Page 93 - Travel Leisure - USA (February 2020)

A St. Bart’s Primer

Getting There Where to Stay doubles from $1,640) blanc.com; doubles menu of simply
Tradewind Aviation Eden Rock–St Barths reopens this month from $1,245) just prepared dishes like
(flytradewind.com) (oetker collection.com; with 23 updated expanded into the for­ chicken curry and
operates daily flights doubles from $1,664), rooms in colonial­mod mer Taïwana hotel tomato salad, while
to St. Bart’s from on Baie de St. Jean, style by the French next door. The best Fish Corner (41 Rue de
l
Antigua, St. Thomas, welcomed guests in design team Gilles & choice for a romantic la Répub ique; 590-
and San Juan, Puerto November, with a top­ Boissier. On Flamands getaway is Hotel 590-51-36-33; entrées
Rico. It also recently to­bottom redesign. Beach, the LVMH­ Le Toiny (letoiny.com; $24–$33), wedged
partnered with Ameri­ In Gustavia, Hôtel owned Cheval Blanc doubles from $2,195), behind Gustavia store­
can Airlines for seam­ Barrière Le Carl Gustaf St-Barth Isle de set on the remote fronts, serves
less connections. (hotels barriere.com; France Hôtel (cheval Côte Sauvage, while the day’s freshest
Le Sereno (sereno catch. Nikki Beach
hotels.com; doubles (saint-barth.nikki
from $1,330), on beach.com; entrées
Grand Cul de Sac, has $43–$46), meanwhile,
a minimalist beach­ is the place to observe
chic look. And in Anse the outrageously
de Caye, the eco­ wealthy getting outra­
resort Hotel Manapany geously drunk.
(hotel manapany.com;
doubles from $610) Beaches
debuted its refresh Gouverneur, with its
last March. expanse of white
sand, is surprisingly
Where to Eat quiet, perhaps
Eden Rock’s restau­ because of the steep
rant, Sand Bar descent required.
(entrées $43–$94), Nearby Salines is
serves beach­dining almost as striking
classics (tuna tartare, and a touch more
roasted lobster) from crowded. A long hike
Jean­Georges Vonge­ (or a boat ride) is
richten. Near Gustavia, required to access
Maya’s (mayas-st Colombier, which
barth.com; entrées offers near­desolation
$37–$48) offers a and pristine waters.

home. The couple soon realized it made more From left: vases. Their son Spencer, a former reality-TV star
financial sense to turn it into a hotel, which Reinforced in the U.K., was also in-house to make sure his
“submarine doors”
they’ve expanded and operated ever since. new line of low-alcohol spirits was stocked behind
protect the resort
“The deal I made with Rémy was that he was to against future the bar. (One of their other sons, James—not
leave everything behind except his toothbrush,” storms; the lounge there—happens to be married to Pippa Middleton,
David Matthews explained, because he wanted to of Villa Frangipani, sister of the future Queen of England.)
designed by
preserve the eccentric atmosphere. The The closure allowed the family to add needed
co-owner Jane
adventurer’s furniture, photographs, and bric-a- Matthews. features. The formal restaurant that occupied
brac are mostly gone, but his singular personality the summit of the Rock—as the landmark outcrop
still guides the proprietors. is called—has been replaced with three new
It’s a decidedly family-run place: Jane signature suites. A small spa has been added
Matthews, a Zimbabwe-born artist responsible for where the kitchens once were. The main building,
much of the interior design, was there on my visit, completely destroyed by the storm surge, was
still tinkering with the placement of bowls and rebuilt with the addition (Continued on page 102)

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