BostonAndy
SBH Member
Different people want different experiences out of St. Barts. For my wife and myself -- we just want to relax on a beach and eat good food. We've been coming to St. Barts once a year since the 90's -- but took a break for about 15 years and have only returned in the past 5 years. No wild dance on the tables partying for us -- hence we try to avoid both St. Jean and Gustavia (also to avoid parking headaches).
Travel: We flew JetBlue BOS -> SXM which was suprisingly cheap (about $300/pp/rt). We had only a 65 minute connection on the way out -- but this is no problem with only carry-on. Note if you don't fly SBC to SBH (which has a window pre-immigration), you'll need a WinAir boarding pass to avoid going through immigration to the main lobby, and blowing your time budget. On the way back, we had a 115 minute connection -- but flew WinAir, which was a 1/2 hour late. We made our connection no problem -- but a young lady on our WinAir flight (who was also on our BOS flight) did not, as she had checked baggage. We felt very sad when we didn't see her board.
Accomodations: For the past 5 years, we've stayed out by Le Toiny in an AirBNB that gives us beautiful views and a private pool for a very reasonable price (probably due its remoteness) Sylvie -- the host -- is nice enough to keep our Umbrella and Beach Chairs from year-to-year. My wife will only go to the beach for 1/2 day -- so having a pleasant place to lounge is important for us. This was especially true this year as she is still recovering from a full knee replacement in January. In any case -- we rent a car and don't mind driving around the small island. Every time we passed by Le Toiny -- I wondered about the guest experience there. No doubt the villas are quite nice (and have a private pools) -- but do people leave the resort? Do they eat at the same two restaurants for lunch and dinner every night -- rather than explore all the great dining experiences of St. Barts? Are they satisfied with the rather meagre beach -- rather than the beautiful expanses of Gouvenour, Flamands, Columbier and Saline?
Car Rental: We rented from AutoUnion -- which gave me a great price. When I mentioned this on another thread I got a terrified emoji. I should have listened. AutoUnion has no window at the airport. Instead communication is by phone or WhatsApp. While everything worked out -- I hesitate to think what would have been the case with any car-related issue. Even getting instructions on how to return the car was like pulling teeth. Never again.
Beaches: Hit Gouvenor most mornings with a couple of trips to Flamands. I went to Saline most afternoons alone (as the walk was too much for my wife's recovering knee) Gouvenor was relatively crowded (it seemed more so as beach camping was allowed over Easter Weekend) -- but Flamands and Saline were pretty empty. Hard to gauge how busy the Islands actually was -- roads and restaurants still seemed busy. I think there was a higher percentage of Americans vs French than is usual and maybe they stayed closer to Hotel beaches. Might also explain the relatively low ratio of partial or full nudity on Gouvenor and Saline. Sargassum wasn't much of a problem -- sometimes some in the water, but not enough to worry about and sometimes some of the beach that could be avoided. On Flamands we saw that the sargassum had been raked, but not yet removed. Brought down a 'beach tent' (in my carry-on, of course) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V5PTKHS that worked out great. It was much more resistant to the gusty winds of St. Barts than an umbrella. Only downside is that the amount of provided shade is marginal for 2 people.
Excursion: Did a full day snorkelling cruise to Fourchue, Ile Pinel off St. Martin and Tintemarre with Serial Divers. This was a 'shared' cruise with 3 other couples and cost 140E pp. It was fun -- but we spent 3 hours on Ile Pinel that was kind of boring and the focus was more on snorkelling than cruising. Next time -- I'd probable try to find a 1/2 day shared cruise on a catamaran.
Dining: Ate at Il Mare (Sereno), Tarmarind, L'Esprit, Papillion Ivre, Bonito, Sand Bar (Eden Rock), Grain de Sel and Le Table(Toiny) for dinner. First time for us at Sand Bar and Bonito. We very much enjoyed Sand Bar and seeing what Eden Rock looks like. Bonito was somewhat disappointing (the flavors didn't stand out). Not sure we'd go back -- but if we did, we'd request a table with harbor view. Papillion Ivre was great as usual. We had lunch at Le Creperie (2x), Jojo Burger(2x) and Ti Corrail (2x). All are favorites. We got lucky with finding parking spaces in Gustavia for our two lunches -- and used the Bonito valet for our dinner. Papillion Ivre has their own parking (free). Surprisingly there were a lot of spaces in the public parking on the road to Gouvenor near Eden Rock for our dinner there.
Celebrity Spots: My wife spotted David Letterman driving in a Moke past us. I doubted her (as the substantive white beard is distinctive but not unique) but we saw the same person at dinner that night at L'Esprit sitting with someone who matched on google images to David Letterman's wife. Also saw him dining at Bonito. Interestingly saw his late-show successor Seth Myers at Ti Corrail.
