My wife and I are just beginning to plan our first trip to St. Barthelemy. We will be going this Spring and are looking for a villa in Gustavia. Any recommendations? Thanks!

Gustavia is the largest town on the Island. It is a bit busy,and I think villa rentals are limited.

There are apartments you can rent, and there is always the Carl Gustave. If you want to rent a villa I would recommend a different location. The island is very small (8 square miles)and easy to get around by car. If you are not going to have a car Gustavia, or a hotel makes sense. There is only one beach in Gustavia...Shell Beach. It is nice for sunsets, but that is about it.

In other words...if renting a villa....Gustavia is not the place to be.

The most informative website for information about St.Bart is www.sbhonline.com.

The posters will be incredibly helpful To me St. Bart is paradise. Enjoy it.

I have a couple websites that might help. Some friends always rent a condo just after Easter when the prices drop in St. Barts and they use WIMCO exclusively because of their excellent customer service, but there are lots of others. One thing to keep in mind is the currency they use is the Euro, which is sky high now against the dollar. It will be more expensive now than it's been in years for the same thing. Hopefully you can find an agency that offers rentals in dollars. One of the better beach areas is St. Jean. Hope this helps

http://www.wimco.com/

http://www.st-barths.com/accomodation/index_hotels.html

http://www.caribbeanway.com/

http://cyberrentals.com/CAR/CAR.html

http://www.stbarth.com/

The last site that KarenM gave you puts out a great booklet on St. Bart rentals. Mailed from US so should arrive quickly. As the say "Live Your Dream'.

just a thought---why Gustavia?
although it's perhaps the Caribbean's prettiest harbor--it is noisy, and the views are not of open ocean like elsewhere on this pretty Island. Shell beach there is certainly not one of the Island's best either. Think about Flamands, or St. Jean.