Review: Cheval Blanc St. Barts (Caribbean Palace Hotel)

Review: Cheval Blanc St. Barts (Caribbean Palace Hotel)

NAME: Cheval Blanc St. Barts
LOCATION: Saint Barthélemy
DATE: December 2023
REVIEW RATING:
BEN SAYS: Cheval Blanc St. Barts has a beautiful setting on a gorgeous beach, with flawless service and high quality dining concepts. The only catch is that the resort has a bit of a sleepy vibe, which isn't going to be what everyone is looking for.
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EXTRA PERKS AVAILABLE Enjoy upgrades, resort credits, & more

Want to take advantage of Virtuoso benefits at no extra cost, including a room upgrade, a resort credit, and more, all while paying the lowest rate? Contact Ford ([email protected]) for more details. He doesn’t charge booking fees, and may even be able to help if you already have a stay booked.

A few months ago, we spent a long weekend at the 61-room Cheval Blanc St. Barts (or St. Barth, or St. Barths, if you prefer). For those not familiar, St. Barts is a Caribbean island belonging to France. The trip was for a special occasion, as it was my mother-in-law’s birthday, and we were also taking our son, so it was a multi-generational trip.

While Ford and his mom have been to St. Barts before, it was my first time, so I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately St. Barts doesn’t have any points hotels (at all), but has a variety of well regarded properties. Beyond Cheval Blanc, there’s Eden Roc (Oetker Collection), Le Guanahani (Rosewood), and Le Toiny (Relais & Chateaux), just to name a few.

Since they hadn’t stayed there before, we decided to book Cheval Blanc, which is the boutique hotel group that’s owned by LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton). We’ve had great stays at Cheval Blanc Paris and Cheval Blanc Maldives Randheli, so were looking forward to checking out the brand’s Caribbean property. Fun fact — this is the only property in the Caribbean with France’s “Palace” distinction.

My takeaway from this stay was positive, though there were a couple of things I didn’t love. On the one hand, the hotel is on a beautiful beach, and has impeccable service and food. On the other hand, I thought the hotel lacked a vibe and was a little too sleepy for my liking (which is saying a lot, because I’m not at all a partier). Now, admittedly everyone is looking for a different thing from their vacation, so if you just want to hear nature and are looking for that kind of a vibe, you’ll love this place.

Anyway, let’s get into the review, and everyone can draw their own conclusions.

Impressions of St. Barts

Having never been to St. Barts before, I didn’t know what exactly to expect. I knew it was a huge scene, but didn’t really get what made it different than other places in the Caribbean. Well, I quickly found out, and I can totally see the appeal of the place, as it’s totally different than anywhere else I’ve been in the Caribbean.

For one, St. Barts is physically a stunning island (though that’s true of some other Caribbean islands as well). It’s not just that the beaches are pretty, but the landscape on the whole is breathtaking, especially with how mountainous it is. At times I felt like I was in Hawaii.

St. Barts landscape
St. Barts landscape
St. Barts landscape

As an aviation geek, St. Barts Airport (SBH) is also one of a kind.

St. Barts Airport

But what really sets apart St. Barts from other Caribbean islands is how much of a scene there is outside resorts. The capital town of Gustavia is ridiculously cute, and there are also endless restaurants. It’s truly the winter version of Saint-Tropez in the South of France, and at times you might actually think that you’re there.

Now, there are some considerations as well. For one, the people who visit St. Barts make for… interesting people watching. I mean, it kind of feels as if you moved the entire Upper East Side of New York to the Caribbean. And everything reflects that.

Booking Cheval Blanc St. Barts

Just about all the luxury hotels in St. Barts aren’t cheap, and are in a similar price range. Since there were four of us, we ended up booking a two bedroom suite. At many hotels, a two bedroom suite costs significantly more than two guest rooms, though at Cheval Blanc St. Barts it’s typically less than double the price of a guest room, so that’s good.