Weather was great the whole trip -- maybe some sprinkles at times or rain overnight, but nothing to ruin a beach day. It was exactly what we expected and why we go to St. Barts.
Travel: We flew JetBlue BOS -> SXM which was suprisingly cheap (about $300/pp/rt). We had only a 65 minute connection on the way out -- but this is no problem with only carry-on. Note if you don't fly SBC to SBH (which has a window pre-immigration), you'll need a WinAir boarding pass to avoid going through immigration to the main lobby, and blowing your time budget. On the way back, we had a 115 minute connection -- but flew WinAir, which was a 1/2 hour late. We made our connection no problem -- but a young lady on our WinAir flight (who was also on our BOS flight) did not, as she had checked baggage. We felt very sad when we didn't see her board.
Accomodations: For the past 5 years, we've stayed out by Le Toiny in an AirBNB that gives us beautiful views and a private pool for a very reasonable price (probably due its remoteness) Sylvie -- the host -- is nice enough to keep our Umbrella and Beach Chairs from year-to-year. My wife will only go to the beach for 1/2 day -- so having a pleasant place to lounge is important for us. This was especially true this year as she is still recovering from a full knee replacement in January. In any case -- we rent a car and don't mind driving around the small island. Every time we passed by Le Toiny -- I wondered about the guest experience there. No doubt the villas are quite nice (and have a private pools) -- but do people leave the resort? Do they eat at the same two restaurants for lunch and dinner every night -- rather than explore all the great dining experiences of St. Barts? Are they satisfied with the rather meagre beach -- rather than the beautiful expanses of Gouvenour, Flamands, Columbier and Saline?
Car Rental: We rented from AutoUnion -- which gave me a great price. When I mentioned this on another thread I got a terrified emoji. I should have listened. AutoUnion has no window at the airport. Instead communication is by phone or WhatsApp. While everything worked out -- I hesitate to think what would have been the case with any car-related issue. Even getting instructions on how to return the car was like pulling teeth. Never again.
Beaches: Hit Gouvenor most mornings with a couple of trips to Flamands. I went to Saline most afternoons alone (as the walk was too much for my wife's recovering knee) Gouvenor was relatively crowded (it seemed more so as beach camping was allowed over Easter Weekend) -- but Flamands and Saline were pretty empty. Hard to gauge how busy the Islands actually was -- roads and restaurants still seemed busy. I think there was a higher percentage of Americans vs French than is usual and maybe they stayed closer to Hotel beaches. Might also explain the relatively low ratio of partial or full nudity on Gouvenor and Saline. Sargassum wasn't much of a problem -- sometimes some in the water, but not enough to worry about and sometimes some of the beach that could be avoided. On Flamands we saw that the sargassum had been raked, but not yet removed. Brought down a 'beach tent' (in my carry-on, of course) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V5PTKHS that worked out great. It was much more resistant to the gusty winds of St. Barts than an umbrella. Only downside is that the amount of provided shade is marginal for 2 people.
Excursion: Did a full day snorkelling cruise to Fourchue, Ile Pinel off St. Martin and Tintemarre with Serial Divers. This was a 'shared' cruise with 3 other couples and cost 140E pp. It was fun -- but we spent 3 hours on Ile Pinel that was kind of boring and the focus was more on snorkelling than cruising. Next time -- I'd probable try to find a 1/2 day shared cruise on a catamaran.
Dining: Ate at Il Mare (Sereno), Tarmarind, L'Esprit, Papillion Ivre, Bonito, Sand Bar (Eden Rock), Grain de Sel and Le Table(Toiny) for dinner. First time for us at Sand Bar and Bonito. We very much enjoyed Sand Bar and seeing what Eden Rock looks like. Bonito was somewhat disappointing (the flavors didn't stand out). Not sure we'd go back -- but if we did, we'd request a table with harbor view. Papillion Ivre was great as usual. We had lunch at Le Creperie (2x), Jojo Burger(2x) and Ti Corrail (2x). All are favorites. We got lucky with finding parking spaces in Gustavia for our two lunches -- and used the Bonito valet for our dinner. Papillion Ivre has their own parking (free). Surprisingly there were a lot of spaces in the public parking on the road to Gouvenor near Eden Rock for our dinner there.
Celebrity Spots: My wife spotted David Letterman driving in a Moke past us. I doubted her (as the substantive white beard is distinctive but not unique) but we saw the same person at dinner that night at L'Esprit sitting with someone who matched on google images to David Letterman's wife. Also saw him dining at Bonito. Interestingly saw his late-show successor Seth Myers at Ti Corrail.
Weather was great the whole trip -- maybe some sprinkles at times or rain overnight, but nothing to ruin a beach day. It was exactly what we expected and why we go to St. Barts.
