St. Barths: Is It Actually Worth the Hype?

In this episode, Kevin joins me as we break down our trip to St. Barths—an island known for its yachts, celebrities, and major hype.

We had been wanting to go for a while and finally decided to see for ourselves if it really lives up to everything you hear… and let’s just say, we have thoughts.

We’re sharing everything you need to know—from how to get there and where to stay, to our favorite restaurants, beaches, shopping spots, and how to get around the island. Plus, we’re talking about what surprised us, what we loved, and what we’d do differently next time.

If St. Barths is on your list—or you’re just curious what it’s actually like—this episode is your full, honest breakdown.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

This is Bloom Bright with Kelly. Real talk, real growth, real glow, inspiring you to bloom into your brightest self, one conversation at a time. Welcome, Bloom Right listeners. Thanks so much for tuning in today. Today's episode is a fun one because my husband Kevin is joining me, and we are talking all about our trip to St. Bart's, aka the island of yachts, celebrities, and a whole lot of hype. We had been wanting to go here for a while, and honestly, we just kept hearing about it and thinking, okay, what is it really like? Is it worth it? Does it live up to all of the hype and fun things we've heard about it? So we had decided to go. It was our 20th wedding anniversary trip, a special milestone for us. So we went for it and we want to give you the full rundown. We're going to talk about everything, how to get there, where we stayed, the best restaurants, beaches, shopping, getting around the island, and all the little things we wish we knew before going. And of course, we'll share what we loved, what surprised us, and whether it actually lived up to the hype. So if St. Barts has been on your list or you just want to hear about a really fun getaway, this episode is for you. All right, let's get into it. Welcome, Kev. Thanks for coming.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Glad to be here. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Okay, so why Saint Barts? Let's get into why we picked it.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

So we've always wanted to go there. It's on our one on our bucket list, probably number one, I would say. We've heard so many things, good things about it. And then we were just looking for a like a special moment, I guess. So when it was our 20th anniversary, I think that was or we thought that was a good time to, you know, to make the trek there. Because it is difficult to get there. It's not a place you can just go there, hop, you know, hop on a plane and get there and go for three days. You got to kind of, you know, work at getting down there. So we knew we had to go for a for a long time and uh for a special occasion.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

No, for sure. And I think that was kind of the holdback and as to why we didn't go sooner. You know, we had just heard it was difficult to get to and a little bit of a workout. And I think that was the holdback. Okay, so let's start there. Let's talk about logistics and how we got there and what worked for us and what we would do or maybe not do again regarding getting to the island. And you, I should say, planned the majority of this trip. Kevin did it a lot of it as a surprise and then kind of went over it with me right at the very end. But our wonderful travel advisor, Sheila McNaughton and Kevin worked on this together. Um, so it was really fun to not be so involved in the planning and get to enjoy it. So tell us your thoughts on getting there.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Yeah, shout out to Sheila too, and thank God for her because she planned the entire thing. So it was pretty much all Sheila. I just had to say yes and no.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

So yeah, she's a rock star. And thank you, Sheila. Thank you, Sheila. And if you haven't listened to my podcast with her, listen to it because she does a bunch of gives a bunch of really great travel tips. Okay, so how did you get there? How do we get there?

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Okay, so we, if you remember, we had to keep changing the dates because of Caroline's activities and Austin's activities. So we had to be home for certain things. Then we were to try to go over Valentine's Day, that didn't work. So, like up until the last couple months, we were just shifting things things around.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

And to clarify, we went in February. So we ended up going at the end of February, and Kevin's absolutely right. Especially with our teenage kids, we sat and looked at the calendar of all these different things, and then finally ended up having to go on a Monday because the weekend before was turnabout for our kids' uh school. So a lot of changing dates, but ended up leaving end of February on a Monday. And it's important we say that just so you know the time of year that we were going.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

And there is no straight flight to St. Barnes. You cannot get there. The airport's very small, the landing strip is I don't even know how small it is. It's something teeny tiny. Yeah, it's like only like little puddle jumpers or or maybe you know 15-person planes are getting in there. So you have to definitely connect. And there's it's hard to get there in one day. So you usually have to stay over. So the our best option, leaving on a Monday, we flew into San Juan and we're able to stay at uh just a hotel kind of near the airport, which again wasn't the best, but we were, you know, we flew in late, landed at five o'clock. We're just gonna go to dinner, which was really nice going. I think old Puerto Rico, nice little town.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Old town, San Juan.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

And our friend recommended nowhere to go to eat, great food, great restaurant, you know.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Yes, we had a wonderful, we have a wonderful babysitter who's um from Puerto Rico. So she gave us an awesome restaurant to eat at, which was delicious. And we did, we stayed at like a Marriott or something. It was fine. And San Juan was fine.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

It was okay. I don't know. It was okay. Yeah, I I know there's a lot more to do there in different areas that are more secluded and stuff, but like the part that I went to, I definitely wouldn't need to go back anytime soon. For sure.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

We had it one night was enough.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Yeah. And then so, but then you do have a straight flight then the next day, and they leave pretty much every hour. It's called Trade Winds Airlines, and it's you know just a regular airline and it's regular pricing, but it really is almost like a private plane experience. And when you go to the airport, you have to go to just the second level. There's just like one person working there. They check in, you just sit down, you have all these snacks and stuff and water, and they're waiting for you. And they're they just come and get you and say, Okay, let's go the plane. And you're walking with, you know, it's a 10-person plane, so we only had about three or four other people with us. And we went out there, just got right on a plane. Actually, she just said, if you want to go on the earlier flight, we were there so early at the airport, we're used to doing that. But we got there like, I don't know, an hour and a half before. And she said, We have a plane leaving in 20 minutes if you want to get on that.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