For our weekend stay, we spent ~€2,000 Euro per night. Obviously that’s quite a bit, but honestly, ~$1,000 per room is what you’ll pay at the Andaz Papagayo Costa Rica nowadays, so…

The best way to book a Cheval Blanc property is through a travel advisor affiliated with Virtuoso, as you’ll pay the same rate, and will receive several value-add perks, including the following (and these can be combined with most promotions being offered by the property):

  • Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
  • $100 property credit
  • Early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability

Ordinarily breakfast would also be a Virtuoso perk, but that’s included with all rates at the hotel. Ford and his team are happy to help with Cheval Blanc bookings, and can be reached at [email protected].

Cheval Blanc St. Barts location

Cheval Blanc St. Barts is located on Flamands Beach, on the northwest portion of the island. The hotel is in a quieter part of the island than Eden Roc, for example, which is located right by the airport and several day clubs. It’s easy to get around the island, and personally I’d recommend renting a car, so that you can explore on your own, given the amount of natural beauty.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts exterior

When it comes to getting to the hotel on arrival, the hotel is about a 10-minute drive from the airport. The hotel offers guests a complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport, so you’ll be picked up on your arrival and dropped off on your departure. While there’s service to St. Barts from several Caribbean airports, the most frequent service is from Sint Maarten on Winair.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts shuttle

Cheval Blanc St. Barts reception & check-in

Upon arrival, we were greeted at the door of the car by reception staff, who quickly took care of our check-in, while the bellmen brought the bags to our room. The lobby space is gorgeous and open air, and check in was completed within a couple of minutes.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts public spaces
Cheval Blanc St. Barts reception

At that point we were walked to our room. Cheval Blanc St. Barts is set on 10 acres, and the setting is sublime. Throughout the property you almost feel like you’re in the jungle, thanks to the number of trees, while also being steps from the beach. The hotel is spread out across many individual buildings, none more than two stories tall, so it’s an undeniably peaceful setting.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts pathway

Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room

We booked a two bedroom suite at Cheval Blanc St. Barts, and this comes in one of two configurations — some two bedroom suites have a living area connecting the two bedrooms but don’t have an outdoor space, while some two bedroom suites are essentially two separate rooms with a large, shared outdoor space.

We were assigned one of the latter rooms, meaning we had two rooms that were nearly identical, plus a large outdoor space. That worked great for our purposes. I’ll just go over the details of one of the rooms, as the second room was basically the same.

Compared to Cheval Blanc’s other properties, the rooms here are definitely a bit more understated. However, the rooms still felt luxurious, and the room finishes were very nice. The room featured a super comfortable king size bed, a desk with a chair, and an additional chair in the corner (along with all kinds of baby amenities).

Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room
Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room
Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room
Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room

The room had a well stocked minibar with all kinds of drinks for purchase, plus a Nespresso machine and a tea kettle. The bottled water was complimentary, and the hotel was happy to bring extras.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room minibar
Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room Nespresso machine

Cheval Blanc properties really go all-in when it comes to welcome amenities, and this hotel is no exception. The welcome amenity included a delicious cake, fresh fruit, and a bottle of Ruinart champagne. I suppose that’s true of many luxury hotels in France in general — while they’re not cheap, they also don’t cut corners when it comes to the guest experience.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room welcome gift

Past the bedroom was the bathroom, which had double sinks, a walk-in shower, and a toilet in a separate room.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room bathroom
Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room shower
Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room toilet

Toiletries were all Cheval Blanc branded, and there was no shortage of them.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room toiletries

The room also had a generously sized closet area.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room closet

In addition to the indoor space, there was a huge outdoor space connecting the two rooms, with a dining table that could seat four, as well as a loveseat and two chairs.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room outdoor space
Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room outdoor space
Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room outdoor space

Housekeeping was thorough, and was provided daily. It was cute how every night with turndown service there was a different gift, including things like pillow mist.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room turndown service

Cheval Blanc St. Barts pools

Cheval Blanc St. Barts has two pools, both overlooking the ocean. The main pool is near the center of the resort by the fine dining restaurant and one of the bars, and is the larger of the two. The pool has quite a bit of seating around it, whether you prefer to lounge or just sit.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts pool area
Cheval Blanc St. Barts pool area
Cheval Blanc St. Barts pool area
Cheval Blanc St. Barts pool area

The second pool is located near the main entrance to the beach, and feels a bit more private and secluded.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts pool area
Cheval Blanc St. Barts pool area
Cheval Blanc St. Barts pool area

