Your St Barts -Villa Rental in St Barths, Saint Barthélémy

St Barts Island :: Villa Services

Anyone whose ever visited St Barts island knows that the food here is incomparable to anything you've ever tasted; but for those of you who have yet to visit us, we wanted to give you a little run down of who is available to provide St Barts villa services.  Over the next few days, we'll discuss each of the villa services more in-depth and give you sneek peeks at the menus and who's behind the food.  One thing is for sure :: whomever cooks for you and your loved ones, delicious food awaits you.

Cordon Bleu is the brainchild of Christine and Jean-Jacques.  They offer multi-ethnic cuisine with influences of French gourmet, Creole island cooking and Alain Ducasse cuisine.  Known for recommending the best wines and their "chic picnics," they are a fun couple that know how to tickle your tastebuds.

Food Lover "respects traditional French cooking," and has 10 years of experience on the island of St Barts. They'll cook at your home or on your yacht and will put together private themed parties for you and your friends - they'll even do the shopping for you! It can't be any easier than that!

Bernard Javelle has been on the island of St Barts since 1988 and since that time, has opened and managed three restaurants.  Due to the amount of time he has been on the island, he has connections with local suppliers and fisherman and he knows the local products like no one else.  All this combines to bring you the best food experience on the island.

Chez Vous Catering is the villa service that we featured yesterday.  Chef Emmanuel Maurin is not only an amazing chef, he's also a certified sommelier, so you can trust him to suggest the finest of wines.  Living in St Barts for the last 4 years and has been working as a Sommelier at Le Sapotillier while catering for friends from the States.  Check out our full review here.

Keep checking back for in-depth reviews of all the delectable treats that await you on our island!

One of the finest caterering companies on the island, Chez Vous will plan every stage of your event.  Headed up by Chef Emmanuel Maurin, he brings 15 years of experience in the hospitality industry with him.  He is also a certified sommelier. 

First coming to St Barth in 1994, he finally made our beautiful island his permanent residence 4 years ago. He creates some of the most delectable dishes such as Roasted Rack of Lamb with confit garlic, anc chickpeas "Panisse," or Fillet of Beef with Morel mushroom sauce and Roesti potatoes.

When you're on the island, give them a ring at 0690.532.226 or email them at chezvouscatering@wanadoo.fr

L'Agence is another villa rental agency that we have here on St Bart's Island; they, like many others, will meet you at the airport, arrange day trips and activities for you, and point you in the right direction when you're feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the fabulous goodness that St. Bart's island will bring, whether you've just gotten here or you're on your last day.

L'Agence's inventory of properties is wide in its range.  They vary from some of the most expensive properties on the island, to small and quaint villas for just two people.  They have a very friendly staff that is always more than happy to help you out.

Although I have not had any real direct dealings with them, I am investigating them a little further to see what I can find out for you.  In the meantime, if you want to head over to their website and poke around, you can find it here.

Wow! Has St Barts Island seen some major celebrity activity lately!!  The Christmas/New Year holiday was especially busy given the fact that  there was a super-exclusive party aboard Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Octopus, a 414 foot private yacht that takes the prize as the 6th largest, private yacht, in the world.  Who was there? How about Steven Spielberg, Denzel Washington, Jon Bon Jovi, along with many others, like Martha Stewart who spent the rest of her time tooling around in a McDonnell Douglas 520 and managed to  get some great pictures too! She recounted her adventures on her blog and then a little more in this entry.  Then Kelly Brook showed up with her boyfriend Billy Zane!  They appear to be having lots of fun on the beach.

The always gorgeous Ivanka Trump has also been seen with her friends here….and she is looking svelte and beautiful as always!  I love the outfit she has on in these pictures.

Let's see, who else has been around? Ah yes! Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista hit the beach with her 14-month-old son, Augustin  on New Year's and Billy Joel and his wife were seen crusing the waters aboard a gorgeous yacht.  All three attended the big bash aboard Paul Allen's yacht as well.

Other visitors over the Christmas/New Year holiday included funny-man Steve Martin, and actress Nicolette Sheridan with fiance Michael Bolton.