So we jumped on the earlier flight, which I thought was nice, and then um and we did security check, passport check, everything right there at this little private gate. So you when you were at the San Juan airport, you completely were not part of the regular security, the regular anything. You were, it was completely all separate, which really made it feel like a private plane experience.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

And very upgraded snacks, like really nice. It was a beautiful lounge.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

It was, it was really nice. But again, you get on this little plane that it only has 10 seats total, one on each side, two pilots. It was tiny, and I'm not, I don't like small planes, so I was extremely nervous about that. But there just is no other way to get there. There's no ferry from Puerto Rico. You're just you have this plane and that's it. So it's your only option.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

And that's important to say if you're coming from San Juan to St. Bart's, there is no ferry option. Your option is only the plane. But the plane is very nice, and we had a very smooth ride. And what was interesting is everyone talks about when you land in St. Bart's, you know, they're like, oh, the landing is, you know, scary. But when we got on the plane, some of the ladies that were with us, they were, you know, oh, is this your first time? This and that. I think they could sense that Kevin and I and one other girl, we hadn't been to St. Barthes before. And they both, one lived there and one was there all the time. And they said, Oh, you're in for an experience. But then the pilot said, We're gonna take you around the bay. And as soon as they said that, these two women who had done it multiple times was like, Oh, this is gonna be much easier. So apparently, when you go around the bay, you do, you don't go over the hill. It was a very easy landing, I thought.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

It was actually a really smooth flight. It was it's a full hour too. So you're on the plane for a while. And it was very smooth. It was a great landing. But I did hear once you go over this, I wouldn't call it a mountain, but a large hill, you come over there, you have to drop extremely quickly to get down to the runway, which is a little dicey and a little scary. But then I get her the turbulence there, and it just gets really windy and you get knocked around when you're trying to land. So yeah, coming in the other way definitely made the flight a lot easier. But one thing to keep in mind too, and if you notice, if you remember, luckily we did have a full flight for that one young girl who was traveling by herself, she had like four large suitcases. True. And we had small little carry-ons. And what they do here though is if you have too much luggage, it won't make the flight. Like they have a certain weight restriction. So you may have to leave a bag or two behind. And what they'll do is they'll put it on the next flight. So you got to be careful with how much luggage you have there. Because if it's a full-time people going with a lot of luggage, they're not gonna be able to take everything with you, and you're just gonna have to be stuck waiting for it on the on the next plane.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

For sure. And it is hour by hour, but again, you're depending on if the next flight has enough people and luggage and all that kind of stuff. So we're carry-on people, like you know, we were there a week and we were carry-on. So I feel like you can make it work.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

And then the St. Bart's airport is literally the size of picture your town's train station. It's tiny.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Yes, that's a good way to compare it.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Yeah, you literally land, they're just waiting for you right there. You do a quick prep passport check. You're I you have to do customs, but they really don't do anything. They stamp your passport, but like that's about it. And then you walk out the door and you're literally right in town, and and your driver was right there waiting for us. So yeah, that that process was extremely easy.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

It was very easy. And like I said, we got lucky to go around the way that wasn't what everyone hears about in the stories. So for us, the landing was great. These women on the plane, though, did say you're lucky there's not a lot of wind today. So it sounds like, again, if you're going the regular way down the hill and it's a lot of windy, it could get dicey. But yeah, very small, very easy. The other option is to go from St. Martin and Which is what I want to do.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

So that's was I was concerned because you there is a straight flight out of O'Hare to St. Martin's, but it's only on Saturday. So that's what I originally had planned. I was excited about that. The end of St. Martin's around three to four, but then they have ferries that run like the next day. They have multiple ferries that run on different sides of the island of St. Martin that take, you know, half hour. You could take one of those smaller planes, that's only like a 15-minute ride. But I figured if you have a chance to get on a ferry over a small plane, I'm taking that all day long. So, but since we left on Monday, there was no straight flight, so we didn't go there. We had to go the San Juan route. But yes, if you leave on to St. Martin's on a direct flight, you could take multiple ferries or a plane that leaves literally every probably half hour. They have multiple airlines that fly into St. Bart's.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

We did hear though that ferry for multiple people that were on the island in St. Bart's is very, very choppy.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

Yes, very rough. But like in the plane. If you get motion sickness, I don't think it's it's not dangerous, like a smaller.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Right, it's not dangerous, but if you refuse to go on a small plane, there is a ferry option.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Multiple ferry options all day long. So yeah, you could get there. If I go back, I would like to go that route instead of the San Juan.

SPEAKER_01 9:41

Oh, good to know. I enjoyed the San Juan experience. But okay, so if we go back, we might be trying the St. Martin option and we will, you know, let everyone know how that goes. Okay, so we get there, we get to the airport, and we stayed at Le Bartholomew Resort. A lot of people called it Le Barth or Le Barth on the Bay. So we had the driver from the hotel come pick us up first class all the way. I mean, this was a milestone trip for us. So we definitely splurged and, you know, it was amazing. He was right there. They had all these snacks, waters, drinks, everything in the car, and took us right to the hotel, and which was only, what would you say, 10, 15 minutes away? It was close.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

15 minutes, probably.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

So yeah, so we loved it. The LeBarth, I would say we got there, and I don't know any other way to say it. It was just heaven on earth. The check-in process was instantaneous. As we said, we took an earlier flight and our room was ready at like 11 o'clock, and not just ready, ready with like welcome gifts, and they rolled out the red carpet for us. I mean, wouldn't you agree that whole check-in was seamless?

