NorCalCpl
SBH Insider
The NorCal family made the long haul to St. Barth in mid-April. It was the first time for the new daughter-in-law and son-in-law so we were determined to show the newbs a good time.
In spite of the long 27 hours of travel, the flights went quite well. Winair was able to put all 6 of us on a flight 1 hour earlier than the one we had scheduled which was amazing. I think we spent a total of about 30 minutes at SXM thanks to the tips received here about minimizing line-waiting by using the small security check point on the lower floor.
We picked up our car and checked in to Le Village St. Jean which was really great. We were unable to check into Villa Crystal Dream until the next day. We headed straight down to Nikki Beach Club to partake in their Sunday afternoon party but it wasn’t a perfect experience. In spite of showing up on time we were finally seated about a half hour later. The group occupying our table was still buying big magnums of expensive Champagne so the management was not eager to break that action up. After being seated the waitress brought some water then disappeared for half an hour. We gave up and went up to the packed bar and bought a round of drinks for our table. I groused to the hostess that our waitress was totally AWOL. She finally returned about 15 minutes later and was unable to hide her completely bad attitude. I know they are busy on Sundays, but we probably won’t be doing this again considering all the great options. After a few beverages and lunch our travel-weariness was waning and we were ready for fun!
The rest of the trip was fantastic. The only slight negative was that most of the days were pretty cloudy and we had rain. It was plenty warm and not windy but we did miss the sun and beautiful color of the water.
The highlight of the trip (besides the beaches) was probably the evening spent at the Ortega (Kate Kova) Gallery then dinner at Orega Restaurant. Kate and David were wonderful and charming and provided us with rose wine while we admired Kate’s work. It was really interesting to hear her explain her art themes and methods.
We then proceeded across the street to meet Greg Ortega and he welcomed us as if we were old friends even though we had just met. He and his staff had us laughing and loving the food and experience. The food was wonderful! The family was so enchanted that we took a vote and unanimously decided to bail on another restaurant and go back to Orega.
Other memorable dinners included: Bonito, L’Esprit, and La Plage Friday White party. Lunches included: Cheval Blanc, Santa Fe, Tamerin, and Le Select. Everything was wonderful as we have come to expect.
We did try the lunch and chair deal at Cheval Blanc which was spendy but good, and we had a great time body-surfing the big waves in front of Taiwana. We had a great hike to Colombier and the Natural pools.
The newbs decided they liked St. Barth. Time to start planning the next trip!
Special shout out to Kara Brooks for the advice!
In spite of the long 27 hours of travel, the flights went quite well. Winair was able to put all 6 of us on a flight 1 hour earlier than the one we had scheduled which was amazing. I think we spent a total of about 30 minutes at SXM thanks to the tips received here about minimizing line-waiting by using the small security check point on the lower floor.
We picked up our car and checked in to Le Village St. Jean which was really great. We were unable to check into Villa Crystal Dream until the next day. We headed straight down to Nikki Beach Club to partake in their Sunday afternoon party but it wasn’t a perfect experience. In spite of showing up on time we were finally seated about a half hour later. The group occupying our table was still buying big magnums of expensive Champagne so the management was not eager to break that action up. After being seated the waitress brought some water then disappeared for half an hour. We gave up and went up to the packed bar and bought a round of drinks for our table. I groused to the hostess that our waitress was totally AWOL. She finally returned about 15 minutes later and was unable to hide her completely bad attitude. I know they are busy on Sundays, but we probably won’t be doing this again considering all the great options. After a few beverages and lunch our travel-weariness was waning and we were ready for fun!
The rest of the trip was fantastic. The only slight negative was that most of the days were pretty cloudy and we had rain. It was plenty warm and not windy but we did miss the sun and beautiful color of the water.
The highlight of the trip (besides the beaches) was probably the evening spent at the Ortega (Kate Kova) Gallery then dinner at Orega Restaurant. Kate and David were wonderful and charming and provided us with rose wine while we admired Kate’s work. It was really interesting to hear her explain her art themes and methods.
We then proceeded across the street to meet Greg Ortega and he welcomed us as if we were old friends even though we had just met. He and his staff had us laughing and loving the food and experience. The food was wonderful! The family was so enchanted that we took a vote and unanimously decided to bail on another restaurant and go back to Orega.
Other memorable dinners included: Bonito, L’Esprit, and La Plage Friday White party. Lunches included: Cheval Blanc, Santa Fe, Tamerin, and Le Select. Everything was wonderful as we have come to expect.
We did try the lunch and chair deal at Cheval Blanc which was spendy but good, and we had a great time body-surfing the big waves in front of Taiwana. We had a great hike to Colombier and the Natural pools.
The newbs decided they liked St. Barth. Time to start planning the next trip!
Special shout out to Kara Brooks for the advice!