By St. Barts standards, this is an impressive pool setup. For example, Eden Roc doesn’t even have a pool, but rather just has the beach. St. Barts isn’t really a “lounge at the pool” destination, but rather is more about the beach, restaurants, and day clubs.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts beach

Cheval Blanc St. Barts is set on Flamands Beach, which is absolutely gorgeous. While the beach is open to the public (as are all beaches in the area) it’s in a secluded part of the island that can be hard to access, so it tends to be empty.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts beach
Cheval Blanc St. Barts beach
Cheval Blanc St. Barts beach

I love how long the beach is, as it’s great for taking walks, which were especially pleasant at sunrise and sunset.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts beach at sunset

Cheval Blanc provides service on the beach, so you can order food and drinks there. While the beach is beautiful, there was one problem — it was super windy on this beach, to the point that umbrellas couldn’t be used, so you could only sit there in direct sunlight. For that matter, sand was blowing quite a bit, which made for an unpleasant situation at times.

What I’m not 100% sure of is if we just had bad luck during our visit, or if this is a bigger issue with this particular beach, based on its location. Based on doing some research online and asking some people, it seems that Flamands Beach has a reputation for being windy.

Obviously the hotel has no control over wind, but it definitely detracted from the experience, since it wasn’t practical to actually sit on the beach.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts spa & gym

Cheval Blanc St. Barts has a spa in partnership with Guerlain. It’s a standalone building that has four treatment rooms, a sauna, an outdoor relaxation pavilion, and a boutique. I didn’t use the spa, but you can find the spa menu and treatment prices here.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts spa

What I did use was the 24/7 gym at Cheval Blanc St. Barts, which is small but well appointed for a Caribbean resort. The gym has modern equipment, including treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, a weight machine, and free weights, as well as a yoga room in the back.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts gym
Cheval Blanc St. Barts gym
Cheval Blanc St. Barts gym
Cheval Blanc St. Barts gym
Cheval Blanc St. Barts gym
Cheval Blanc St. Barts gym

Cheval Blanc St. Barts La Cabane (breakfast & lunch)

La Cabane is Cheval Blanc St. Barts’ beachside restaurant, open daily for breakfast and lunch. Breakfast is served daily from 7AM until 10:30AM, while lunch is served from 12PM until 6PM.

This is a beautiful restaurant, as seating is entirely outdoors, with part of the restaurant being in the sand.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts La Cabane Restaurant
Cheval Blanc St. Barts La Cabane Restaurant

Breakfast is included for all guests at the hotel, and it includes both a buffet, as well as the option to order off a menu, and you can mix and match that as much as you’d like. The buffet was small but high quality, with a selection of freshly baked bread and pastries, cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit, cold cuts, and much more.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast buffet
Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast buffet
Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast buffet
Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast buffet
Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast buffet
Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast buffet
Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast buffet
Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast buffet
Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast buffet

Additionally, the menu contained options ranging from avocado toast with smoked salmon, to crepes, and it was all delicious.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast breakfast
Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast breakfast

I also enjoyed the iced coffee and filter coffee at breakfast, though the cappuccinos could’ve been spruced up a bit, in my opinion.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast drinks
Cheval Blanc St. Barts breakfast drinks

We also had lunch here one day, and you can find the menu below.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts lunch menu

We split the mahi mahi and seared tuna with sesame dressing, and both were delectable.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts lunch food
Cheval Blanc St. Barts lunch food

Cheval Blanc St. Barts Tiki Bar (drinks)

Adjacent to La Cabane, you’ll find Tiki Bar, which is the hotel’s all-day bar. It’s also outdoors, and has quite a bit of seating, whether you prefer to sit at the bar directly, or would rather play a game at one of the tables.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts Tiki Bar
Cheval Blanc St. Barts Tiki Bar
Cheval Blanc St. Barts Tiki Bar
Cheval Blanc St. Barts Tiki Bar

The drink list at Tiki Bar was quite imaginative, so it’s worth stopping here for a drink, if you can.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts Tiki Bar drinks