SPEAKER_00 10:42

Oh, yeah. And I love the room. I love the hotel, felt more of a resort type feeling. If you stay at some of the other hotels, I think on St. Bart, you're kind of either in the town of Gustavia where it just feels a little more, it's just not that spread out. Some of them don't even have their own pools because there's just not enough room there. Like Eden Rock, which is another really popular hotel, is like right there in kind of like the town part. And it's just not, it's just La Bar feels like a resort. And they're in St. Bart's is pretty small, so it's really one of the only ones that kind of feels that way, I would say.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Yeah, I would agree. I would say that we went to Eden Rock, which is in that St. John part of St. Bart's. So, and then there's another hotel that we would recommend, which was in Gustavia, but Gustavia, it's way up in the mountains. So this was on a beach, on a bay. You really felt like you were at a resort. I think it had, like at Eden Rock, they just had, they didn't have a lot of beach. I mean, a deep you know, decent, you could walk a little bit to some nearby beach clubs and stuff to Nikki Beach. And then same with some of the other ones that we were gonna stay at, more up in the hills, more of a private villa vibe. And they again connected to a beach club, so you still get access to a beach. But this was a beautiful beach. You know, you could walk on it. Le Serrano hotel was also there. Auberge wasn't the rosewood. Rosewood. I'm sorry, Rosewood Hotel was there.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

But that rosewood is almost at where the it's kind of at the end of the. I would call it a lagoon almost. It separates you from the ocean, which is nice because it was a little rough and rocky out there. So you just had this beautiful lagoon with all these sandbars.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

You could walk out, probably I think it's called the Grand Cul-de-sac, is actually what it is.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

Yeah, I'm looking at this. It's almost like, I don't even know. Four to five hundred feet. You could walk on a sandbar, you could go out there, you could see swim with the turtles, you see all the fish. I mean, it was beautiful, but the we'll tell you just at Rosewood. Oh, Rosewood. That is kind of at the end of the, I guess, the bay area. So you're kind of on the by more by the ocean. It was really windy. We we walked through there just to check it out, and it was very windy. Like if you're having lunch there or staying there, it was just felt like a totally different setting, even though it was probably 300 yards away. That's true. On the same beach, basically.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

No, I would agree. Ours, it's ours was like in the center of the bay, this LaBarth. I can't say enough about the hotel. I mean, bottom line, the service was amazing, a resort, but also felt like a boutique hotel because everyone knew us. We would call room service for breakfast, and they knew exactly what we were gonna order. Like they had us memorized, everything was memorized. I've never seen faster, nicer, better service at any hotel I've stayed at ever.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

It was unbelievable.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

And the downside to that hotel, if people want more action, well, first of all, the downside to St. Bart in general is just the commute, getting around the island is just very difficult. It's challenging. You drive on the right side of the road, which isn't that bad, but it's there's a lot of cars there. They're all small because the roads are so tight. There's no parking. People are just cutting you off. If you do park, you have to parallel park with like eight inches to spare. I mean, you'd have a pan attack if you're driving there. And and our hotel is a little off where you really can only get around by taking transportation.

SPEAKER_01 13:34

Right. And I think the key is if you want to be in the action of Gustavia, like if you're looking to go party every night, if you're looking for really party vibes and like more city type vibes, not that it's a big city, you definitely want to stay in that Gustavia area because unless you have a private car or a planned out taxi from our resort, it's just hard to go from point A to point B. And I will say this, you feel like you're in Europe. I mean, just when you were just saying that, Kevin, it reminded me of when we were in Positano or when we were in Greece. It just, it's very, it's European driving, very tight, in and out of all these little alleys and this and that. You're on the other side of the road, the right side of the road. And then also you're paying with Euro too. And everyone there, a lot of the people are working there from France. So they're coming for the season, for the winter season away from France, where they're normally also working in hospitality. We learned a lot of these people are working in Saint-Tropez and different in Cannes and different areas of France in the summer. And then they come for the winter in this season. I would say mostly France and Italy are working there. So, you know, you really do feel like you are in Europe. That part's cool. Yeah. So the hotel was amazing. Highly, highly recommend Les Barth. And also there's turtles in the bay, which is really cool. They have complimentary snorkeling gear that you can go and swim with the turtles. And you do see them. You know how sometimes the hotels will say, Oh, you know, you're gonna see the fish, you're gonna see the turtle. We didn't just see one turtle. We probably saw 10 turtles all in the bay. That was actually super cool. They have beautiful beach lounge chairs, beautiful pool situation. The lunch, the breakfast, the dinner, everything was first class at this hotel. Cannot stress enough the spa.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Yeah, it was great. The massage excellent.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

Some of the best I've ever had. I highly, highly, highly recommend that hotel. The only downside is you do have to plan out your transportation to and from Gustavia, which is the main town. It's actually not that far from St. John. I hope I'm St. Jean, St. John. I hope I'm not J-E-A-N. Um, that's kind of the smaller little town that is um where like Nikki Beach and Eden Rock are. So not too far from there, kind of a middle point. There's the Grand Cal-de-sac, which is where Lay Barth is, and then there's St. John, and then you move on to Gustavia. And that was the main area that we stayed in. I know a lot of people do villas, and I'm sure there's a lot of other resorts at different parts of the island, but for us, that was kind of the main drag that we stayed in. And the airport is kind of on the outskirts of town. So it's actually a little bit closer to our hotel than actually going fully into town. So let's just hit on before we get to all the restaurants and stuff, the transportation. So this was an interesting tidbit that we found out. There are only 52 taxis on the entire island. And we found out you have to be a resident of the island for five years before you can get a taxi license. Am I correct with that, Kev?

