Advice

[GeorgeD]

Jody and I have been coming to St Barts for 19 years. We may want to come again at Christmas time this year as I will need surgery thereafter. We normally come in Feb. for our birthdays and I know you all will be crushed for missing that annual event. You can suffer: you will survive.

The advice I need is do you think the island will be open enough for us to do part of our normal things. We know all will not be open, but what percentage? Will the beaches be cleaned-up? Will it be crowded? We want to support the island, but will they be ready?
Are we a pain in the ass by coming?

Any advice is appreciated and bye the way Happy Birthday to Tim, an ancient relic on
SBHonline.
Thanks Tim for all you do and Happy Birthday from,
George & Jody

 

[andynap]

Yo George- long time no read. Kevin is going to the island next week or two and I would wait for his report to answer most of your questions. Cheers.

 

[GeorgeD]

Thanks, good idea.

 

[KevinS]

George, look at dadto6’s posts over the last few days. Very informative.

I’ll be adding my own experiences and opinions in about a week.

 

[Max1030]

Day 10 and we're loving this island even more. The people are all amazing and genuinely happy to see us "tourists" back. If you can live without ER and Nikki you're going to be just fine. The beaches and roads are perfect. Shops and restaurants are mostly back or in process of rebuilding.

 

[chris83]

The advice I need is do you think the island will be open enough for us to do part of our normal things. We know all will not be open, but what percentage? Will the beaches be cleaned-up? Will it be crowded? We want to support the island, but will they be ready?
Are we a pain in the ass by coming?

The island is perfectly cleaned
All beaches are cleaned and open for swimming
Over 50 restaurants will be open.ALL SHOPS in town will be open
Mojo and Ti St Barth will provide the night fun.
Many yachts are coming for Christmas and New year over to show support after IRMA
Approx 20% of the villas will be open for tourists..so don't expect huge crowds

What will be closed : all 5 star hotels are closed for a long time.Nikki beach and La gloriette are still closed.I think "La plage" will be too...the real problem is lunch on the beach at Christmas....Shellona or Shellona or Shellona ?

My advice:rent a nice villa near down (after St Jean and Lurin,lots of problems with wifi and less restaurants) with a nice pool for lunch on the terrasse (private chef or Maya's to go take out,for example)

Locals will be immensely happy to see you and you will get best treatment everywhere.
Don't listen to the "gloom and doom" "visit other islands" guys..You will have a great time (read Max1030 for confirmation)

 

[dadto6]

Max and Chris are right on. Come to the island and enjoy your holiday, unless of course, you need Eden Rock and Nikki. Anita and I really enjoyed the relative quiet and significantly reduced traffic. The people are awesome and extremely welcoming. We left tips at every restaurant, something which we typically do not. Love, Love, Love St. Barths.

 

[Rosita]

Max and Chris are right on. Come to the island and enjoy your holiday, unless of course, you need Eden Rock and Nikki. Anita and I really enjoyed the relative quiet and significantly reduced traffic. The people are awesome and extremely welcoming. We left tips at every restaurant, something which we typically do not. Love, Love, Love St. Barths.

merci beaucoup :blush-smile:

 

[dadto6]

Hi Rosita,
I stopped by both your villas, les jardins d'Emmanuel and les basses, hoping I could meet you. The work on both villas is progressing very well, great example of your construction connections
Wishing you the best!

 

[KevinS]

George, if you’re thinking about Christmas, take a look at the post-Irma 2BR version of La Baleine. I picked up Les Jardins d’Emmanuel after the Thanksgiving guests were unable to come, and I think that the Christmas guests at La Baleine may have cancelled http://www.wimco.com/villas/villa.aspx?pid=902623 There was some damage, but repairs are nearing completion, and the views out over the moored yachts at Christmas should be fantastic.

 

[dadto6]

I echo Kevin's suggestion!

 

[Rosita]

Hi Rosita,
I stopped by both your villas, les jardins d'Emmanuel and les basses, hoping I could meet you. The work on both villas is progressing very well, great example of your construction connections
Wishing you the best!

merci beaucoup :heart1:
sorry i missed you .. i am running from two villas to get ready at time
villa les basses unfortunately will be open only middle February ..too much work to do
and also waiting for new furniture
everything was destroyed

thanks for all your advise for all the futur tourist who want to come visit St-Barth soon :up:

 

[Dennis]

George, if you’re thinking about Christmas, take a look at the post-Irma 2BR version of La Baleine. I picked up Les Jardins d’Emmanuel after the Thanksgiving guests were unable to come, and I think that the Christmas guests at La Baleine may have cancelled too. http://www.villalabaleine.com/. There was some damage, but repairs are nearing completion, and the views out over the moored yachts at Christmas should be fantastic.

