St. Barts is an eight-square-mile island in the French Antiles, and home a wide selection of luxury boutique hotels.  Here, you can find properties ideal for anything from solitude and romance, to being in the middle of it all, to laid-back and relaxing.

 Relais & chateaux has two properties on the island, Eden Rock and Le Toiny.  Eden Rock is a glamorous resort placed right in the middle of the St. Barts’ jet-set scene.  The accommodations here are unique, and there are villas complete with a butler and car collection, if you are willing to go all out.  The beachfront Sand Bar restaurant is perfect for lunch and for people watching, and their beach is perfect for lounging throughout the day.  Le Toiny is more off the beaten track, and is more towards the windward side.  To get here, you wind down back roads, but due to the excellence of their restaurants, you will have no need to leave.  The Le Gaiac is one of the best restaurants on the island, and is searched out for by tourists and locals.  There are 15 villas within the hotel and offers private pools for all villas along with some of the most luxurious accommodations on the island.  This hotel is ideal for honeymooners and those planning to never leave their room.

 Hotel Le Sereno is on one of the island’s most secluded beaches, and offers 27 suites and villas that come complete with a private terrace, just steps from the beach, for each room.  The hotel’s pool is surrounded by daybeds, where you can relax all day while cabana boys serve you.  Here you will also find the Hotel’s Restaurant des Pecheurs, which serves some of the finest food on the island in their open-air dining room.  Another great resort is locally owned St. Barth Isle de France, and is set on a beautifully landscaped hill that leads down to the exquisite Flamands Beach.  This colonial-style surf and sand resort offers 33 rooms, suites and bungalows, two pools, a flood-lit tennis court and a Molton Brown spa with outdoor treatment rooms.  The Guanahani boasts their rank as one of the Leading Small Hotels of the World, and is located on a 16-acre private peninsula, which slants into a shallow lagoon.  This beach is perfect for young children and wading.  You can stay at one of their 75 rooms or suites, dine at one of their two restaurants, play in their tennis courts, and relax in their new Clarins spa.  And the 14-suite Preferred Boutique’s family-run Carl Gustaf features wonderful views and a private plunge pool in each of their suites.  And from the hotel you are able to walk to the shops in Gustavia, take a short trip to Shell Beach by foot, which is the best swimming beach on the island, and watch the sunset at the hotel bar.

The Caribbean’s St. Barts is widely known for its yachts and high-luxury partying, but there is a calmer and more affordable side to St. Barts.  But no wonder this destination is so popular with 17 free white sand beaches to choose from, there’s room for the spoiled and the sparse budgeted.

            Looking for an affordable spot to stay might seem hard, but it’s easier than you may think.  Here are a few low-cost spots to rest.  First is Salines Garden Cottages, a mini-resort consisting of five cottages, starting at 80 euros (about $116 at $1.45 to the euro).  All cottages are furnished with four-poster beds, palm-hidden terraces and new bathrooms.  Second are the 10 apartments at Auberge de Terre Nueve.  Rates start at 80 euros and include a rental car.  And third is the Sunset Hotel, with their 10 rooms starting at 73 euros.  Keep in mind though all hotels go up in price (between 15-60 more than the standard price) during the winter.

            In St. Barts your days can be filled with culinary experiences you’ll never forget, and not because their price, but their taste.  You can start off with breakfast at Le Creperie in Gustavia which serves a hearty breakfast including a crab omelet, bacon, fresh orange juice and coffee (14 euros).  And on to lunch, you can relax and enjoy your meal, such as sea bass cubes sautéed with julienned vegetables, at Café Victoire.  and when dinner arrives, treat yourself to a candlelit dinner at the Wall House Restaurant on Gustavia Harbor.

            During the day you can enjoy St. Barts for free on one of their many beaches.  More popular, but still uncrowded, is Saline Beach, where nude sunbathing is allowed.  Less developed is Gouverneur Beach, just east of Saline.  This beach offers great snorkeling and is surrounded by rocky cliffs that are home to wild goats.  And at night you can go to Le Select, one of the island’s few dive bars.  This is a loud pub decorated with bumper stickers and license plates, and where Jimmy Buffet found his inspiration for the song “Cheeseburger in Paradise.”  Another spot is a local’s favorite, Ti Zouk K’Fe on the far side of Gustavia Harbor, and the commotion often migrates from the courtyard patio onto the waterfront street.