SPEAKER_00 16:28

That is correct. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:29

So basically, and where Sheila was amazing, our travel advisor from Allegiant Travel, who I love so much, and where she helped Kevin out was figuring out, you know, all of this private transfers before we got to the island. And it was costly. I don't need you to remind me of the price right now, but it was definitely costly. And you would say there were a few days we needed it, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Oh, 100%. On the days we're gonna go back and forth, like if you're gonna go early to lunch and then come back to the hotel, and then we did the sunset cruise. So if you do that, you know, and then go shopping and then go back to the hotel, then go to dinner, like those days you definitely need. If you're just going in, like if you're at the hotel all day and you want to go for dinner, then you could take a chance on, you know, having a hotel set up the round trip transportation, which we did twice.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

And our concierge was excellent.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

Yes, it was I trust them to do it, but I think it's more challenging. And if you're stuck there, I don't think you could just jump in a cab if you're in the town of Gustavia and you don't ever ride back, like I don't think you're finding a taxi just to jump in and take us back.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

That's a great point because if you're staying anywhere but Gustavia, because the majority of the restaurant, I mean, there's obviously some that are in all different areas, but if you are really anywhere on the island and a taxi just comes up, I would say there's almost a hundred percent chance that that taxi has been called on by a concierge to pick up a certain group. So you're you're really not gonna be able to just jump into a taxi because they're even if you see them and you see the little taxi thing, they're all spoken for. You know, they're all spoken for. So you really do need to, regardless of where you're staying on the island, either have private transportation figured out, which is basically just pre-arrange taxis, or have your concierge set that up for you. And again, it wasn't that hard. Sheila did an amazing job doing it when we were there. The concierge handled it the few nights we went to dinner. It's very doable. But if you just don't want to deal with that at all and you're more of a fly by the seat of your pants kind of person, then I would suggest staying Gustavia. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

Unless she's or running a car and you're okay driving, you know, a car to dinner and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

And which we were not okay with.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

We didn't want no part of that.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

It's just very tough driving. And two, you know, we like to have cocktails.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

So yeah. So that's a private transfer situation and the flight situation. And we loved our hotel. Okay, so you mentioned the sunset cruise. We love a boat day.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

And I would do that again.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Beautiful sunset. And where you take off from is where they what do they call the main port.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Oh, yeah. So we took this sunset cruise and the captain and the staff, they were amazing. We didn't eat on there. We just ordered some wine and stuff because we were going to dinner after. But they said at Christmas in New Year's, like which is the high time when you see all the celebrities and all the people, they call it a yacht forest. It's just bumper to bumper yachts in that whole area right outside of Gustavia.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

And they were a lot there when we were there. So I can only imagine if there were that many more. And we saw some extremely large yachts. Um, I mean, he mentioned a couple names, I forget who they were, but they were definitely billionaires. But no, the boat ride was awesome. The the drinks, he had drinks for us. He let us let me smoke a cigar. Yeah. Sunset was beautiful. It was a nice boat, very nice captain, little mate, she was nice too. So yeah, you go in the port of Gustavia. Um, it's not that long. I think we've done it for an hour and a half, two hours. It was perfect. I would highly recommend doing that again.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

And it's fun to see the island from the water. It's low commitment. We were dressed to go out to dinner, so it wasn't like we needed to be in our bathing suits or anything. And it was cool to just see because you hear so much about it in the tabloids and online, and you see all these crazy pictures. It did say it's just completely nuts at New Year's and Christmas time. So, yes, highly recommend doing a sunset cruise. We love that. Okay, so let's break down the restaurants. We went to some amazing restaurants.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

We did.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

The first night, which I loved, as we mentioned, we were in that bay, that Grand Cul-de-sac Bay. We walked over to the Le Serrano Hotel and had dinner, Italian food dinner at the restaurant of the same name. There, I think it's called the Le Serrano restaurant. And I thought that was great because it was easy for the first night. We like an easy first night dinner where you can just not a lot of traveling, not a lot of, you know, nice and quiet.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Um, it was very quiet. It wasn't that crowded, you know, but it that area isn't that crowded to begin with.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

So low-key vibe.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

Yeah, and we we could walk there, which was key. The food was good. I mean, it was, it was good, it wasn't like amazing, was my best meal there, but I still thought the food was really good. And it was interesting about it.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

Yeah, drinks were good. They have sister property in Lake Como, Italy, and a lot of the same menu is from Lake Como. So that was kind of cool, you know, because it was a lot of really traditional Italian food and stuff like that. It was just a really nice, low-key vibe. I agree. I wouldn't say that it was my favorite restaurant, but if you're staying at Le Barth, I would suggest to go there because it was just nice and easy. We walked on the beach to and from, it was romantic, excellent service. So that was the first night. Okay, so then the second day we did massages, which we said were amazing at the hotel. Then we did that sunset cruise, and then we went to Bar de Pres, which I loved. It was like an uh French Asian fusion with sushi and stuff, and we both love sushi.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

I thought that was great.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Yeah, that place was really good. I don't like might have been a little bit more. We were overserved. That was a long day for that one. So I don't fully remember what I ate there, but I just remember being the food being really good, the drinks were good, the service was great, and that was in Gustavia, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:38

That was in Gustavia, and I think the funny part that we remember about this restaurant, because I have to say, you're right, that was kind of a long day of drinking. We both went to the bathroom separately and both came back smelling this amazing pizza. And there's this little pizza stand called Pizette, I think it was called. And so We did have this amazing meal at this bar to press. I mean, it was really good. Um, but then we ended up getting a pepperoni pizza.

