The Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthelémy has several monickers – St Bart, St Bart’s, Saint-Barth – used instead of its formal name, which is barely used in officialdom, and never in conversation. The French abbreviation, pronounced something like ‘San Bart’, is the one the locals use, and when it comes to the French, it is best to follow the local example. On Saint-Barth, the last thing you want to be is an outsider.
Despite a glamorous reputation perpetuated by the international media, Saint-Barth is an unfussy place, a place for people rather than objects: rich people, talented people, people with interesting careers, people with power and influence. Arrogance finds no shelter here except during a two-week reprieve over Christmas and New Years, when nervous poseurs inundate the island to complain about too much cinnamon in their cappuccinos.
The fact that the cinnamon comes not from a small vial off a supermarket shelf but rather from a tree in the garden is lost on them.
Those Parisian politicians and New York bankers personify the antithesis of Saint-Barth’s blithe spirits, some of whom consider a trip to Saint Martin a major excursion, others who come and go across the world with easy alacrity. What the locals have in common is a love of life – an appreciation for the bonhomie of a day at the beach with friends, followed by an evening of laughter with more friends; between the two could be an haute cuisine dinner at chic Le Gaïac, or a hamburger at raucous Le Select – it doesn’t matter much which.
On Saint-Barth, showing off is a faux pas. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone is gratuitously wealthy, and to play the game of ‘I’m richer than you’ in a place where people come to get away from that kind of one-upmanship at home is seen as gauche and unnecessary. Nevertheless, the island abounds in remarkable people fashionably dressed in flowing white and beige linens suitable to the climate, the exception being fashion models, who are compelled to sport something more provocative, in line with their profession. Never mind that the linens are from Comme des Garçons – on a French island, one’s clothes are expected to be impeccable regardless of their informality.
Saint-Barth’s main attraction is its absence of attractions. Beyond pristine beaches and sublime swimming pools, the boutiques in Gustavia offer a shopping respite from the island’s relentlessly beautiful landscapes. Among the boutiques of Cartier and Hermès are the ateliers of talented designers like Élisa Bally, whose vivacious passion for interiors produces impressively original work.
Those who balance languid days with social evenings can thank impresario Carole Gruson, the doyenne of Saint-Barth nights, for an array of clubs dotting the island. One of the most popular of Carole’s establishments is Le Ti, a taverne de luxe where Thursday night’s cabaret is not to be missed.
Without a doubt, Saint-Barth’s empress dowager is one Jeanne Audy-Rowland. Unassumingly charismatic, Madame Audy-Rowland is best known as the owner of La Maison Nouréev, the former home of ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev, who came to Saint-Barth to visit Mikhail Baryshnikov and promptly fell in love with the island. The famously mercurial Nureyev purchased a home on Saint-Barth’s wild southeast coast and built a deck on which to practice his dance moves only metres above the crashing waves. Other than the addition of a few personal items, Mme Audy-Rowland has changed little in the house since she purchased it from the Nureyev estate after the dancer’s death in 1993. Like its former owner, and the current one, the house itself has a presence larger than life.
Despite its pride of place as the sole property on a small promontory jutting into the sea, few people are accorded the privilege of a visit inside, where meaningful mementos stand in places they have occupied for decades. Now advancing in years, the lady of the house has put La Maison Nouréev on the market but, true to her nature, it will take more than money to achieve a sale. Mme Audy-Rowland expects the next owner to take over her role as custodian of La Maison Nouréev; those with teardown intentions in mind will find their money useless. Mme Audy-Rowland has already refused an extremely generous offer from a world-famous billionaire whom she deemed unworthy of the home, even when bearing an offer more than twice the EUR28 million (US$38 million) asking price – which, by the way, is not an extravagant figure on an island where Christmas/New Year visitors clamour to pay $200,000 per week to rent the best villas.
Though private villas are the ne plus ultra of island accommodation, most first-timers start off as guests at Saint-Barth’s fine hotels before moving on to villa accommodation on subsequent visits. Each hotel has its own character, so it is important to choose the one most suited to holiday expectations.
