The best of St Bart’s
Holy moly St Bart’s! This was certainly one of those pinch-me travel experiences: we flew over on an eight-person plane and landed on one of the world’s most dangerous (and most photogenic) landings, drank copious amounts of rosé and ate plenty of fresh-baked bread, and generally just soaked up all of the sunshine and enjoyed the incredibly beautiful surroundings.
I was there to check out the brand-new Le Barthelemy: it’s the first fancy hotel to open on St Bart’s in more than 20 years, and they made sure it was worth the wait. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and it made me so grateful for the crazy travel opportunities that get thrown my way every once in a while. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a weekend this luxurious again! p.s. I also made a video about my stay in case you missed it.
When we arrived to the hotel, it was just in time for a stunning pink sunset. I had a lovely screened-in balcony that overlooked the pool bar and the beach itself: one nice thing is that the little cove is very protected, so it’s super quiet. 
And when we woke up the next morning, we were treated to breakfast with a view! One of my favorite parts about St Bart’s is that despite its location in the Caribbean, it feels very French–and nowhere is that more evident than in its baked goods. There were delicious baguettes and croissants and pain au chocolats at breakfast. Each morning, I had a half of a grapefruit and a cappuccino and a hunk of crusty bread with fresh raspberry jam–it was exactly what I ate in Nice every morning when I lived there (except swap the coffee for tea), and it was oddly reminiscent of my time spent on another French-speaking beach destination. 
After breakfast, I set up on the beach and started working on my tan. Another fun part of this basically being France: nothing but Evian! I actually remembered an acquaintance mentioning that her favorite guilty pleasure when she traveled to Paris was washing her hair with Evian. I tried it this trip, and I’ve got to say, I think it did make my hair extra strong and shiny! 
Overall, all of the food and drinks at Aux Amis were absolutely fantastic. I especially loved the fresh ceviche, served in a coconut, and the Décolletage, made with St. Germains, pear vodka and sparkling water! 
The hotel has an on-site Insider, a local who grew up on the island and knows all the best places to go. Geraldine took us on a tour to all of the most beautiful vistas and beaches, and gave us lots of interesting facts and stories along the way. 
One of my favorite places that she took us was Shell Beach: it’s the only beach with tiny shells instead of sand. It might have been because we were there at golden hour, but the place absolutely glowed: it looked more like a little European beach hideaway than something on the Caribbean! I absolutely loved it, and would have gladly spent a whole day enjoying the water here. 
I didn’t know what a Moke was when I arrived, but you spot them all over St Bart’s: it’s sort of the unofficial island car. Le Barthelemy has a few of them–all in really cute colors–and you can rent them out to drive around the island. They’re a little tricky to get a hang of at first, but they’re so fun once you do! One of the places we popped to on our insider tour with Geraldine was this gorgeous viewpoint overlooking Colombier Beach. To get to the beach from land, it’s about a 20-minute hike. But we were lucky enough to sail there in a little catamaran. 
When we arrived, the first thing I did was jump in and the water was PERFECT! It was crystal clear all the way to the bottom, and a wonderful place to swim around and look for turtles. I didn’t have any luck with the turtles, but I did spot a stingray and two swordfish! 
Although this was a short trip, I still managed to squeeze in some time reading by the infinity pool. I loved all of our adventures around the island, but I honestly think I could have plopped down by the pool and stayed there for the whole trip and been perfectly happy–it was just gorgeous and relaxing. 
Getting to St Bart’s is a little tricky: there aren’t any direct flights from the continental United States, although you can transfer to a commuter plane in San Juan. We flew on Tradewind, which has scheduled and private charter planes, and it was such a cool experience! Flying into St Bart’s in general is a little nutty: it’s one of the most dangerous airports and shortest runways (which I’m very glad I didn’t know about until AFTER we arrived), but all of the pilots have to do a ton of training on the island to get certified to fly in here. And you can see right into the cockpit on these planes, which is strangely reassuring!
Have you ever been to St Bart’s? What would you be most excited to see or do?
Although Le Barthelemy kindly invited me for a complimentary stay, all opinions are my own.