We were there last Christmas and it was perfect. Loved watching the big boats every morning and evening.

 

[amyb]

La Baleine was my first villa experience. The hospitality and the location are tops. Check with Rosita for availability.

 

[csordas95]

The island is perfectly cleaned
All beaches are cleaned and open for swimming
Over 50 restaurants will be open.ALL SHOPS in town will be open
Mojo and Ti St Barth will provide the night fun.
Many yachts are coming for Christmas and New year over to show support after IRMA
Approx 20% of the villas will be open for tourists..so don't expect huge crowds

What will be closed : all 5 star hotels are closed for a long time.Nikki beach and La gloriette are still closed.I think "La plage" will be too...the real problem is lunch on the beach at Christmas....Shellona or Shellona or Shellona ?

My advice:rent a nice villa near down (after St Jean and Lurin,lots of problems with wifi and less restaurants) with a nice pool for lunch on the terrasse (private chef or Maya's to go take out,for example)

Locals will be immensely happy to see you and you will get best treatment everywhere.
Don't listen to the "gloom and doom" "visit other islands" guys..You will have a great time (read Max1030 for confirmation)

Hi Chris..you mentioned Lurin in the above. We are going Feb 3 and after 3 flight changes and 1 villa change we have villa O Pure (MLO) very close to town in Lurin. I was told the villa is ok and I’m sure PIV/Sibarth would not rent one with damage but photos I’ve seen of the Lurin area are making me nervous. The house only has French satellite, no screens(they said they would spray but that lasts 24 hours) but it seems peaceful and “old St Barth’s”. Not that we are spoiled but do you think wi fi will be back? With terrible things happening everyday it would be good to know what’s is going on in the rest of the world. I thought being so close to town was a good thing.

 

[dadto6]

Hello csordas95,
Not intending to answer for Chris. I will put my opinion to your question. Firstly, I would trust Sibarth. Secondly, I consider the area of your proposed villa outside the significantly damaged Lurin, since it is on the St. Jean side of the hill. That area did not experience damages like the ones I photographed in Lurin. Have fun and wishing you the best on your vaca!

 

[csordas95]

Hello csordas95,
Not intending to answer for Chris. I will put my opinion to your question. Firstly, I would trust Sibarth. Secondly, I consider the area of your proposed villa outside the significantly damaged Lurin, since it is on the St. Jean side of the hill. That area did not experience damages like the ones I photographed in Lurin. Have fun and wishing you the best on your vaca!

Thank you for the information and all your photos. Very helpful!

 

[chris83]

Hi Chris..you mentioned Lurin in the above. We are going Feb 3 and after 3 flight changes and 1 villa change we have villa O Pure (MLO) very close to town in Lurin. I was told the villa is ok and I’m sure PIV/Sibarth would not rent one with damage but photos I’ve seen of the Lurin area are making me nervous. The house only has French satellite, no screens(they said they would spray but that lasts 24 hours) but it seems peaceful and “old St Barth’s”. Not that we are spoiled but do you think wi fi will be back? With terrible things happening everyday it would be good to know what’s is going on in the rest of the world. I thought being so close to town was a good thing.

Dadto6 gave you a great answer.Trust Sibarth.No agency wants problems with clients this year (specially about lying)
Wifi will be back by then,in Lurin.It's the other side of the island that faces major delay.
Lurin is a great location near town and a smart choice this year.
Island is turning green,so hopefully you will have the same beautiful view.
Have a ton of fun

 

[elgreaux]

Dadto6 gave you a great answer.Trust Sibarth.No agency wants problems with clients this year (specially about lying)
Wifi will be back by then,in Lurin.It's the other side of the island that faces major delay.
Lurin is a great location near town and a smart choice this year.
Island is turning green,so hopefully you will have the same beautiful view.
Have a ton of fun

how do you know wi-fi will be back in Lurin by any specific time? which "other" side of the island are you referring to.. so far it's out on all sides of the island depending where you are, from my mother-in-law's house in Flamands to our house in Petite Saline to friends in Grand Fond... where do you get your information.. since you seem to know it all, when will we get wi-fi back in Petite Saline, the phone company has no answer but you seem to know more than they do....

 

[dadto6]

Our villa was close to St. Jean, no phone yet when we departed on 11/6. In speaking with JC at L'Esprit, he does not anticipate getting a phone connection anytime soon.