We're off tomorrow (Sunday) at 4 a.m. bound for Seattle and New York. Leave New York Monday morning and hope to be somewhere -anywhere- on SBH by 2:3

Here We Go!

We're off tomorrow (Sunday) at 4 a.m. bound for Seattle and New York. Leave New York Monday morning and hope to be somewhere -anywhere- on SBH by 2:30 p.m.! Report to follow our 8-day stay soon afterward. Thanks to all of you for your helpful info posted right here on this sight.

Re: Here We Go!

Will you give us an idea of where you are staying and how you navigated through the various opinions on where to stay? I am curious as well as to your complete route as I am trying to figure the best way (finances and time) to get to st barts from the west coast.

Re: Here We Go!

O.K. Real quick - got to get to bed. I've researched SBH for 18 years and concluded that Village St. Jean fits our needs - plus I know someone who's stayed there and loved it. Take a look at other comments on this site and you'll find very good opinions of VSJ.
Our flight is from frequent flier awards and the routing is strickly due to the airlines' choice - I gave them the dates, they put us where they wanted us. Not a whole lotta choice when the flight is free! Flying WinAir from SXM to SBH due to the advice on this sight.
I'll let you know how it goes!

Re: Here We Go!

VSJ was our first hotel on st barts and you will not be dissapointed. Say hi to IB and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and close proximity to st jean beach and andy's hideaway. You are to to be commended for seeking out an alternative to hawaii, where most northwest visitors usually vacation. While Hawaii has a lot to offer, St Barts after all that I have seen so far in the Caribbean, has so much more!

Re: Here We Go!

Greg,
We are from the San Francisco area and have booked a trip to SBH in early December. We are decided to fly to Miami non-stop (AA) and spend the night near the airport (we got good rates) and fly to SXM the next morning (AA) and then to SBH. I researched trying to do the flight in one day and realized there were more options and less stress if we broke up the flights. We also decided on a Villa. We visited the island last year through Windstar Cruises and it was love at first sight. The villa route seems to be a great way to go plus you can save money by having a kitchen rather than eating out all the time (which as you can tell from the postings can be quite pricey.)

Re: Here We Go!

We went twice last year, the first time AA through ft lauderdale/san juan, sxm--we left lax at 10:00pm and did not make it the next day--an AA flight was delayed and we did not make it to sxm in time for winair flight-the second time we again left 11:00 pm on AA to Miami on to sxm and made it to st barts by 2:00PM. For this upcoming visit in july we will hop to st barts from guadeloupe after staying a week there. We have tried both hotel and villa, but with two kids and a nannie this time we want to be on the beach with a pool so are going to try ilets plage on st jean beach.

Re: Here We Go!

12 days before our recent trip, my sister was able to break loose to join us for the girls week in st. bart. she lives in sfo. we were able to book award travel (coach, 30k award) w/her taking the red eye from sfo-jfk, then jfk-sxm arriving in about noon. although we had booked her on the 1:30 Air Caribes connection, the agents put her on the 12:30 and we were at the villa before 1 pm. this was 10 am her body clock, but she fell right into the routine, lunch, nap, etc. she did log a 12 hour sleep that night, but it's hard to say if it was from the travel or from nearly 9 years of answering "MOM!" calls in the middle of the night.

on the return, she left sbh on the 8 am AC; flew sxm-sju; cleared customs there and went on to DFW, then to SFO arriving home about 10 pm.

with advance planning, we'd probably fly sfo-clt; overnight there on the way out and then clt-sxm next day. but this would be so we could fly togehter from clt, more than any time or money considerations.

i will follow this thread with interest; this was her first trip to st. bart (she's been a hawaii girl) and she loved it, so will appreciate any information posted as to the easiest way to get her there again.