SPEAKER_00 22:06

Yeah, we you could smell it just walking to the bathroom. You're right. It was in some alley somewhere. It did feel like you're up, like these small little alleys. Totally. I'm like, okay, we have to find this place when it when we're done. And so, yes, we were I think we stayed for a drink, maybe or something. We did. When we left, we walked the alley, tried to find it, we saw it, it looked smelled and looked delicious. So it was delicious. Took it home and it was amazing. Good, great late night food.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

And like I said, we had had a lot of drinks, but from our perspective, it still was amazing. So that restaurant was great. And the one thing I will say as we get through with the different restaurants is so you and I travel without the kids a good amount, but we usually do travel with another couple that are kind of our travel buddies. So we're usually sitting as four people. I would say a lot of the times when we're traveling without our kids. So it has been a while since we were just the two of us. And so I have to say, my pet peeve on this trip, which I totally get, is that I don't like to sit across from Kevin. And that was at Bar de Prez. We had to sit across from each other. And it's hard because it's high season there. You know, you can't just sit at a four-person table.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

And you're also close to the people next to you.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

It's we did end up talking to the people next to us.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Very nice. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

You're from Texas, right?

SPEAKER_00 23:15

Yes, they were, yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

Yes. And they had been there many times.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

Yeah, super nice people, but you could hear everything. Their full conversation. Our full conversation because it's just that tight. But no, I agree. I like having a private table, even if it's just two. And you could just, you know, just privacy, sit next to each other. I completely agree. I don't like that setup.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

Yeah, so that was the downside that we forgot about because we, like I said, don't travel just the two of us alone that often. And so this next restaurant, which was why I think this was my favorite restaurant, the next night, Mama Michelangelo. What I loved about this restaurant was everything, but we did have this amazing corner table where you could view the whole restaurant. I mean, I think I don't know if if you, Sheila, you said it was our anniversary or what, but we had a great table there. And everything about that restaurant, it was this small Italian restaurant. But when I looked it up online, like all the celebrities go there and you can see why.

SPEAKER_00 24:03

Yeah. And it's not a big place at all. No, it's even that large. But no, I agree. The food was excellent. That was probably my favorite meal. The drinks, every place had great drinks, honestly. The Manhattan's, the old fashions, like everything was unbelievable wine lists, unbelievable wine list, great service. And they it's kind of like Europe where they don't give you the huge portions. So you're able to order a few things and not be too full. The appetizers were amazing. I mean, no, that thing that was by far my favorite. And then the singer, remember how good she was?

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Yes, they had an amazing Italian singer roaming around the restaurant singing. Unbelievable. And it was like so intimate. The actual setting of this restaurant, just with the chandeliers and the lighting, and it was like a lot of exposed cobblestone brick, but also so elevated and well done. I can honestly say that is a must-go-to restaurant.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

I would agree.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

Must-go-to. And also I feel like Italian food is a pretty type of food that most people like.

unknown 24:53

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Yeah. So that was an awesome one. Oh, so then we started after that day, we started going to the beach clubs. Next day we went into that St. John and we shopped around there. I loved that area. I loved the boutiques there. I thought they had really, really cool boutiques. I got a great bathing suit and cover up there. I got a really great necklace there. Love the shopping. There was an awesome cigar shop there.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

They have great cigars, all Cubans too. So I found a couple good cigars there.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Yeah. So we loved a shopping in that area. And that's right where Eden Rock is and where Nikki Beach is. Eden Rock, I would say like C and B scene. I mean, they have like a DJ at lunch. It's very happening.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

It's it feels like a day club where it's just kind of like the loud music when you're in the lobby. The lobby is right there. Remember, we asked her, like, where do you check in? She's like, oh, I'm the check-in person.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Yeah, they seat you in the lobby. They seat you almost in the bar area to check you in.

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Yeah, we stopped in there for a drink and it was, yeah, it looked like a fun vibe. Super fun. But if you're looking for that kind of action, like, you know, that then I would go there.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

Yeah, I don't know if I'd want to walk into my hotel at night to like every night to like that much action. So for me, it was a little too much, but it was cool to see. It was beautiful. And then right near there, I mean, walkable, is Nikki Beach, which it lived up to the hype in my view.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

I agree. I really like Nikki Beach. And it was, it wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be. We went to the one in Florida, I think. Is that the only one?

SPEAKER_01 26:10

Yes, we've been to the one in Miami Beach.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

And that felt like more like a day club party. This is still, you know, clubbish little bit, but I thought the food was excellent, the service was great. We we felt like you're in a normal restaurant as opposed to being at a club. It's still at a very nice beach. You know, some people were out there.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

Yeah, we walked the beach after.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Yeah, we walked the beach after. It was I really love Nikki Beach actually. I could have stayed there longer, probably, and had a few more drinks.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

The espresso martini was top-notch. No, I loved everything about it. They had a great boutique there too. All of these restaurants there have these boutiques. That's one thing that they do. Every restaurant we went to had a really cool boutique attached to it. I would say Nikki Beach, what was different, like in Miami Beach, the one we were at, is they had a lot of like partying on the beach. I would say the beach vibe was a little more low-key. And I would say that probably when you were there, like at Christmas and New Year's, the inside's probably more happening. But it was like the perfect amount for us because it was happening and it was like lively and fun, and there was a DJ and all of that, but it wasn't like over the top. But I do remember this was funny. They do a huge sushi boat there, like a boat full of sushi. And I remember there was this couple that ordered the sushi boat.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

This is like a four-foot boat. Four foot boat of sushi.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Would you say there were like at minimum 50 to 60 pieces of sushi?