Cheval Blanc St. Barts White Bar (drinks)

White Bar is the other bar at Cheval Blanc St. Barts, and it’s located at the main pool, adjacent to the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, La Case. While Tiki Bar is only open during the day, White Bar stays open at night.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts White Bar
Cheval Blanc St. Barts White Bar

We stopped here one evening for a drink, and had a Mexican Negroni (one of their signature drinks) and a dirty martini.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts White Bar drinks

Cheval Blanc St. Barts La Case (dinner)

La Case is Cheval Blanc St. Barts’ fine dining restaurant, open nightly from 7PM until 9:30PM. It’s located right next to the main pool, adjacent to White Bar. The concept is described as “an ode to the Caribbean,” and it’s by Jean Imbert. This is a phenomenal restaurant, and is popular with hotel guests and outsiders alike.

The restaurant overlooks the sea, and has sliding doors that are generally open, so you have a nice breeze in the restaurant.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts La Case Restaurant
Cheval Blanc St. Barts La Case Restaurant

Everything about the experience was top notch, from the beautiful plates and silverware, to the service, to the food.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts dinner table setting

You can find the dinner menu below.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts dinner menu

At the start of the meal we were offered a selection of freshly baked bread, with butter that was half pineapple ginger and half rum.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts dinner bread

To start, we split the yellowfin tuna tartare with crispy rice and sweet potato tart.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts dinner food
Cheval Blanc St. Barts dinner food

Then for mains, I had the local yellowfin tuna, while Ford and his mom split the poultry Colombo, which was prepared tableside.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts dinner food
Cheval Blanc St. Barts dinner food
Cheval Blanc St. Barts dinner food

While we were too full to order dessert, we were still brought some tasty treats at the conclusion of the meal.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts dinner dessert

While not cheap, it was an excellent meal, and it’s nice to see what a commitment Cheval Blanc has to its dining options throughout its portfolio.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts service

Service at Cheval Blanc St. Barts was uniformly excellent. Every single frontline employee, from the valets, to the front office staff, to the restaurant staff, were friendly and had an eye for detail. Just about all the staff at the property are from Metropolitan France, and most have a lot of hospitality experience.

While good service in the first plane is awesome, great service recovery is even better, so let me give an example of that. One afternoon during our stay they started doing some sort of work on top of the roof near our building, whereby they seemed to be power washing the roof, or something. What essentially happened is that we couldn’t step out of our room without walking through the equivalent of a dirty shower. It seems like that shouldn’t happen while a room is occupied, or at least a guest should be made aware of this in advance.

We just called the front desk about this. They apologized profusely and said this would stop right away. Sure enough, a minute later the work stopped. As an apology, they sent to both rooms yet another bottle of Ruinart champagne, fruit, and sweets, along with an apology note.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts service recovery
Cheval Blanc St. Barts service recovery

It’s also nice how upon departure, we were given custom luggage tags with Cheval Blanc branding, to take home.

Cheval Blanc St. Barts guest room departure gift

Bottom line

Cheval Blanc St. Barts is a great resort, with some quirks. I loved the resort’s setting, as it’s a sprawling property where you simultaneously feel like you’re in lush vegetation and at the beach. The hotel has impeccable service, delicious dining, and a beautiful beach to walk on (it was really windy during our stay, so I’m not sure if we just had bad luck, or if that’s consistently an issue here).

Now, there are a couple of things to be aware of about the property as well, though. For one, compared to Paris and the Maldives, the St. Barts property isn’t going to feel quite as over the top. That’s totally fair, since the competitive landscape and the vibe is a bit different. But at the other properties, there are truly endless surprises in terms of property amenities, room features, etc., and that’s not quite the case here.

One other thing I’d emphasize is that Cheval Blanc is ideal if you’re looking for a calming, sleepy resort. That’s exactly what a lot of people are looking for, though it’s basically the polar opposite of Eden Roc, where there’s a DJ there all day. Different people will be looking for different experiences, so I don’t think one vibe is better than the other, but it’s just something to be aware of.

What do you make of Cheval Blanc St. Barts?