Those looking for stylish accommodation and a hip crowd should head for Christopher on Pointe Milou, where the impossibly debonair Christian Langlade has transformed a tired property into the island’s trendiest hotel.
Shoppers will find the regal Hotel Carl Gustaf’s location in teensy Gustavia, Saint-Barth’s capital and home of the island’s Swedish heritage, convenient for forays from its lofty location above the harbour down into town for a bit of retail therapy before indulging in physical and mental therapy in the hotel’s outstanding spa, equipped with an essential oil shower. To enjoy the villa experience with hotel services in a less populated area, the peerless Le Toiny offers seclusion and privacy on the wild coast. Each of the 15 villas has its own pool, next to which breakfast magically appears each morning thanks to the hotel’s exceptionally conscientious staff, led by general managers Dagmar and Guy Lombard.
Le Toiny, a member of Relais & Châteaux, is home to the wonderful Le Gaïac, the best of Saint-Barth’s many fine restaurants, where local produce and imported delicacies are given equally outstanding attention in the kitchen before being presented in a dining room with sweeping views across a dozen shades of blue sea and sky.
When it comes to villa rentals, Ici Et Là manages a portfolio of magnificent homes straight off the pages of the world’s architecture and design magazines. Among the most impressive are Villa Arte and The View, both of which offer expansive vistas over the Caribbean Sea while providing complete privacy in total luxury, thereby satisfying the trio of demands most often put forth by the island’s visitors.
It is possible to have personal attention and outstanding service even when staying in a private villa thanks to Vincent Chevalier and James Daltrey, owners of Premium IV, an island-wide concierge service that provides every necessity for the perfect holiday. Looking more like a client of his own services than an entrepreneurial go-getter, Vincent is the man for visitors to know on Saint-Barth, the man who makes things happen with a single phone call. Premium IV works closely with Ici Et Là in creating the ultimate Saint-Barth villa experiences.
Property is something of a lightning rod on the island. As in so many other beautiful places around the world, there are preservationists who seek to maintain the island’s natural integrity, and developers who seek profit above all else.
Descendants of the original French families to settle on Saint-Barth still own vast tracts of land now worth many millions of dollars; long gone are the days when struggling peasants traded plots of land for a decent meal. Waterfront parcels are highly sought after by international hotel groups looking for an in for an inn – so far, in vain. Unusually in the Caribbean, Saint-Barth’s hotels are all independently owned; none belongs to a chain.
One of the staunchest defenders of the land is Hélène Bernier, whose family was among the first to establish a community on the island. Community spirit is vitally important to Bernier; in addition to her work as owner of Easy Time, an eco-tour company that provides personalised tours of Saint-Barth’s many natural attractions, she is also the leading voice in the fight to keep environmental abuse off the island. With no heavy industry, Saint-Barth’s entire economy depends on tourism; visitors come – and come back – more for what the island does not have than for what it does. If peace and quiet are sacrificed in favour of more hotel rooms and more visitors, Saint-Barth will become just another soulless Caribbean island with nothing to differentiate it from those already saturated by too much concrete and too many people.
Oh, the worries of modern life. Never mind, it’s time for dinner. Madame Audy-Rowland, always a luminous figure, is at her radiant best, dressed immaculately from head to toe in finely tailored white linen. That her sartorial splendour was created from old bed sheets adds to the mischievous delight she takes in wearing them. On Saint-Barth, the fabric of life is sewn together with threads of good fun and good fortune. Long may they last.
Golden Book
Hotel le Toiny
+590 590 27 88 88
www.letoiny.com
Christopher St. Barth
+590 590 27 63 63
www.hotelchristopher.com
Hotel Carl Gustav
www.hotelcarlgustaf.com
Ici&La
+590 590 27 78 78
www.icietlavillas.com
Maison Noureev
+1 617 349 0090
www.noureev.com
Premium IV
+590 690 88 22 12
www.premiumiv.com