SPEAKER_00 27:23

Oh, more than I had.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

It was enormous.

SPEAKER_00 27:25

It's for like a table of 10.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Yeah, table of 10.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

So I think it I think it cost what, like 120, $1,200. Yeah, $1200. Yeah, something like that.

SPEAKER_01 27:34

So I was so fascinated because these two people who actually ended up staying were at our hotel. We later saw, you know, at the hotel, they got this sushi boat and they bring it in and they put it down. And one, I would think if it's just two people ordering this sushi boat, I would think you obviously can't eat it all yourself, which they didn't even come close to eating even a fourth of it. Okay, so then you're thinking, you know, you want to spend the money, it's a special occasion. Again, people should do what they want to do. But then I would think you'd want to take a lot of videos and photos of it. Because if you're not going to eat it, what's your other reasoning for ordering it? Would you agree?

SPEAKER_00 28:09

100%.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

And I feel like they weren't really that into it.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

No, they weren't at all. I didn't think they took any photos.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

So that was just completely fascinating to me watching these people with this aggressive sushi boat. But if you're there with a big group, very cool. Very cool. Can't say enough about Nikki Beach. And so then that night, what did we do that night? We came back to the hotel and we went. Oh, that did we go to Lati?

SPEAKER_00 28:34

That was the Mamo night, I think.

SPEAKER_01 28:37

Maybe that was the night then that we yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:39

It was because we went to Nicki Beach.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

And we went later to Mama Michelangelo, which was a nice mix because you had the beach club during the day in the Italian restaurant at night, which we loved. Um, oh, and then I can't remember which restaurant, I think it was before Mama Michelangelo. It was. We went to this bar. We our private driver was amazing, and she and we were running a little early because we, like I said, we pushed our dinner too late. And she's like, you know what? Let's go for a drink somewhere. So she took us to this bar, which is a restaurant called Bonito. Amazing. It was absolutely gorgeous. And it's apparently like the number one place to see the sunset. So it was a good vibe earlier. Pretty gourmet, a lot of fish dishes that are not really our speed.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

Yeah, the menu did not look that way. Wasn't our thing appealing to me at all. And I think that's why Sheila didn't even recommend it because it was it was a beautiful place. You're right. Absolutely gorgeous. And the setting. It had like a nautical theme as well.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

And the drinks were amazing.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

Oh, yeah. The drinks were excellent. No, it was you could see like if you like that food, that's a place you definitely want to go to.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

So I would tell people to go in there for a drink because we're more, would you call it? We're a steak and we love our sushi, but we're definitely steak, Italian, more like Midwestern Chicago people. We're not big on gourmet and we're not big on like a lot of fish. I would say we're more like sushi Asian, not like we don't really like a lot of fish. So we didn't love the menu, but I would highly recommend going to Bonito for a drink and to watch the sunset because that was a highlight and unexpected. Sure. Okay. So then the next day we went to Shalona Beach Club, which that I feel like was one of the few that we went to that did not live up to the hype.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Yeah. So it was supposed to be the day, you know, big party club. Nikki Beach felt like more just nicer and bigger. Yeah, Shalona felt really cramped. I was surprised. Just even walking up to it just felt like it was just wasn't gonna be nearly as nice.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

I agree.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Our we had a really bad seat, actually. And again, cramped.

SPEAKER_01 30:32

Again, we had to sit, I had to sit across from Kevin there, so I wasn't happy.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

Very close to the people right next to you, like right on top of you. The food was good.

SPEAKER_01 30:40

Yeah, that lobster. Um, we had like a lobster spaghetti pasta with lobster that was delicious.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

The food was good, it wasn't amazing. It was actually grilled octopus was good there. It was more expensive than Nikki Beach, which I was surprised. It was very expensive. The day club part really wasn't there. Like the beach was kind of separated, so I don't know why this place had that much hype. But no, that I don't if we if I went back, I would not need to go back to Shallona.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

Yeah, that would be one I'd eliminate. And I agree, the beach club vibe just wasn't there. And I'm picturing how they would do it like in high high season, and I just wasn't that big.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

No, so that's elevated, just elevated a lot higher. You you're you go up to the restaurant, it just yeah, it was just a weird vibe. And I just service was good though. Yeah, service was good. Took you forever to get the chalk. Yeah, that was kind of annoying. Yeah, he kind of checked out at that point.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

And they did have a really good like white wine sangria or something we drank. They did, yeah. That was delicious. We each had multiple of those. But yeah, that would be one that I would pass on. Okay, so then that night we went to Layti, which is pretty famous on St. Bart's. And basically what it is, is a they promote it as a burlesque show. And what you do is, you know, you it's kind of off the beaten path. It's not in Gustavia. And you pull in and they have like a cocktail area, you know, everyone gets a drink, and then they take you in at whatever the designated time is for the start of the show, and then you eat dinner in the while the show's going on. But would you agree? I wouldn't say that it's a show. I would say it's more like skits and stuff. It's not like one long show.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

Correct, like a cabaret. Like yeah, it's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

It's like it's not like a cabaret show. It's like popular songs and themes, like they did the YMCA, they did um burlesque, they did Britney Spears.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

Yeah, they have a lot of performers there and then they do some you know, customer interaction stuff, but I think that's set up ahead of time. They had a couple of people go up on stage. I forget what skit they were doing. Then it's almost like they really want to get everybody into the party mode there, where they go out and they're dancing by the, you're getting you to dance by your table.