Conversations (41)
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  1. Premier Flyer Guest

    Great review, Ben. I love LVHM hotels. Their refinement and quality appears to be lost on many of your readers. Regardless, Cheval Blanc is my 2nd favorite property on St Barts after Oakter Collection's heavenly Eden Rock.

    I really enjoy your recent reviews from the upper luxury brands. Ignore the envious point chasing crowd and keep 'em coming (I would love to see you review some of the impressive new 5 stars in the Maldives).

  2. Jittery Eric Guest

    Hey, I'm a fan of the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo. I found it punches above its weight:

    https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g635535-d5324459-r908883201-Andaz_Costa_Rica_Resort_at_Peninsula_Papagayo-Gulf_of_Papagayo_Province_of_Guana.html

  3. ArnoldB Guest

    12€ for rice or mashed potatoes lol. That is just sooo stupid. Why not charge 12€ more for the main, and just say "One of the following sides included:"? It just seems really ridiculous to charge that much for rice.

  4. Carl Member

    140 Euro for a roasted chicken? 4.99 Costco version is tasting even better.

  5. Pam Eslicker Guest

    We stayed at Cheval Blanc in February. I agree St. Barth’s is beautiful and usual in its mountains, trees and similarity to St. Tropez. My worst nightmare would be a live dj pumping random music. We thought about trying Eden Roc next time but since it is near the airport and has a dj, definitely not. We had a plunge pool and we were located on the beach; I could walk out and walk on...

    We stayed at Cheval Blanc in February. I agree St. Barth’s is beautiful and usual in its mountains, trees and similarity to St. Tropez. My worst nightmare would be a live dj pumping random music. We thought about trying Eden Roc next time but since it is near the airport and has a dj, definitely not. We had a plunge pool and we were located on the beach; I could walk out and walk on the beach. Cheval Blanc is quiet, peaceful, no airport noise and definitely no dj. It deserves extra points for all those things. I go to the Caribbean to relax and enjoy nature and the beach.

  6. Alex Guest

    Two other points:

    1. (ready for the accusations): main reason St Barths is so much better than the rest of the Caribbean is that its French and the locals are not angry about racial issues, since there are none. So also, there's no crime or violence towards visitors.

    2. Highly recommend renting villas. For the price of a hotel suite you'll get a gorgeous, large place. But until you know the island a bit and...

    Two other points:

    1. (ready for the accusations): main reason St Barths is so much better than the rest of the Caribbean is that its French and the locals are not angry about racial issues, since there are none. So also, there's no crime or violence towards visitors.

    2. Highly recommend renting villas. For the price of a hotel suite you'll get a gorgeous, large place. But until you know the island a bit and which locations you'll favor, you need to ask the renting agency a lot to find out the characteristics of the locations. They are all pretty good, but Wimco is the best and St Barths Blue second.

    3. When renting villas, you can also eat in instead of the many restaurants requiring a mortgage to pay for the $45 burger (look at Cheval Blanc's beach menu). The Marche U supermarket is excellent and, being French, has excellent prepared foods. Also Foodland St Barths in town has excellent ingredients, meat, fish, etc.

  7. Alex Guest

    We've been to St Barths 8 times and only stayed at a hotel once (the new Barthelemy - -awful!). We rent villas, which are spectacular and 4-6 times the space of a hootel suite at the same price.

    We knew Cheval Blanc in its earlier guise -- St Barths Isle de France, and Cheval Blanc did a great job when they renovated it.

    But.

    St Barths is not about a live music vibe. It's what...

    We've been to St Barths 8 times and only stayed at a hotel once (the new Barthelemy - -awful!). We rent villas, which are spectacular and 4-6 times the space of a hootel suite at the same price.

    We knew Cheval Blanc in its earlier guise -- St Barths Isle de France, and Cheval Blanc did a great job when they renovated it.

    But.

    St Barths is not about a live music vibe. It's what Cheval Blanc is. Live music you can get anywehre. Peace and quiet and the sound of gulls and surf are what St Barths is.

    Music ruins and dominates the environment wherever it is. Unless its in a closed off room, it forces people to 1. like the music -- or else! and 2. not be able to have a conversation or read a book.