So, what is it about St Barts that the celebrities love so much? Besides the beautiful scenery, the warm beaches, and the friendly people?  The fact that they can relax here with little intrusion from the paparazzi.  It's hard to relax when you've got cameras in your face all the time.  As the weather remains cool stateside, I'm sure we'll be seeing more visitors here to the island! Stay tuned for updates!

With the location and weather, it's not wonder that Victoria's Secret was back on St Bart's Island for another photo shoot recently.  This time, they had model Karolina Kurkova in tow.  Leggy and blond, she is a beautiful woman and is perfect for Victoria's Secret.

Karolina started her career and the tender age of 15 and has worked with other high fashion companies like Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, and Chanel, just to name a few.  Her face has graced the covers of Vogue and Vanity Fair on more than one ocassion. 

One of the highest paid models in the world, she came home with 3.5 million dollars this year.  Not bad for being beautiful.

You can see more photos of the shoot, and Karolina's time on the island here.

St Barts Island :: Karolina Kurkova ~ Photo credit www.thesuperficial.com

It seems that in the ninth edition of the Transat Ag2r sailing race, Concarneau and Saint Barth will finally sail as one!! 

Just two years ago, Gilbert Le Bris, mayor of Concarneau, and Michel Magras, vice-president of the Overseas Collectivity of Saint Barthélemy, talked about combining their efforts in the race and in turn giving a chance to two young hopefuls in the open sea racing.  The discussion ended with a promise and a handshake to seal the deal.  Now, the two are seeing their dream become a reality.

St Barts Island :: 2004 Transat Ag2r Race

Since the very first edition of the Transat Ag2r, St Barts has hosted the arrival of this bi-yearly event.  The race itself is quite unusual because all of the Figaro Bénéteau boats in the race are identical single-hull sailboats designed by architect Marc Lombard; each with the same fittings, the same sails, and same safety equipment, the boats are outfitted in the same manner. This years race will begin at the port of Concarneau in Brittany, France on April 20. 

So, who are the two lucky sailors?  26-year-old Eric Péron from Concarneau is a sail maker and a regular on the Figaro circuit; he participated in the Transat Ag2r in 2004.  The other is 22-year-old Miguel Danet, a professional skipper aboard Privilège 45 for Top Loc; this will be his first time in the transatlantic race.  Neither has sailed with the other before, so as of next month, they will be under rigorous training.  Their boat, called "Concarneau-Stain-Barth" will also be involved.

There is no telling how this race will end.  Typically there are about 30 teams involved in the race with varying levels of experience.  Regardless of how this team places though, Michel Magras has promised that their arrival will be celebrated in typical St Barts fashion - big.

St Barts Island :: Fisherman Blockade ~ Photo Courtesy of :: CharterWave.com

On Monday, December 17th, I got the strangest phone call from a friend - he said that there was a blockade enforced on St Barts Island. What?!?  It appears that local fisherman were more than a little upset over the news of the new fuel tax and they were protesting by using their tiny little fishing boats to block the mega yachts from coming in to port.  The blockade even made it to the New York Post Page Six because it had the potential to disrupt the honeymoon of Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman; can you even imagine?!

I really just have three things to say about this: First, St Barts is almost independent and the people voted for this! It's no wonder that the "Collectivité" (the legal body) has to find the financial resources to finance the island budget; I mean, it's not like money is falling out of the sky to pay for everything that runs this island. Being tax-free is an illusion, and the tourists cannot finance our entire yearly operating budget. Someone has to pay for our expenses.

Second, the fact that this made the New York Post Page Six is borderline ridiculous - the only thing more so is the quote in the article that talks about GQ models having to be smuggled on and off the island in the "cover of darkness" before the fisherman's "stranglehold" was complete. It sounds so dramatic, doesn't it?  Which brings me to my third,and final, point. French fishermen are very prone to this behavior, they block ports every year in continental France.

Here on St Barts island, we have nex taxes to look forward to in 2008; Happy New Year to us!

The island's territorial council met on November 13th and voted 19-1 in favor of a new financial code, amidst 100 or so people that came to hear the discussion.  So, what happened? Well, new indirect taxes were approved for starters, some surprising, others not so much.

A new tourist tax was put in place, which was expected and probably the least surprising event of the evening. If you're coming to stay for a visit, expect to pay 5% per night in tourist tax.  Even though the hotel owners have suggested the tax for several years now, the St Barts Tourism Office is complaining that they have to collect the tax from their guests or face a fine for not doing so.  You can read an article (in French) about it here.

