Caribbean Hotels Reborn - IdF and ER among others

Nice article, and gives a good contrast between SBH & Anguilla.

Great reading, John . . . thanks for posting. I think it's "spot on," as my British friends would say!

Is the article accurate- 60% of the visitors are U.S. east coasters? We thought it was a little more international than that?

IDF has always attracted an East coast crowd, In fact, during the winter month's it's probably above 60%, but substantially less in the summer, when the crowd is definitely more international. I remember sitting on the beach a few years ago, in January, listening to two excited couples, who just met, discover that they actually lived in the same building in Manhattan.

Phil

One of our Villa Guests during high season (a NYC Atty) told me he and new wife walked down to IDF for lunch----across the room he heard his name. The person said how fortunate they to see him there----"are you staying here?" They said no, he said "lets go up to your place and finish discussing that pending case"....his wife stepped between them and told him "no way---it's our honeymoon". The Guest laughed on the phone to me later, "these are the people we came to get away from".

As Phil wrote, this fine hotel off-season has a completely different vibe. Very European. At a very nice wine tasting there a few years ago in August I was the single American (my wife reminded me to scrub my fingernails) since it was a work trip. DSK had just been was arrested and I found myself defending the US Justice System since the French people thought he was treated like a "thug" during the perp walk, especially since he was head of the IMF at the time.

This is an interesting post. I read this article and the way describe in it is really amazing. Thanks for sharing this beautiful article with us.

Thank you John. A very interesting read.

stbartslover said:

The Guest laughed on the phone to me later, "these are the people we came to get away from".

Click to expand...

Exactly the way we felt last year at lunch next door at Le Taïwana when a loud, East Coast family descended upon the restaurant, ill-mannered, poorly-behaved progéniture in tow -- along with an au pair/governess who did God-knows-what -- making a spectacle of themselves.

An informative article, I think. A few points do arise:

Are St-Barth's people really all French citizens? I thought there were 2000ish Portuguese citizens (fellow EU state citizens) on the island, among others???

St Barth (no "s") really doesn't seem Côte d'Azur-esque to me. That's a commonly stated comparison, but I don't know why it seems necessary???

"Splendid gastronomic patrimony" ? Haven't we been discussing this topic lately in a slightly different light?

Hopper - the article says 60% of visitors are American, not East Coasters

The author's comments on service lapses (at IdF/Cheval Blanc in this instance) are another common thread here lately.

Very favorable to SBH and well written.