    One other different point -- yes there can be wind on Flamands, but it is not a constant, so you had bad luck. But it can pop up any time.

  8. Lior Guest

    Thanks a lot for another great review, Ben.
    Can you say which other turndown gifts you got beside the pillow mist?

    Thank you,
    Lior

  9. JDee Diamond

    Ben "While good service in the first plane is awesome" - first 'place'?

  10. JustSaying Guest

    With Hawaii as a nonstop from many West Coast cities it is a no brainer to take its luxury over the Caribbean. It seems that the only ones who are prime for this location is the East Coast. But as you alluded to it was “almost” Hawaii. Can’t think of why to go East on 3 flights to get to this place.

    1. John Guest

      I don't think the US west coast is anyways a target, it makes perfect sense from Paris during Winter - all domestic flight - with a quick transfer in Guadeloupe or Saint Martin.

  11. JustSaying Guest

    Are you now hawking credit cards? Never would have guessed. I thought you were all about hawking Virtuoso. I’m still holding my breath for a post with a pure travel perspective with no side gigs.

    1. Alex Guest

      He has to make a living, you know. Unless you want to pay for reviews.

  12. Daisy Guest

    While visiting the island and Cheval Blanc beach on month of november, wind wasnt an issue at all. Or maybe we just got lucky:-)

  13. Antwerp Guest

    Pillow mist, lol. I love luxury properties as much as the next person. But some amenities I have to laugh at. But that's me. Breakfast was amazing looking though!

  14. Robert Guest

    Ben, ignore the criticism. Your content is spectacular!
    2 comments and 1 question for you:
    —beaches in the Caribbean that face north are largely unpleasantly windy in winter—the beach at CB in St Barts faces dead north. I make an exception with Grace Bay (faces dead north) and put up with the wind because it is so beautiful.
    —CB St Barts bought the property next door, did low level renovation, and combined...

    Ben, ignore the criticism. Your content is spectacular!
    2 comments and 1 question for you:
    —beaches in the Caribbean that face north are largely unpleasantly windy in winter—the beach at CB in St Barts faces dead north. I make an exception with Grace Bay (faces dead north) and put up with the wind because it is so beautiful.
    —CB St Barts bought the property next door, did low level renovation, and combined it with their original property. I understand the quality is now uneven.
    —The question: I have never visited there because my wife has knee arthritis and has difficulty with steps/stairs. It appears in the photos that there are many stairs there. Is that true? Please be as specific as you can.

    Thank you. Continue your excellent blog and ignore the negativity—it is everywhere.

    1. RetiredATLATC Diamond

      The "criticism" is justified, if you've been here for years reading Ben's content.

      I get it, ad revenue is what pays, but, at least on a handheld it is almost impossible to read an article without being sent to numerous retailers because of the tiny x's that need clicking.

      Ben has a large following and maybe a word to BoardingArea from him might help with the issue.

    2. Adam Guest

      Do you not use an ad blocker? I can't imagine using the web without one anymore.

    3. Alex Guest

      You can't read anything ona phone. Its not just this site.

  15. JD Guest

    This hotel is owned or managed by Louis Vuitton (LVMH group). Did you notice if they sold or served only LVMH branded items?

  16. Gary Guest

    Or you could book with a Travel Agent associated with the Signature Travel Network

  17. Gary Guest

    Or you could book with a Travel Agent associated with the Signature Travel Network

  18. Wilson Guest

    100% agree. I love your content, but your ads are getting out of hand, covering the majority of the page, popping up exactly where you move your hand to scroll, and the minimize X is almost unclickable on the vast majority of them.

    1. JDee Diamond

      I recommend Brave Browser with it's built-in ad blocker, it works for me

  19. Atlantan Guest

    Went to St. Barths many (30?) years ago and yes, Flammands was windy then and had a reputation for being so. There was a resort on the Flammands beach back then, and I think it failed because people didn’t like so much wind. Did you research this resort before staying at it?

    The obnoxious noisy pop-up ad accompanying this review is THE WORST. Might have to stop reading this blog if all of your articles include it, because it is so annoying.

  20. Rob Guest

    I agree. The ads are SO distracting, and I would never click on them!

