If there was ever a checklist for those seeking a refined yet laid-back Caribbean island with rustic charm and bohemian authenticity, it might be go something like this:  Luxurious secluded villas for privacy? Check. Duty-free designer name boutiques? Check. Gourmet dining in unpretentious surroundings? Check. A harbor to dock the yacht next to the ones owned by celebrity pals? Double check. It’s an island where it seems all the 7,000 residents know one another, except during the winter months when the world’s glitterati descend on the island either by flight, or sail in on their sleek yachts. Even then, everyone appears to know everyone – it’s as if it’s a private club that everyone wants to join. A private club where only one name is necessary: Beyoncé, Diddy, Usher, and Valentino.



Saint Barthélemy – more commonly known as ‘’St. Barths,’’ (as the French calls it), ‘’St. Bart’s (the preferred American spelling), or by its nickname, ‘’The Land of Naked French People’’, is located at 17°54 N 62°50 W, in the heart of the French West Indies, 15.5 miles southeast of St. Martin. Most visitors arrive at St Barths by a 10-minute flight, or a 40-minute ferry from St. Martin, although flights are also available from Antigua and Guadeloupe. For those with more cash and less patience, private charter flights or speed boats can also be arranged.

On February 22, 2007, both St. Barths and St. Martin officially became an overseas collectivity of France, and part of the European Union. What sets the eight-square-mile isle of St Barths apart from many of its neighboring islands in the Caribbean is the lack of glitzy overdevelopment or large chain hotels. Boasting pristine, crystalline blue waters, and dramatic, volcanic peaks, St Barths also has some of the most spectacular white-sand beaches in the world, many found in secluded coves, and protected from development by stringent, environmentally friendly zoning. As a result, the beaches on St. Barths are unspoilt and uncrowded - Grand Cul-de-Sac has been named by the Travel Channel as one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world, and Colombier, once owned by the Rockefellers, is accessible only by boat, or via a footpath through butterfly fields.  The presence of many private coves around the island could also explain the popularity of nude sunbathing by locals and European visitors alike. For more active pursuits, there is diving, excellent snorkeling among the coral reefs, fishing and of course, sailing.

French is the official language at St. Barths, although English is widely spoken. The island’s reputation as the Caribbean St. Tropez owes much to St. Barths’ appearance and its relaxed ambience. The look of the island is very Mediterranean – like a small village in the South of France. It’s French speaking, with French products, and a French lifestyle. Everybody buys their bread in the mornings. The locals are also known for their warmth and hospitality, and a certain je ne sais quoi, sun-kissed sense of style.

In the main town of Gustavia, exclusive boutiques filled with local artisan goods are juxtaposed with upscale designer stores such as Hermes, Cartier and Gucci in a two-block stretch of promenade along the mega-yacht-lined waterfront. With one of the best boating facilities in the Caribbean, there are first-class docking amenities as well as outfitting, repair, and maintenance facilities at the island’s numerous fully-equipped marinas.

When Christopher Columbus arrived on these shores in 1493, he changed the name from St. Barts Ouanaloa to St. Bartholomé, after his brother. The island’s dry terrain meant that it was unsuitable for agriculture, and therefore slave labor was never used here, resulting in a different cultural mix than neighboring St. Martin. The French became interested in St. Barths due to its prized location within the West Indian Trade Route, and many of St. Barths’ present-day residents are descendents from the Norman and Breton fishermen who settled in the 1600s. France eventually traded the island to Sweden in 1794 and Swedish King Gustav III (of which the main town Gustavia is named after) was instrumental in developing the port and the island. St. Barths was eventually sold back to the French in 1878, and nowadays, France supplies a steady stream of workers for the island’s tourism industry including chefs, DJs and hoteliers.

It was actually an eccentric Dutch adventurer named Remy de Haenen, who is widely acknowledged to have put St. Barths “on the map” – or more specifically, onto the celebrities’ radar. When de Haenen arrived on the island in 1935, he bought a rocky promontory jutting into the Baie of St. Jean for a fistful of dollars. That act turned fortuitous, (much like the Dutch buying Manhattan island from the Indians for the equivalent of $24), when de Haenen decided to build his home, and subsequently, a seven-bedroom hotel on it. Named “Eden Rock”, de Haenen invited glamorous friends in the mid-50s such as Greta Garbo, Howard Hughes, Robert Mitchum and Gore Vidal to come and stay at his property.