SPEAKER_01 32:32

More of a club.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

More like a club, yeah. But it's like they're bringing the energy and they're trying to get you up and get you dancing and they kind of get people involved. But yeah, it wasn't, yeah, I would agree.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

It wasn't like a show, but it was like a I would say that it starts out with like these little skits and stuff like that that are very sexy. I mean, they have the girls are gorgeous. They're everyone's dressed, you know, in very, you know, not a lot of clothes. And all of that's really cool. But I think if you're looking to see like a burlap, if you're looking to see like a show where you're like kind of just watching, it's very interactive, it's very loud, and then it just moves into this club atmosphere, which again was fun. Like we were dancing and all that kind of stuff. I would only go again if I was going for like my 50th birthday and I had a big group. I only needed to do it once just with you.

SPEAKER_00 33:14

Sure. Or with another couple that has not been there. I would I would want to show them that because it is where definitely want to see it if you're there and you haven't seen it yet. But no, if we went back there, I would not need to. It's like I checked it off the list. I'm I'm good with it. I know what it is, and yeah, I would not need to go.

SPEAKER_01 33:28

And I would recommend it. I I would highly recommend it. I just would say that you're not going to see like a full show, which is kind of what I thought it was gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

The food was also delicious, it was, and this is one of the more expensive ones too, because it's not cheap, it's it's pretty expensive.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

Because I think you're paying like for the entertainment and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

That was one of the more expensive dinners, but the food, you're right, was excellent.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

I will say this though, the espresso martini there though. I mean, I don't know. It felt like I was drinking more than espresso. I mean, do you remember when I told you I couldn't even finish it? So that was I that gave me quite a jolt. And normally the espresso martinis don't affect me that much. So that I remember from there, I would highly recommend it. I thought it was cool. And I think people got pretty dressed up for that for that one.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

Yes, for sure. And they oh, and then a lot of big groups too.

SPEAKER_01 34:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

A lot of people, the big groups together, tables of like eight, tables of ten.

SPEAKER_01 34:14

So it's like a you could tell a lot of people really like this thing, and you know, it's it's a it's well, and I think the other thing I would say, I'm glad you brought that up, is the seating there. If you're not in a big group, they're catering to the big groups. The big groups are the ones that they want for the audience participation, and that's all like right up in the front. We were seated a little more to the back and to the side, but that's where all these two people seats were, I would say, unless you're like paying like triple for like some kind of VIP bottle service. So again, I think if you're going there just as couples or just two people, you kind of have to just kind of take with a grain of salt. The only thing I will say though is when we first sat down, I was kind of like a little bummed because I'm thinking, oh, we're gonna be kind of near the back. But when I saw what was happening in the front, there's people walking all around you. It's like super aggressive.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

So there aren't really bad seats in there. So they're really you're not gonna get a bad one. But so no matter where you say you're gonna be part of the action and someone's gonna be around you trying to get you to dance. So yeah, I would agree. It's they push you in the back for just a couple of people, but it still wasn't a bad seat.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

No, not at all. We got to, we were totally part of it. And just know that the people up front are the big groups. So there's really no like trying to get up front because they're just seating their six, eight, 10, 12 people. And those groups were fun. I it was good people watching. It was a lot of really intoxicated people there.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Super hammered together. I think they encourage that there.

SPEAKER_01 35:33

They encourage getting wasted there. Okay, so that was a good one. So then the last day, we just mainly did, we're at the pool. I think that's when we swim with the turtles and stuff like that. Had a great lunch. Our hotel was great for lunch, beautiful on the beach. We did massages again, which you can't go wrong with that. And then our last restaurant was one of my favorites, Le Cafe. And this was highly, highly recommended to us by Sheila, and it lived up to it.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

I would agree. The setting in that place was beautiful. The food, I love my meal, you know, but I was French food. It's French food, probably not what I would, you know, pick out first, but it was excellent.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

And well, they had these ogratten potatoes that were mouthwatering. We had the scallops, which was amazing. I was just so full from eating that many days in a row. Yeah, but every single thing we had there was absolutely mouthwatering. And we're not even big French food people.

SPEAKER_00 36:22

Yeah, and the setting, beautiful restaurant, too. And then the lighting, they had that singer performing and the piano player, and that was you know, another live entertainment. They were excellent. They brought the energy, they brought the fun. No, I would say you would that's a must do if you go there.

SPEAKER_01 36:36

That's a must do. And what's nice about that is they get you going. Like she sings all the French songs. They go around the restaurant, they wished us a happy anniversary, they brought us champagne, but it wasn't as intense as Layti. Like Lay is darker and it's more burlesque and it's more of a club. Like this is amazing, vibe. Like, such a great vibe, but it's just not quite to that next level.

SPEAKER_00 36:59

No, it's more of like a restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 37:01

More of like a restaurant. And but the singer was amazing. And there they have two seatings. So they have a 7:30 and a 9:30, and they stick to that. So we were the 7:30. It was funny. Kevin, I thought I wanted to go to the 9:30 on the last day of our trip. I must have been insane. I was never could have made it to the 9:30 that night. Other nights we went out late. But 7:30 was perfect for us. And it was, like I said, I can't, that was the perfect cap to our trip. I can't say enough about that restaurant. It is a must-go to. The ambiance, the food, the entertainment, and all of the live music at the restaurants in St. Bart's was unbelievable. That restaurant was in Gustavia. We did pass by Bagatel. They apparently have like a famous white party. We did not go to that. That's right there in the main drag by Lay Cafe and my mama Michelangelo. Like all of it's kind of like in the same area of Gustavia by the port and by the water. We did go up into the hills. I can't remember the name of the hotel, but they had the restaurant beef bar there. And we went to this restaurant in Greece and it was delicious. This was one of the hotels that Sheila had recommended, you know, we check out when we were trying to pick the resort we wanted to stay at. And it was up in the hills, but we went to the restaurant for a drink and for some appetizers. And I would go to this restaurant next time I was there. We didn't pick it because we had already been to it in Greece, but Beef Bar, St. Bart's, amazing. They had the best little cheeseburgers I think I've ever had in my entire life. Weren't those delicious?