  21. Zach Guest

    Really helpful review. I’ve been looking at a visit there and didn’t have much to go on, but the way you zeroed in on the vibe is really helpful. Appreciate it.

    1. Alex Guest

      The best hotels are this one, the newly redone Rosewood Guanahani and Le Toiny.

      Barthelemy is awful, Eden Rock is nice but weird setup, no pool, overpriced, hard to navigate.

  22. Sergio Díaz Guest

    How is the hostel service for parents with small children? Do they offer childcare so that parents can go to dinner on their own?

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ Sergio Díaz -- The property does a great job with children, and they even have a webpage dedicated to it showing many of the amenities they have for families:
      https://www.chevalblanc.com/en/maison/st-barth/experiences/families/

      We didn't use it, but they do offer childcare. :-)

    2. Santastico Diamond

      Do you know what is funny about these annoying ads? The more I see them, the less are the chances I will ever click in any of them. The more they keep coming, the more I will be annoyed and never use them. Reading this website on an iPhone has become impossible.

  23. RetiredATLATC Diamond

    I cannot explain just how much of a pain in the a@$ it is to read anything on this site now.

    Ads jumping in and out, ads stacking on top of each other to the point only ¼ of the page is readable.

    I'm done

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ RetiredATLATC -- I hear you, and I'm sorry for the frustration. Our ads are handled through BoardingArea, but of course this is my site, so the responsibility falls on me. I'm passing on this feedback so that the ads can hopefully be dialed back to a more agreeable level.

    2. Lukas Diamond

      @RetiredATLATC speaks for tens of thousands of us.

    3. Redacted Guest

      He does indeed. Until Ben moves to a subscription model, I’ll keep reading his blog distraction-free via Reeder and only use the “real website” for comments.

      Alas, even the 5 minute or less I spend on the comments section is almost unbearable due to these intrusive, overlapping ads.

    4. Jeff Guest

      I have Adblock, so I don't see any ads. But I just looked at the icon on the top of my browser and saw that on just this page, 100 ads were blocked!

    5. DenB Diamond

      I use Ad Block Plus in Chrome. No ads. No popups. None. I'm a faithful re4ader and I use Ben's affiliate links when applying for cards. I have a completely clear conscience. If I should not, I'm sure someone will let me know.

    6. AZTravelGuy Guest

      I really miss the internet in times when every activity didn't involve targeted ads, sponsored content, personal data mining, cookie tracking, etc, all in an attempt to sell me something.

      Reasonable ads are fine but everyone has a different definition of reasonable. So ad blocker extensions, PiHoles, and other means continue.

      What I really want is an blocker of AI generated content (not that it's necessary for this blog) that also blocks recycled...

      I really miss the internet in times when every activity didn't involve targeted ads, sponsored content, personal data mining, cookie tracking, etc, all in an attempt to sell me something.

      Reasonable ads are fine but everyone has a different definition of reasonable. So ad blocker extensions, PiHoles, and other means continue.

      What I really want is an blocker of AI generated content (not that it's necessary for this blog) that also blocks recycled posts (definitely a thing on other blogs).

    7. Creditcrunch Diamond

      Another user of an App called AdGuard which has revolutionised online browsing on my apple devices, no pop-ups at all now, highly recommended.

    8. snory Member

      I think @RetiredATLATC has spoken out on behalf of many of us.
      For me, It has been a tremendous restrain on my part not to use the Ads Blocker since the content is barely readable on mobile device obstructed by all the annoyingly misplaced Ads.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

Ben Schlappig OMAAT

@ RetiredATLATC -- I hear you, and I'm sorry for the frustration. Our ads are handled through BoardingArea, but of course this is my site, so the responsibility falls on me. I'm passing on this feedback so that the ads can hopefully be dialed back to a more agreeable level.

6
Wilson Guest

100% agree. I love your content, but your ads are getting out of hand, covering the majority of the page, popping up exactly where you move your hand to scroll, and the minimize X is almost unclickable on the vast majority of them.

4
RetiredATLATC Diamond

I cannot explain just how much of a pain in the a@$ it is to read anything on this site now. Ads jumping in and out, ads stacking on top of each other to the point only ¼ of the page is readable. I'm done

4
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