Friends, May 10, 2006

My wife Lisa and I just got back from St. Martin and St. Barths. It was our fourth trip to St. Martin, but our first to St. Barths. We decided to spend three nights in St. Barths and five in St. Martin (2@Le Petit Hotel, [email]3@Grand[/email] Case Beach Club).

First, St. Barths was quite nice and we stayed in a great beach villa at Les Ilets de la Plage http://www.lesilets.com/ . This place was pricey but worth it. The outstanding location is complimented by well-kept and beautifully decorated villas. We had done a great deal of research on St. Barths, so we hopped in a car and pretty much saw the entire island in our three days there. There is so much hoopla on the net about this island that it is hard to not be expecting too much. It is a pristine place with some pretty good dining options. We ate at:

Le Gaiac – Outstanding, Creative, Gastronomic – among our best dining experiences anywhere
Le Sapotillier – Ok but overrated
Carl Gustof – Very Good, Simple, Sort of Underrated, Great Views and Ambiance
The Wall – Too salty across the board and Overrated
Isle de France (Flamandes Beach) - very nice lunch, excellent service, food and ambiance/views

We ate appetizers, entrees, deserts, wines, cocktail, digestifs at each except Carl Gustof (Lunch) so I felt like we had a pretty good overall view of each restaurant. All restaurants had very good service. Overall, St. Barths is a nice, small, clean island that was relaxing and fun.

Our time in St. Martin was also very enjoyable, except for the occasional traffic jams. We were in St. Martin in 2004, and my memory indicates that there have been numerous road improvements since then. The main new developments are Cupecoy Yacht Club on the Dutch side (lowlands, bay side) about 200 yards from the French Side and The Westin (all condos I think) on Dawn Beach and The Radisson on the French Side which has purchased the old Le Meridien property Le Domaine. We drove to Anse Marcel to view Le Domaine because this is where we stayed on our first trip to St. Martin and it is an outstanding property that had a very severe problem when we were there – the access road was extremely steep and at one point was very narrow with no guard rail and a very scary drop-off (100’s of feet). This access has been dramatically improved and is no longer “scary” and I think that is probably one of the reasons that this beautiful property had financial problems. Anyway, we are pleased to see that The Radisson has purchased the property and is apparently willing to invest (to the extent needed) to make the property viable. Le Habitation (part of the original Le Meridian property, adjacent to Le Domaine), I think has been converted to condos or possibly timeshares. It appears to be doing well and has obviously been updated. I really like The Westin’s beach location. We swam and snorkeled on this beach for about two hours. The sand, water and snorkeling is all among the best on the island.

Accommodations at Le Petit Hotel are very nice, but we were on the third floor and the stair hike is a bit much especially with bags. The rooms are well appointed, but the beach there is a bit of a disappointment. We have stayed at Grand Case Beach Club GCBC before and knew what to expect, so we were very happy there (nice, very spacious rooms, on a calm beach, great location). Next trip, we will probably try a couple of days at L’Esplanade. NOTE: Right past GCBC on the left is a large new development which I think will be either condos or timeshares. It appears close to completion, so we are anxious to know more about this property.

On the day we left, there was a “march” at the rotary on the south side of Marigot that caused terribly traffic everywhere on the island due to traffic diversions. The “march” was to protest / request the building of a High School in Marigot. The picket-style march was staged by mothers and it lasted from early morning through almost lunch time. This kept us from going to last lunch(departure day) destination (Le Boucanniers – Sandy Ground area). Le Boucanniers was recommended by several people based on the outstanding chef that is currently running the place. Instead, we opted for Pineapple Pete’s next to the airport.

For now, we prefer dining options in St. Martin though we need to try several other places on St. Barths. We had full evening meals at:

Spiga – Exceptional service, Great Ambiance, Menu and Food – kind of basic and unexciting – We’ve had better food here in the past.
L’ Alabama – This place has gone downhill. Disjointed, apparently inexperienced service, new menu from 2004, empty, average food – We have had great meals here in the past.
Le Chanteclair – Poor service due (in my opinion) to personnel who were uncomfortable speaking English, Average Food despite recommendations from numerous other restaurateurs glowing recommendations. I think we were the only English speaking table. Let me note that I fully understand being uncomfortable (and hence shying away from) speaking in a second language. Perhaps, we should have tried harder to speak French here - we will try harder next time!
Mario’s Bistro – Very Good food, Exceptional service and ambiance, slightly casual
Le Pressoir – Exceptional food, service and ambiance

Lunches:

L’ Escargot – just had a few snails and a lunch special here while shopping – ok
L’ Tropicana – we had two lunches here because this place is always outstanding. Christophe is a wonderful guy with a wonderful offering. We have never had anything that was not exceptional or at least very good. Tropicana is so consistent with great service, nice marina location, slightly casual, but outstanding food every time. If you have never been here – try it. We have always done an evening meal at Tropicana and I wish we had done one this trip, but these lunches were superb. You should note that we both went with the two different lunch specials on each of the two days.
Soleil – (In Grand Case on beach side – our first time here) Very good lunch, casual service and ambiance – but nice place for lunch.
Pineapple Petes? – on our way to the airport – humorous, fun service with pretty good West Indies / American Bistro style food.

My greatest dining disappointment was not dining at Le Gaiac in St. Martin. Lisa and I disagreed on our last night – she wanted Le Chanteclair and I want Le Gaiac largely based on menu preferences. We both regret that decision and will certainly go there next time. I note here that the Le Gaiac on St. Barths and Le Gaiac on St. Martin are (supposedly) in no way associated (other than in name), but they both serve a creative gastronomic style cuisine that we enjoy immensely. It is kind of funny, because we normally engaged local waiters, maitre des, business people for restaurant recommendations. Every single person we asked, said that they did not know much about Le Gaiac (St. Martin), or could not vouch for, or thought was way-overrated, while they recommended numerous other places. I did read a review on Le Gaiac (St. Martin – on our last day) that indicated five stars in virtually every category. We will not miss this place on our next trip.

Shopping: DK Gems – purchase a new setting for Lisa’s wedding ring – great price on a beautiful setting by A. Jaffe. I finally bought a casual stainless flatware set from Christofle in Marigot (Albi – 12 place settings) for a everyday use. We had both been contemplating these purchases for some time and we are very pleased with them.

Anyway, we hope this little overview takes your minds to our Friendly Island and prompts a few memories.

JakeAComo