New restaurant on St Jean
- Thread starter andynap
- Start date
elgreaux
Senior Insider
except there are some that make you feel less than welcome.. try going to the beach at Guanahani when the hotel is open, or sitting close to Cheval Blanc or Eden Rock, both have been known to send the staff to tell you to move down the beach a piece... we had a friend staying at Les Ondines a few years ago and they made a reservation for 8 people to eat lunch at Indigo at Guanahani. They kayaked over in kayaks from Les Ondines and were told to get off the beach immediately by a smug young beach boy... so they told him to cancel their lunch reservation and paddled over to La Gloriette where they were nicely welcomed... and Guanahani's new publicity says it's on a private peninsula, so I guess it's open, but only to their guests...
KevinS
Senior Insider
Knowing your rights is a beautiful thing. Facing up to those trying to deny your rights is also a beautiful thing. I think, on St Barth, most of us are dependent on the French to do both when it comes to the hotel beaches. French law, French people. But can I buy their piq-niq basket for them?
elgreaux
Senior Insider
pique-nique !
and yes standing up to the officious people at the hotels is not always easy, I suggest that locals take frisbees and boom boxes to exert their rights to use any of the public beaches on the island when they want to... which is why the new rules went into effect a few years ago allowing the hotels and restaurants to cover only a certain portion of the beach and to pay a small tax for making money on public land. it's a delicate balance especially when tourism is your main business...and of course the beach restaurants are the most popular lunch places...
KevinS
Senior Insider
I shall endeavor to correct my abysmally bad French spelling. I often fail with American spelling too, especially when I’m challenged with English spelling, which I learned first, and the American spelling which I use every day. But I try.
Pique-Nique. If you’re challenging a hotel’s improper beach policy then I’ll buy. If I’m on-island then I’ll be most pleased to join you. But I insist that every scrap of trash, plus anything which we may find, leaves with us.
Pique-Nique. If you’re challenging a hotel’s improper beach policy then I’ll buy. If I’m on-island then I’ll be most pleased to join you. But I insist that every scrap of trash, plus anything which we may find, leaves with us.
JEK
Senior Insider
Many (all?) National Parks have removed trashcans - you bring it in, you take it back out.
Here my closest National Park's policy.
JEK
Senior Insider
I think it works well now, but took a few years to train the visitors to bring those big black trash bags.
elgreaux
Senior Insider
I agree, trash in, trash out and I often pick up other trash as well... it's amazing how much crap is along the sides of the roads here....
KevinS
Senior Insider
It's amazing that while people volunteer to clean it up, even more people keep throwing crap on the roadside. I help when I can. This photo is from when I first discovered how much sweat can pool up in a pair of exam gloves while picking up trash. I wasn't the only SBHOnline person to earn a shirt on that day. Diana was there too.
elgreaux
Senior Insider
yes but personally I think that an island that depends on tourism also relies on the private sector including generous souls like Kevin to clean up after the slobs that throw their trash out of car windows, places bags of trash where it specifically says not to, throw old fans and other household trash behind the foliage along the road... what's with people anyway?
Eve
Senior Insider
they have been doing that for years on RI Beaches. The cleanest beaches I have ever seen
Ellen, I am sorry to hear that people were treated badly at Le Guanahani. Personally, I have spoken to people on the beach who had lunch and were allowed to spend time on the lounges afterward. I am wondering if this person was a seasonal employee and did not understand the rules in Saint-Barth? With a whole new hotel, I am guessing that things might be a bit different. But nothing is private, especially the peninsula. I have climbed up there many times and many of the people I have met kayaked in, went for a climb, no issues. Also, had I been on the island, I would have been happy to do clean up. We do it on the beaches here in CA where the community comes out to clean up. I am hoping to be at Le Guanahani next spring when I hear about the reservations opening and will be curious to see what the attitude it. I do not know how it goes at other hotels if you come for lunch; in the past, I think you could get a lounge after lunch at IDF, but it has been awhile since I have been there and since it has been IDF!
JEK
Senior Insider
The Guanhani hasn't been open for nearly three years, so any information is a little dated. I've stayed there many times and visited for lunch and dinner many more times. Never felt unwelcome. I also have a hope that when tourism returns to the island all the hotels will all be a little more welcoming to non-paying day visitors.
