quick 4 night getaway in February (Valentine's Day/President's Day)

ehardtke

ehardtke

SBH Member
I finally convinced one of my friends that she MUST come with me to St. Barts for the long weekend over Valentine's Day /President's Day only to find it quite difficult to find accommodations that have availability for the 4 nights in our budget. I have stayed at Tom Beach in the past which is wonderful but they are booked. We like to go out so prefer a location convenient to Gustavia, but I realize we can't be too picky since we aren't renting for a full week and many places are not available. If anyone has any inside scoop on places that rent for less than a week and are less than $500 US/night, I would appreciate it!

I've already contacted the places on the st. barth commuter site, the Normandie, Sunset Hotel, Tropical Hotel, Villa Finistere, Au Coeur Caraibe and several others…..

I've sent inquiries to a couple of the agencies over the past week but have not heard back yet. Could be bc its the busiest week of the year though!
 
You might try telling the hotel you don't mind moving from one room to another. Doing this might allow you to cobble together a 4 night stay. We did this at Les Ilets several years ago when we were told they had no availability and it worked.
 
As the proprietor, I'm sorry that you weren't able to get a room at The Normandie. While you're on the island, nonetheless, please stop by around 5 PM and introduce yourself to our great manager, Eula -- I know that she'll gladly offer you a glass of wine. Your experience, by the way, is indicative of a big "uptick" in island tourism in the coming season . . . the Hotel is nearly fully booked through April, and our Villa is nearly fully booked 'til next September. In 12+ years of rental accommodations, I've never seen anything like the early bookings of this year.
 
Thank you all for your suggestions. Looks like we are able to get the last availability at Colony Club - just awaiting confirmation. Sunset also has one room left and I received a message that Sucriers is also available. So all hope is not lost for anyone else without a huge budget trying to book at this busy time. I've visited several times but never when it was in such high demand, we will definitely have to plan ahead for our dinner reservations!
 
cec1 said:
As the proprietor, I'm sorry that you weren't able to get a room at The Normandie. While you're on the island, nonetheless, please stop by around 5 PM and introduce yourself to our great manager, Eula -- I know that she'll gladly offer you a glass of wine. Your experience, by the way, is indicative of a big "uptick" in island tourism in the coming season . . . the Hotel is nearly fully booked through April, and our Villa is nearly fully booked 'til next September. In 12+ years of rental accommodations, I've never seen anything like the early bookings of this year.
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Thank you for your note cec1, we will definitely stop in when we are there - I love getting to know people on the island, especially over a glass of wine :)
 
As to dinner reservations, you should generally be OK either day before or the same day. If there is that "one special restaurant" or that "one special night" then you might want to consider making that reservation a bit farther out.
 
If u are on a budget Sunset would be the better option I have stayed at both places and for only a 4 night stay I would choose Sunset. The Colony Club is very nice but it must be at least 450.00 more over 4 nights than Sunset. Either way you will have fun




ehardtke said:
Thank you all for your suggestions. Looks like we are able to get the last availability at Colony Club - just awaiting confirmation. Sunset also has one room left and I received a message that Sucriers is also available. So all hope is not lost for anyone else without a huge budget trying to book at this busy time. I've visited several times but never when it was in such high demand, we will definitely have to plan ahead for our dinner reservations!
Click to expand...
 
cec1 said:
As the proprietor, I'm sorry that you weren't able to get a room at The Normandie. While you're on the island, nonetheless, please stop by around 5 PM and introduce yourself to our great manager, Eula -- I know that she'll gladly offer you a glass of wine. Your experience, by the way, is indicative of a big "uptick" in island tourism in the coming season . . . the Hotel is nearly fully booked through April, and our Villa is nearly fully booked 'til next September. In 12+ years of rental accommodations, I've never seen anything like the early bookings of this year.
Click to expand...

Dennis, sounds like you have a smile on your face as we end 2014......have a happy and healthy new year
 
Peter NJ said:
If u are on a budget Sunset would be the better option I have stayed at both places and for only a 4 night stay I would choose Sunset. The Colony Club is very nice but it must be at least 450.00 more over 4 nights than Sunset. Either way you will have fun
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well that's interesting. based on photos alone I was under the impression that colony club was much nicer. And yes it is more than twice the price. I might have to rethink this! I've only seen the Sunset from the outside and some of the trip advisor reviews scared me.... but they do have a superior room which faces the harbor.
 
The Sunset is perfectly acceptable - we have stayed there for two nights -- yes, the price at the Colony Club does reflect that it is in a different class.
 
I have stayed at Sunset at least 5 times tho not recently but the place doesn't change its clean and much easier to walk to restos and bars than CC which is a steep walk down the hill...If you guys were staying 7 nights I would say splurge for CC but 4 nights you cant beat the Sunset just know its not plush




ehardtke said:
well that's interesting. based on photos alone I was under the impression that colony club was much nicer. And yes it is more than twice the price. I might have to rethink this! I've only seen the Sunset from the outside and some of the trip advisor reviews scared me.... but they do have a superior room which faces the harbor.
Click to expand...
 
Peter NJ said:
I have stayed at Sunset at least 5 times tho not recently but the place doesn't change its clean and much easier to walk to restos and bars than CC which is a steep walk down the hill...If you guys were staying 7 nights I would say splurge for CC but 4 nights you cant beat the Sunset just know its not plush
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that's also a great tip - I didn't realize CC was on such a steep hill, that is actually an important factor. We will spend a few days doing the day passes/renting chairs at the nice hotels anyway so I think we could deal with "not plush" when we come home.

BTW does anyone have/know where I can find a list of which hotels allow day guests and rates? In the past, if I remember correctly, we were able to go to Le Sereno, Christopher and Guanahani, and I thought you could do chair rentals at Eden Rock, IDF and Tom Beach if they have room. I know some will also allow you to stay at the pool if you go to the spa, which we did at Le Village.
 
In the future, emailing with Odile at Gumbs Car Rental can sometimes pay dividends as they have places for rent at reasonable rates as well as cars.
 
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