It's a trade off. The Christopher has WOW views from their pool right across St. Jean Bay, and maybe a little nicer of the two, but it's in a more isolated, but beautiful, hillside location in Pt.Milou--- a long way from any beach.
Tom Beach is right on St.Jean which is a great walkable location to restaurants and the nice beach but can be a little more noisy from the road and airport, and the pool there is very small, but it's intimate, European, and perhaps more romantic.
Tough choice, but for just a short time
we'd probably pick TB.
It will hard to leave St.Barts!
At either, let us know here when you return if you were sorry you booked that next week on perfectly flat more uptight Anguilla.

Heh... I'm waffling on the same exact choice. Caribcouple I think hit on the points. At the Christopher, the pool and the view look stunning, but Tom Beach is right on St. Jean Beach, which is our favorite. People will tell you being on the beach is not critical, which is true, but we like to walk out the door to be on it. Tom Beach has its own chairs and umbrellas. I am a bit worried about the noise from the street - scooters, etc., but we're leaning towards Tom Beach.

Well, caribcouple, you are definitely right about being sorry we didn't spend more time in St. Barts. I've been to both islands and St. Barts definitely is a special place. The thing is it's like comparing apples and oranges. Anguilla is all about gorgeous beaches and great food at nice restaurants, the interior of the island is not impressive. St. Barts is the beauty of the landscape and the Caribbean/French culture...along with very expensive dining.

I've been putting this trip together sort of half a**ed and was looking mainly for a small hotel/condo on the beach with a kitchen to keep the costs down for breakfast and lunch. Luckily I found a hotel deal in Anguilla enough cheaper in U.S. dollars that it made sense. St. Barts was an afterthought since we were in the neighborhood, so to speak. Since my Hubby has never been to either island I thought a quick trip to St. Barts would be fun as a comparison without getting into great expense.

The bottom line for us is Anguilla takes dollars and St. Barts takes Euros....and you know what the exchange rates are now. The exchange rate of the Euro makes St. Barts over the top when you consider meals and everything is billed in Euros. I read some trip reports and these people are spending a bundle.

It would be better to be on the beach instead of having to drive each day and hassle with the beach chair and umbrella problem. I considered Isle de France since that is one of the nicer places to stay directly on the beach. Whew, talk about sticker shock, it would cost for 3 nights what it will cost us in Anguilla for 7 for almost comparable accomodations. The Christopher internet special I found, listed below, is 1/2 the cost of Isle de France. Since we'll only be there for 3 nights, looks like the Christopher wins on price.

Beantown, I wanted to tell you I searched and searched hotel websites for the best prices on the Christopher. One thing you have to watch out for is the prices shown in U.S. Dollars and billed in Euros. I had this happen to me with a hotel in Mexico that was priced on the internet in dollars but was charged to my credit card in pesos. I expected if I bought the room in dollars I would be billed in dollars, and there was no mention it would be billed in pesos on the website.

At any rate, I found Sofitel's website the cheapest even though they are showing the price in Euros. Here's the website:

http://www.sofitel.com/sofitel/gb/evader/index.shtml

Click on the RESORTS heading, then AMERICAS.

They are showing 217 EUR/night as a special internet rate for superior room, king bed, patio, including breakfast. That comes out to be about $276 US. The dates I was using were 4/23/04 - 4/26/04. Can't beat that for value.

I'm still wondering about the beds in these places. Had so many bad experiences in hotels where the beds were just awful...tossing and turning all night, then waking up with a backache.

Caribcouple, I wanted to ask you what the car rental costs are and which is best the jeep or regular car. I don't remember if the jeep we rented before had a top or not in case of rain.

Thanks for your help.

SB cars:
we prefer Eurpcar (see their website) most popular is the Suzuki Samari 4 wheel drive convertable top, but they have lots of others.
We rent (still in USD's) from a private owner who has 2 places:
www.stbartsvilla.com above the Isle de France, great views yet a 5 min walk to the Island's nicest beach, perfectly maintained (even the plage chairs are included) and about 1/2 the price. There are many other villas on SB (you must do a week though) still in dollars.
Dining: It does not have to be expensive on SB. Maya's for example (one of the Island's most famous) has a carry-out that we take advantage of often. A little carry out, a bottle of wine and great view from the villa for less that it would cost in Cleveland...

KarenM - yes, I found the best price at the Sofitel was on the Sofitel website, the 217 rate was nice. While I know the hotel has more amenities, I chose Tom Beach - the 240 (also Euros)/ night includes a car, so for pure dollars, it winds up being better. I was also a little worried about being isolated at the Christopher. I have little desire to drive much at night (at least the roads out towards Pt. Milou), so staying in St. Jean also gives us more food options - another way to keep costs down.

Beantown, I have to agree with you to some degree about the driving, especially in the dark late at night...not knowing the roads well. I don't remember if I was in the area where the Christopher is located, so I don't have a feel for how far away it is to Gustavia or St. Jean.

I'm really torn on what to do and can't waste too much more time on this or I miss the window of opportunity.

If you don't mind me asking what website did you find the 240E/car for Tom Beach.

I guess you know from the St. Barts forum that Eden Rock/Filao and all 3 restaurants will be closed after the end of March. The Sand Bar restaurant was great for lunches and drinks too.

I'm wondering how long a drive from the Christopher is to St. Jean. Maybe someone will see this and report back.

Thanks