Import taxes were raised from 4% to 5% - the first increase in 25 years. Another new tax that will affect business owners is the annual fixed tax.  Set at 300 euros for small businesses and increased by 100 euros per employee, capped at 5000 euros.  I'm not sure what qualifies as a "small business" though.

A capital gains tax on real estate was set at 25% of the profit realized and donations of property between family members will not be taxed, on the condition that they hold on to the property for 10 years or more.  If they don't keep it for 10 years, they will pay the 25% tax on the value of the gift.  Donations outside of the family carry a hefty tax of 40%.

What I found to be the most interesting part of the evening though was the established definition of "fiscal residence."  It is now much easier to obtain as you must only live on the island for 5 years, not 5 continuous years.  This is good for those who commute to St Barts on a regular basis.

Really, it boils down to the fact that someone has to come up with the money to pay for the island's budget.  Being "tax-free" is really just an illusion; for every item you purchase tax-free, there is a service on the island that is being taxed instead.

St Barts Hotels :: Eden Rock

When you're ready to book a room at a St Barts hotel, it can be tempting to check out TripAdvisor and follow other travelers reviews.  I have used it, and often times, it works out really well.  But, I caution you to not follow them too closely because often times, they're not quite as helpful as you think.

Here's one prime example of what I'm talking about.  This information is not 100% reliable, and here's why:

1. It's a complete mess.  Take a good look at the list.  The list intermingles reviews about St Barts hotels and St Jean hotels…..and the St Jean hotels have their own separate list over here.  As you well know, St Barts is so small that it doesn't even make sense to make a separate list for St Jean.  Overall, the list they provide is confusing and hard to read.
2. It's not up-to-date.  Number 5 on the list is the Christopher Hotel, which has been closed for the last 6 months, and I'm beginning to believe that it will never re-open.
3. It's lacking reviews. I don't find that this list has enough review to make it trustworthy.  Some hotels, like Francois Plantation, have 9 reviews, while others have 42, like the Guanahani.  For major cities, such as New York, the first hotels on the list have hundres of reviews, so if there is a negative one here and there, it is much less likely to impact the overall score of the hotel.  Plus, with so many to choose from, there is a major difference between the first on the list and the last; this is not so in St Barts.  Because there are many fewer hotels, being last on the list is not considered shameful.
4. It's hard to compare amenities.  Some hotels on St Barts have only 5 rooms, like at Saline Cottages; on the other hand, the Guanahani have 75.  Hotels like Eden Rock are really expensive. So, to use TripAdvisor, you have to understand that the rankings are really just a graded average.  Be sure to know what your needs are and really read reviews to see if you can relate to what the other travelers are saying.
5. Overall, the website is quite helpful, as long as you are careful.  Guanahani does not deserve to be as low on the list as it is, but I checked in to that.  There are still negative reviews from 2004 and 2005 hanging out there.  It's time for TripAdvisor to take them down. 

When you're traveling to St Barts island, it's always good to check around for a hotel, see which one most closely matches your wants and needs.  Use TripAdvisor, but take their advice with a grain of salt and know that, as with most things in life, there is more to the story.

Here on St Barts island, we typically don't need a reason to throw a party.  However, we've come up with one, and this time, it's to celebrate where we've been. 

In November of 2008, the island will host "Swedish Week" to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the retrocession of St Barth to Sweden; the official date of the anniversary is March 16th, 2008, but it was decided that Swedish Week will be held in November so that it can close with the 18th annual running of the Gustavialoppet 10km race.

In a recent issue of St Barths Weekly, Swedish Week is discussed at length.  Spearheading the planning are Roger Richter, president of Sallskapet and Nils Dufau, president of the Association of Saint Barth Friends of Sweden. They came up with the idea for a celebration after they came to realize that there are many people who do not know the Swedish history of Saint Barth. Just as the people of Saint Barth created a mini-version of our island during "The Colony Project," held in Skansen, the people of Sweden hope to bring the same to our home base.

Details of the activities for the week are obviously not yet firmed up.  But, you can bet that as soon as I know what's going to be happening, I'll pass it along to you!