy: Home of Earthly Pleasures
The Way to Paradise
Hidden Treasure: The Washing Machine

Home of Earthly Pleasures

If you drive from Grand Case to French Quarter you will come across the most striking view. In the close distance, you’ll see the mountains of Saint-Barthélemy (St. Barths, for short) rising majestically over the deep blue sea. If that view is not beautiful enough to make you want to go there, then I doubt anything I write here will be — but I will try my best, nonetheless.

The charms of this tiny, little volcanic rock located on the edge of nowhere are close to inextinguishable. After all, it was not for nothing that Roman Abramovich spent roughly $90 million on a 70-acre property right on Governor Bay, on the southern end of the island. As a matter of fact, if you choose to travel to St. Barths by boat (regular services run several times a day from Marigot, which is about 90 minutes, and from Philipsburg and Oyster Pond, both a 45-minute trip), then you might be lucky enough to pass next to the Russian magnate’s mega-yacht, the Eclipse, as he often stops in for a cheeky visit. My advice if you do see him is to try to put your jaw back in its place while you admire that nearly 560-foot-long baby — otherwise you will be caught in the uncool act of drooling.

It might be hard to tell, especially if you only go by the headlines, but there was a St. Barths before Abramovich. As a matter of fact, the island has been at the top of the list of favored destinations by major celebrities for the past 30 years or so, as it has gained a solid reputation for being laid back, chic and simultaneously remote, while still distantly cosmopolitan. Dotted with the painted red roofs of the perfectly groomed houses, the somewhat arid vegetation — mainly scrub and bush land — of the hills that surround Gustavia harbor contrasts dramatically with the phenomenal marine life of the deep sea. Indeed, with its staggering marina, its charming line of waterfront cafés and its fashionable shopping quarter, St. Barths’ capital has become one of the world’s most recognizable towns.

A place with a unique history, St. Barths is not so much troubled by it as it is shaped by it. The only Swedish colony in the West Indies, it was first controlled by the French West India company, then sold to the Knights of Malta before being sold back again to France, who always regarded it as a practically useless settlement. King Gustaf III’s interest in St. Barths came in the middle of the 18th century, when Sweden tried to position itself as a primary player in world trade. The episode of bartering that saw the island fall into Swedish hands sent a trading post in Gothenburg the other way, thus giving France access to the Baltic Sea.

Therefore, from 1784 to 1878 the island remained an enclave of the Scandinavian kingdom, although it only thrived until slave trade was abolished in the second decade of the 19th century. The legacy, however, of the Swedish tenure on St. Barths is enormous, not only in the architecture of the island, neatly furnished with northern details that blend beautifully into the Caribbean style, but, most importantly, through the status of free port conferred to the island in 1785, maintained later on by the French and which still today bears a pivotal relevance in the economy of the island.

Getting back to the practicalities of your visit, in terms of accommodation a great thing to do is to rent private villas that tend to range from luxurious to mega-luxurious. Their prices are usually reduced for those booking relatively long stays (four nights during low season, ten in the holidays), although there are some exceptions. While prices can reach astronomical five- and six-figure numbers, there is a wide variety of properties available for $3,000 to $6,000 a week. Alternatively, the island has developed an admirable boutique-hotel policy, ever since Rémy de Haenen had the seriously inspired, and still quite deranged, idea of buying a plot of land and opening a small hotel: the Eden Rock.

That was back in the early 1950s, when de Haenen’s determination gave the island a new lease on life, single-handedly turning a barren rock into a hot spot for the celebrities of his day to seek peace and privacy among a crowd that would not know, or care, who they were. Today, the same laissez-faire attitude is found all over the island; and while the Eden Rock has been joined by a couple dozen other hotels they all remain fairly small, allowing for the warm, personalized attention that has become the island’s trademark.

But if there is one thing that truly stands out in St. Barths, it must be the extraordinary quality of the dining experience it offers. From the trendy BAZ sushi bar in Gustavia to the more classic setting of Maya’s on the edge of town; from the eclectic nonchalance of Le Ti up in the heights of Pointe Millou, to the simple delicacy of Le Langouste, one of the many excellent restaurants attached to hotels in St. Barths; the combination of fresh ingredients, audacious recipes and genuine friendliness makes a night out in St. Barths a delight that no one should miss.

The Way to Paradise

One of the best things about beautiful St. Barths has to be its easy accessibility: it's only 15 miles by plane or boat from St. Maarten/St. Martin. By air, Winair's Twin Otter aircrafts make numerous daily flights to the island, and the flight only takes 10 minutes. By sea, The Edge, a high-speed catamaran out of Pelican Marina in Simpson Bay, is also a fast and direct ride to St. Barths.

Hidden Treasure: The Washing Machine

A 20-minute hike around the rugged and majestic shoreline along Grand Fond will bring you to an oceanic playground known as the Washing Machine, named after the turbulent ocean. For a more peaceful swim, continue along the narrow path to a plateau that leads down into a beautiful tide pool. Large boulders block the pounding waves creating a calm and tranquil pool ideal for a playful (and romantic) swim. That said, be sure to bring water and sunscreen on this hike because there's no shade.