We recently spent a night at the 66-key Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth, which is regarded as one of the island’s best resorts. While it first opened in 1986 as Le Guanahani, it has been operated as a Rosewood since 2021 (it had been closed for several years prior to that, following damage from Hurricane Irma). In a previous installment, I reviewed Eden Rock, part of Oetker Hotels, and we were curious to see how the Rosewood compares, given that each property on the island has its pros and cons.
The Rosewood St. Barth is a special property, in the sense that it really feels like a sprawling resort. It’s located across 18 acres on a peninsula, with two private beaches, two pools, an impressive spa, and more.
In many ways, I’d consider this and Eden Rock to be the opposite — Eden Rock is a small property with very limited shared facilities, but it has a very lively vibe, even if it wouldn’t be my go-to property if traveling with kids. Meanwhile the Rosewood is a large property but has a very quiet vibe, while still being very kids friendly.
Ultimately you’ll want to stay at the Rosewood if you’re looking for a quiet getaway, if you’re traveling as a family (given that the property even has a kids club, otherwise a rarity at resorts on the island), and if you don’t mind being a little bit away from the heart of the action.
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Booking Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth
Rosewood St. Barth is open nearly year-round, with the exception of a roughly two-month closure, between the middle of August and the middle of October (peak hurricane season). As you’d expect, peak season here is in winter, so this place is busiest between the middle of December and the end of March, give or take.
Nightly rates range from around €1,500 in the low season, and go up from there. That’s the cost for entry level rooms, and this is a property that has all kinds of different accommodations. As a matter of fact, 37 of the property’s 66 accommodations are suites, and many of those are standalone cottages.
In general, your best bet is to book through the Rosewood Elite program, which is Rosewood’s program for select travel advisors, and is also the best way to book virtually any Rosewood stay. Those booking through Rosewood Elite receive a room upgrade subject to availability, a property credit, complimentary breakfast for two, etc.
For what it’s worth, Ford got a travel advisor rate for this stay, since our primary objective was to just quickly check out the property for a night, and see how it compares to the competition. All opinions expressed are my own.
Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth location
The Rosewood Le Guanahani is located on an 18-acre peninsula on Marigot Bay, which is a quiet area located on the northeast part of the island. The hotel is basically on the opposite side of the island of the primary town of Gustavia, and it’s also quite a distance from the beach clubs along St. Jean Bay.
Admittedly St. Barth isn’t a very big island, so we’re talking about a 15-minute drive to the airport, or a 20-minute drive to town. Some will like that this is a bit more secluded, as it has less of a party vibe than some of the other properties.
In terms of getting to St. Barths, the most common way is to fly into the island’s famous Gustaf III Airport (SBH), which has service from nearby islands on several carriers. While the most frequent service is on Winair from Sint Maarten (SXM), there are more comfortable options, like Tradewind Aviation from San Juan (SJU).
The hotel does offer complimentary transfers to and from the airport, so that’s a very nice service, with cold towels, bottled water, snacks, etc.
Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth lobby & check-in
The Rosewood St. Barth has an impressive lobby area. Not only is it a large space with both indoor and outdoor seating, but it’s elevated above the rest of the property, so gives you panoramic views.
Our check-in process was quite relaxing — we were invited to take a seat wherever we wanted, and were then offered drinks, with the choice of champagne, rose, tropical tea, etc. Ford had a glass of rose, while I had the tropical tea, and they were served with tasty mini coconut cakes.
Within a few minutes we were escorted to our room. Just for context, below is a map of the property, which gives you a sense of how the various accommodations are distributed.
Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth suite
For our stay at the Rosewood St. Barth, we were assigned an ocean suite. A majority of the accommodations at the hotel are suites, and there are lots of categories of them, with views being a major differentiator. There are literally dozens of buildings housing rooms, so it’s very much a cottage-style concept.
We were assigned an ocean view pool suite — for what it’s worth, there are both ocean and ocean cove accommodations, and the latter are closer to the water, while the former are a bit further away.
Our suite was just a short walk down the boardwalk from reception. The landscaping here is gorgeous, and this resort-style feel is definitely something that’s missing from properties like Eden Rock, if you’re into that. Side note — there are tortoises all over the property, so that makes it especially fun to go on a walk, and see them all over the place.
The ocean view pool suites are marketed as being 60 square meters (645 square feet), though I think they might be underselling the size of the interior space, as I’m pretty sure this was significantly bigger. Inside the entrance to the door was the living room, which was spacious, with a living area that contained a sofa and chair, as well as a table with two chairs (ideal for dining or working).
There was also a minibar setup, with a variety of drinks and snacks for purchase, along with a complimentary coffee and tea selection.
Waiting on the living room table was a lovely welcome amenity, consisting of a bottle of Perrier-Jouet champagne, some graps, and a box of chocolates.
There were then sliding doors separating the living room from the bedroom, and that contained a comfortable king size bed with great pillows, as well as a sitting area with two chairs.
The bathroom was then located past the bedroom, and it was a good size, and contained double sinks, a large walk-in shower, and a toilet in a separate room (there was no bathtub, which surprised me a bit, for a suite).
The coolest part of the suite was the outdoor space, which had a good size pool, plus plenty of seating, both out in the sun, and in the shade.
The outdoor space had great views of the sea in the distance, and greenery closer in.
Turndown service was provided as expected, and a cute little gift consisting of Rosewood luggage tags was even left there.
All-in-all, I thought the accommodations at the Rosewood were great — they have a pretty good sense of place in terms of the Caribbean-inspired cottages, though admittedly the design is nothing over the top (as you’d expect for a beach resort).
Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth pool & beach
One major advantage of the Rosewood St. Barth is that it has a pool… two pools, actually. The main family pool is located at the end of the resort, right by the beach and restaurant, and it’s infinity-edge, and beautiful.
Right next to that is the beach. Since the Rosewood St. Barth is located on a peninsula, it has a unique beach setup, in that the beach has water on both sides, meaning you have a lot of beachfront space. The beach is also private, for all practical purposes, as the only way to access the beach is from the resort.
I thought the beach setup was nice, but not amazing. Let me put it this way — this beach has the advantage of having water on two sides and of being private, but the beach at St. Jean Bay has softer sand, is less sloped for walking, and more crystal clear water, so it’s a tradeoff. 
On the plus side, the beach has truly endless seating, including loungers, couches, etc.
There are also plenty of water sports available, which staff can help you set up.
Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth spa & adult pool
The Rosewood St. Barth has the Sense Spa, with that being the signature Rosewood spa brand. The spa is located back toward reception, and this is also where the adults pool is located.
The spa area is expansive, with seven treatment rooms, including two for couples. There’s also a hydrotherapy area, a beauty salon, and more. While we didn’t get any spa services, you can find the treatment menu here.
The adults pool is very nice as well. Especially as a parent, I increasingly appreciate when hotels offer separate pools for adults and families, even if I’m traveling with kids — it’s nice to feel less guilty if your kids do make a bit of noise.
Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth gym
The Rosewood St. Barth has a 24/7 gym, located immediately next to the spa complex. For a Caribbean resort without that many rooms, I thought this setup was excellent, with a good amount of cardio and weight equipment. It’s even nicely spread out, so that multiple people could use the gym at once, without it feeling too crowded.
Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth kids club
While we weren’t traveling with kids in this case, the Rosewood St. Barth does have a kids club, which is surprisingly rare among hotels in St. Barth. It’s open to kids ages four through 11, with programming from 10AM until 12:30PM, and from 2PM until 4:30PM. So if you’re traveling as a family, this is an amenity worth keeping in mind.
Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth restaurant & bar
The Rosewood St. Barth has one restaurant and one bar, located near the pool and beach. Beach House St. Barth is the all-day dining restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with the evening menu being Mediterranean inspired.
The restaurant has a good amount of indoor seating, which is what’s used for breakfast and dinner, though even that is sort of open air, with doors that swing open.
Then weather permitting, lunch is served outside on the beach, which sure is a fun setting.
Breakfast is served daily from 7:30AM until 10:30AM, and consists of a combination of a buffet and an a la carte selection, and you can find the menu below.
The buffet selection was high quality, and included a variety of pastries and fresh bread, cereal, yogurt, fruit, veggies, cold cuts, cheese, etc.
When it comes to coffee, I enjoyed the French press coffee, though the cappuccinos were machine made, and weren’t amazing.
From the menu, I tried both the avocado toast and the eggs rancheros, and both were tasty.
Lunch was then served from 12PM until 3PM, and you can find the menu here. We split the feta and watermelon salad, the fish tacos, and the spicy jerk tuna, all of which were excellent.
Then dinner was served at the restaurant from 6:30PM until 10:30PM, and you can find the menu here. The night we were staying, the hotel had its “Italian night,” which happens once per week, so the standard menu wasn’t available. The idea is that this is sort of a set menu, with flexibility to pick your own mains from the live cooking stations. I imagine for those staying longer, this variety is nice.
This started with an antipasti, which they were able to modify so that it didn’t have pork, and it also included a minestrone soup.
Then we could go up to the live cooking area to choose our mains — Ford ordered penne with peas and a spicy tomato sauce, while I had a cheese pizza (I’m a simple guy).
Then dessert was served from a trolley that was rolled around, and I was definitely talked into picking too many things!
At the Italian night they also had a negroni cart, with several options to choose from. As someone who likes negronis, I was happy to see this, so bonus points for the presentation and experience aspect of it.
The hotel then has Bar Melange, which is the all-day bar, so whether you’re getting a drink at the pool or want a drink after dinner, this is for you. You can find the drink list here.
We decided to try the “ti-dirty” martini, essentially a strange (but surprisingly good) twist on a dirty martini, with rum, cherry tomato, pickled onion, and thyme. This was served with a couple of canapés, a nice alternative to the typical nuts.
One thing I’d add is that I wish the Rosewood had a second restaurant venue. The Rosewood sort of has the vibe of a standalone, destination resort, but obviously dining will quickly get repetitive if you are looking to eat on property multiple nights. Then again, I suppose most people going to St. Barth want to dine out, so perhaps the demand just isn’t there.
Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth service
Across the board, we found service at Rosewood St. Barth to be excellent. Admittedly the island has very high service standards in general, so that’s not surprising. I will say, the hotel felt a lot emptier than Eden Rock (which seems to be at capacity at nearly all times), and as a result, service also in some ways felt more attentive.
From the front office staff, to those working at the restaurant and bar, everyone was friendly and anticipatory, so I have nothing but good things to say on that front.
Bottom line
The Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth is a well regarded luxury resort on the island. The resort has a lot going for it, like a beautiful 18-acre property, a peninsula with a beach on two sides, two pools, a beautiful spa facility, and a kids club. The resort also has a very quiet vibe, so you’ll want to stay here if you’re looking to relax, and to have a resort to retreat to after being out and about on the island.
In many ways, I’d say this property is the opposite of Eden Rock, which is very compact, doesn’t have a pool, has a party vibe, and probably isn’t ideal for families.
What’s your take on Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth?
HUGE thank you for including the kids club info - both hours and ages! Those can differ widely across resorts even in the same region/location.