steph

Hi,<BR><BR>Thanks so much for your help with our trip. It was our first trip to St. Barth and we had such a great time, we extended our trip by two days (8 total). Please forgive typos. <BR><BR>Stayed at Le Toiny- perfect- romantic, private, wake up to the slight noises of breakfast being set up on your patio by your private pool, vegging at the beaches or by the pool all day, great food.<BR><BR>Restaurants:<BR>Le Gaiac- at Le Toiny- ate there or had room service probably four times, always good.<BR>Francois Plantation House- probably our favorite nicer restaurant, but pretty intensely expensive ($300-400 for two).<BR>Ti St. Barth- carribbean nightlife- great food, then they play disco music (at least on the weekends) and everyone ends up dancing on the tables (encouraged). We went there a second time during the week & it was geared more for the locals and the music was all french.<BR>Select- cheeseburger in paradise restaurant, and the song was right<BR>Sandbar at Eden Rock - great<BR>Tamarin- near Saline beach, leisurely lunch, delicious & a very tropical feel.<BR>L'esprit de Saline- mixed reviews, but my husband's meal was wonderful.<BR>La Langouste at Flamands was our least favorite, although the people were great.<BR><BR>Beaches: Flamands- was really windy when we were there.<BR>Gouvenoir (sic) - great beach, but the second time it was a little over the top, a cruise had come in & it was a zoo of naked bodies. The first time the clothing optional crowd were discreet - but the second... if you see a lot of taxi buses in the parking lot, go somewhere else. <BR>Saline - our favorite. great for swimming, very peaceful.<BR><BR>Airports: St. Maarten (SXM) is a pit in the ground from which they have tried to make humans endure near fatal sweaty pains. Arrived from SB (what fun was the SB landing! just like a rollercoaster at Six Flags!) to SXM, went to one door to get the white immigration document, went to another line to get said document stamped. went to check in with AA. Every piece of luggage completely taken apart looking at a security checkpoint. then told that AA had cancelled our flight. we were told we should have been at SXM *three* hours earlier as per FAA regulations and they would have been able to get us on the miami flight. went to the brown export tax booth, went through the long line checking out of the country, went through the x-ray security machine (35 minute wait), waited for our plane, getting in line for getting on the plane, every bag was completely searched again. We waited in at least 7 lines. Don't cut your flights close in SXM, they are there to torture you. They also don't really take off on time or care if they do. <BR><BR>FYI Winnair seems more efficiently run than Air Carribe from SB. The flight from San Juan to DFW was easier and longer than going through Miami. San Juan Airport a breeze. <BR><BR>Next time we're going to check into chartering from San Juan to SB directly. <BR><BR>Best part of the trip: best vacation of our lives on our 10th wedding anniversary, worst part: Saint Maarten torture airport.

xxx

Thanks for the report!<BR>We're going to St. John this time and I'm thinking of St. Barth's for our next trip. <BR>The $300-$400 dinner sounds a bit scary... Are there any places you can have a dinner for +/- $100.00 for two ?<BR>Am I being naive here ? Is everything so outrageously expensive there ?

khostler

There are nice restaurants you can enjoy for around $100 a couple. La Rivage, in the Grand Cul deSac is one. Try their honey lime pork loin - out of this world! Bou Bou's is excellent. There is also an new Mexican restaurant right in the harbour that has great food. <BR><BR>My husband and I went to St. Barths for our honeymoon, but we had bought a house right before we left, so the sky was not the limit. We had wine before dinner on our private patio and ordered a glass or two at dinner. We never missed the $500 dinners - although we plan to go back and experience them!

dtour

If you have a 400$ bottle of wine dinner WILL cost 500$

Cissy

Steph: Thanks for the great trip report. Lots of good advice. Considering SB this fall. Will take your advice about SXM if possible and also look into the charter from San Juan to SB.

ttt

ttt

Albert

Steph:<BR>Sounds like you had a great time!<BR>I totally agree w/ you on Francois Plantation. My wife and I consider it our favorite. The people are great too!<BR><BR>Our 11 year old daughter was treated very nicely too ( she has dined almost everywhere but some establishments take a condesending attitude w/ children) Maya was also very nice.

Adele

We also just returned from a week in St. Barts...the weather was the worst we'd ever had in the Caribbean but we still managed to get to the beach or hang out by the pool everyday. On our trip over from St Maarten the winds were so high the St Barts flights were cancelled and we ended up taking the ferry from Marigot. It was an adventure that worked out primarily because we had time to pick up some motion sickness pills at the pharmacie, just in case. The best part was that our car rental agent and the caretaker of the villa we rented were both at the ferry to greet us and get us settled in.<BR><BR>We didn't eat out at any of the high-end restaurants, mostly because we were tired after long days of swimming and play. Pipiri Palace was delicious, as was our dinner at La Langouste. One night we had burgers at L'Entracte and another night pizza and salad at Chez Andy. Overall, though, I would say that the quality of food and service had slipped a little in the nine years since we'd been to St. Barts. Things seemed more commercial and slightly less special. Still, now that we're home again, we wish we could go back *sigh*.

Travelswithfamily

Highly recommend Tradewinds flight from San Juan to SBH. I used it recently and it was simple and painless. There is no customs for US travelers because San Juan is in the US, so you can arrive from AA or Jet Blue and walk to their flight (they will pick up your bags for you). We came back through SXM and wish we hadn't. The crowded 35 minute security line and general poor service made us wish we were back on SBH... Will always go via San Juan now.