SPEAKER_00 38:23

They were. Yeah. And it was a great setting. It was a cool place. Great view. Yeah, no, I would like to stay there for dinner too.

SPEAKER_01 38:28

Yeah. I was so that's one that I'd probably replace just again to try something new. I would go to beef bar next time. So that's it on restaurants. Like I said, can't say enough about the food and the entertainment there. It wasn't quite as like clubby and so much aggressive partying, which I think is probably more like during Christmas, New Year's. It was a little bit more relaxed than I thought it was going to be, which I loved. I absolutely loved. Okay, so shopping. I do want to hit on that. I would say the main drag in Gustavia has all of the big fancy stores, Hermay's, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel. It's all there. Actually, I don't know if I saw Chanel. I can't remember, but um, the majority of them were there. And the only thing I would say is you're getting, you're not, they're not huge stores. So you're not, if you're looking to come to really, really buy, I would say that's not your spot. This is more like vacation-y wares, and they just don't have the inventory that you would get, you know, actually in Paris at some of the, you know, when where they just have bigger stores. My favorite part of the shopping was all the boutiques. I actually thought the boutiques in Gustavia and St. John were so unique. All of the clothing was unique, all of the jewelry was unique. There was one jewelry store right by Mama Michelangelo, right in that main area called Ma Loli. I Googled the right pronunciation, Maloli, Ma Loli, I think. And the jewelry there was so beautiful. I bought a pair of earrings, like semi-precious stones. I saw a lot of people with bags. And I think people kind of come year after year and buy something from the store and kind of like build on their collection. Loved the store. And of course, it had blooming bright vibes. It had flowers everywhere and a little bicycle with all these flowers out front. The staff in there was amazing. They let you try everything on. So, so nice. That was probably my favorite shop in all of St. Bart's. I loved it. And then the other thing that's cool in St. Bart's, they have a little bag store called MC2 St. Barth. And you can get them online. But I got a really cute like Rafia Beach bag from there. I would highly recommend going there to actually see the store. Like you can get it online. But that was also right in that same area in Gustavia by Bagatel, Mama Michelangelo, and all those little LA Cafe. But then up in the hills, they had a lot of shops. Shops were good, right?

SPEAKER_00 40:42

It was, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:43

And you even found, you don't like to spend a lot on clothes. You even found one shirt.

SPEAKER_00 40:47

I did, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

And that was a cheapie, right? Only like 30 bucks.

SPEAKER_00 40:49

It was. The farther you get off that main drag, you find the cheaper stores. That's where I shop. That's where you find me looking for stuff.

SPEAKER_01 40:55

Kevin kept moving more into the hills and he found some some treasures for himself.

SPEAKER_00 40:59

But I did like that with St. John. You're right. That little shopping area. It was cute. And that little where I found the cigars, and then we had the, you know, that little bar right there.

SPEAKER_01 41:06

Yeah, they had some bars there. You could just grab a drink. So I would say, you know, now that we've kind of broken down the trip, I would think this would you say this is mostly couples' adults? Like I wouldn't bring our kids there.

SPEAKER_00 41:17

No, not God no. Unless, you know, they were, you know, Austin's 21, Carolina's. 21 and over. 18. And, you know, then they would probably love it if we went through over New Year's Eve or something like that. But no, at the at we're at the age now, sixth grade, freshman high school. No, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 41:31

Because it's basically partying, drinking, beach going. Like there's not, you can't golf. There's not a lot of like activities for kids. And it's expensive. So I would say it's definitely a place to go on a girls' trip, a you know, a big celebratory trip with other couples, with just your spouse, just whatever. I think that's great. And I think that I would go back for sure. There's other places I want to see before I go back, but I would definitely go back.

SPEAKER_00 41:56

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 41:56

And the way home was super easy. The little terminal is tiny. They just tell you go into this little room 10 minutes before your flight takes off. And then they just call your flight number and you literally walk out right onto the plane.

SPEAKER_00 42:09

It's right there. Yep. Super easy. Even there, you're getting off in a different section of the San Juan Airport. I gotta say, though, once you go through that part, and then I have to go to the American terminal, like that San Juan Airport was a nightmare.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

Yes, San Juan Airport's not ideal. I agree. I think you're right. Maybe we will try St. Martin next time around. Oh, and then I would also say this is an extremely seasonal place. You know, you're going from maybe mid-November to mid-March. And even when we were there at the end of February, it would you could tell the a lot of the people were getting ready to go back to Paris, France, Italy, wherever they were from to kind of get geared up for the European season.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

Definitely.

SPEAKER_01 42:47

Um, so yeah, I loved it. I had a great time with you.

SPEAKER_00 42:50

I did too. Great trip.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

No, we had a lot of fun. And I would encourage you listeners, if there's a place that's been on your bucket list, if you can make it work with your budget and you've been, you know, debating about going, I would say go for it. Cause I wish we had gone sooner.

SPEAKER_00 43:04

Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 43:04

And so highly recommended it. We loved it. And like I said, would go back and, you know, it was fun, created a lot of memories, a lot of good, you know, great times, lived up to the hype. So that's St. Bart's in a nutshell. I hope we covered it all for you. And thank you so much for listening and tuning in and just keep blooming bright.