WLOOLA

Need help from experienced travelers re St Barth villa for two. Would prefer beach access and still have privacy. Plan on renting a car to see the island and other beaches. Also would like pool. Thanks.

MIM04

Go to www.shbonline.com
those folks have stayed in pretty much every villa on the island and can recommend a villa. I stayed in a villla in Lorient which was a terrible villa and I would never recommend it. The villas with beach access tend to not be as nice as the villas in the hills. There are, of course, exceptions. We had considered Villa Oxygen on St Jean beach, and based on the terrible villa we ended up with last time we should have rented it. However it does not afford a lot of privacy as it is right next to a restaurant / hotel.
The majority of villas on St Barths are not on the beach. FYI there is a ton of traffic on St Barths these days, so next time I would stay in St Jean for sure as there was never anywhere to park.

GL

otto

i stayed at manapany, villas, it was years ago, and truelly one of the most unforgettable places i've ever been. enjoy!

mariasch

We rented Villa "RIA" from Wimco and loved it. It is right on the beach in Lorient. We stood in the pool with our drinks on the side and gazed out onto the beach. Outdoor kitchen/dining room was great. And right accross the street is perhaps the world's greatest bakery. The pool area was situated in a way that one could be scantily clad and not be real visable. As well, Lorient is more of a "locals" beach so it is less populated. A car is a must no matter where you stay. Have fun!

caribcouple

You will want a car to explore, and being in the hills is much nicer in our opinion than the beach---better views, more privacy, fewer mosquitoes too. St. Jean can be noisy due to the airport and the main road for the Island, but it is walkable. We agree, check sbh online or one of the agencies. We've stayed all over the Island and prefer the Flamands hillside with a walk down the Island's nicest beach, at a villa "Flamands Blue" that we rent from the owner (listed on sbh)--no pool, but a large Jacuzzi which we prefer, since most of the pools are unheated. As for Manapany Hotel, it's located on Anse de Cayes --- which is not one of the more desireable beaches.

adlmllr

One benefit to the Anse des Cayes and Anse des Lezards area of St Barts is that it's a little quieter than other areas, but still very convenient and the views are gorgeous. True, you won't be near swimming beaches but we always prefer to drive to La Saline, anyway.

We've stayed at Villa Avril and absolutely loved it. In a few weeks, we'll be going to Dolce Vita, which is also in the same area. Villa Rosebud looks lovely from the outside. All 3 have private pools.

It's worth doing a lot of surfing on the web to find villas, as not all rental agencies/websites have information on all of the villas. Good luck!

Becca

MIM04: What is the villa in Lorient where you stayed and hated? I am considering Villa Les Salines, or in Wimco terms SIB CHL, on Lorient beach. Is is the same villa as where you stayed?

adlmllr: Are you back from your stay at Villa Dolce Vita? How was it? I love the look of this villa but read not so great reviews about it being in or near an apartment complex.

Maggi

Becca, in three weeks we will be on the hill overlooking L'Orient at Villa Santal which is in the same approximately price range as Dolce Vita. I will definitely post a report when we get back.

adlmllr

We're back from our all-too-short trip to St. Barts. Villa Dolce Vita was wonderful, we'd rent it again in a heartbeat. Yes, it is tucked into an apartment "complex" of sorts, but it is very quiet and private. Felt more like living on the island than being a visitor. The pool was beautiful and we did not mind having to drive to the beach each day -- part of the fun is deciding each day which beach to visit.

If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

Maggi

I'd love to hear all the gory details; which beaches you preferred, restaurant reviews, etc. Can't wait til our trip in a few weeks! Was it everything you hoped it would be?

adlmllr

Beaches: Salines and Gouvernor are our favorites, hands-down. Flamands is very pretty, but there are more people and a few hotels on the beach so there are boats, kayaks, etc. in the way. Ditto for St. Jean beach -- this was our first time ever on this beach and we didn't like it at all (except for the thrill of wathcing planes take off and land). We like private, quiet beaches with no service. On our first trip to St. Barts we did the hike to Colombier and while it was pretty, there were too many boats in the harbor to be able to swim freely.

Restaurants: We alternated between eating out and eating in, and decided not to splurge on any very high-end meals. Granted, the food on St. Barts is better than on most islands, but it's still a vacation destination where virtually all of the ingredients have to be shipped in, so the prices are up there. We loved our first nights' meal at Wall House, when we ordered the prix fixe menu. Lovely location, delicious food, good service.

We tried K'fe Massai, after hearing mixed reviews, and were pretty disappointed. The ambience is great, wine list is good, but the food was just barely mediocre and overpriced. That was our one big mistake in terms of dining.

L'Esprit de Salines was charming, romantic, and quite good. I would definitely recommend going there (it's pricey, though). We've also heard excellent things about the place practically next door to it, an Italian restaurant called Pa'Cri.

For casual lunch, Le Piment in the St. Jean shopping area, was great. Club sandwiches, burgers and fries were all delicious and reasonable. It was pretty crowded with locals.

We ate breakfast in every day, courtesy of the fantastic breads and pastries at La Petite Colombe. We were very close to the main branch of the bakery in Colombier, but there's one on the main road between St. Jean and Lorient, and another in Gustavia across from the main post office. The baguettes were better than ones we recently had in Paris.

For prepared foods, La Rotisserie ahs wonderful roasted chicken and different types of salads to go along with it. Match supermarket carries lots of specialty foods, including a nice selection of cheeses and cured meats. Our favorite wine store in La Cave du Port Franc, in the port area heading away from Gustavia, toward Public. Ask for Guillaume to help you choose some wines to enjoy in your villa and also to carry home. His prices are quite good, and the storage is impeccable, unlike many of the other wine stores in Gustavia which don't have any climate control.

Enjoy!

Maggi

Wow! That is really great, specific, advice. Thank you so much. We already have reservations for Wall House our first night there. Glad I made the right call on that one. But I'm disappointed you didn't like K'fe Massai. This is close to our villa and I was planning to eat there several times. Thanks for the heads up. I'm definitely looking forward to the bakery, those French cheeses and the wine. This is going to be a wine and cheese tasting week for us. We want to pair cheeses and wines from the same region. I especially appreciate the comment on wine storage. I have never read anyone mentioning that as a problem. Thanks again!