Cheval Blanc St-Barth
Hotel
Baie des Flamands, Saint-Barthélemy 97133, St. Barthélemy
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Highlights
Beachfront resort with chic rooms, villas, fine dining, spa
Baie des Flamands, Saint-Barthélemy 97133, St. Barthélemy Get directions
Beachfront resort with chic rooms, villas, fine dining, spa
Baie des Flamands, Saint-Barthélemy 97133, St. Barthélemy Get directions
"A quintessential barefoot beach restaurant with tables set right on the sand, exemplary service, and a menu that satisfies both adults and kids; the fresh fish-and-fries proved a hit with children, while dishes like a standout lentil salad are not to be missed." - Lindsay Cohn Lindsay Cohn Lindsay Cohn is a writer, editor, and avid traveler who has visited 45 countries across six continents — and counting. She contributes to Travel + Leisure, Hotels Above Par, InsideHook, Well+Good, The Zoe Report, and more. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"A high-end island hotel popular during the peak January season, attracting visitors seeking luxury accommodations and buzzy beach-club culture; booking early is advised due to heavy tourist traffic and limited regional flight capacity." - Lydia Mansel Lydia Mansel Lydia Mansel is a writer with more than eight years of experience editing and writing for both brands and online publications—with a particular focus on travel, fashion, and lifestyle. She’s also the founder of the travel site justpacked.com. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"The only Palace in the Caribbean, this beachfront property on Flamands Beach offers white‑sand shores, about 61 accommodations including seaside bungalows, interiors by Jacques Grange in a subdued, nature‑inspired palette, and a focus on personalized, world‑class service in a relaxed island setting." - Mary Winston Nicklin
"Set on Plage des Flamands on St. Barts’ northwestern tip, the property opened in 2014 and, after absorbing a neighboring resort in a 2019 renovation, is now the sole hotel on this large, quiet beach; it is owned by LVMH and holds the French government's 'Palace' designation, making it the Caribbean's only 'Palace'. Private-feeling whitewashed buildings connected by wooden boardwalks wind through dense tropical gardens, with interiors by Jacques Grange in a cream-and-beige palette; the reviewer washed up in a breezy outdoor shower and was serenaded by small "whistling" tree frogs. The 61-key property offers 14 room categories (half suites) ranging from Tropical Rooms to two-bedroom Beach Suites with private terraces and infinity plunge pools, some accommodations offering 24-hour butler service, and a largest standalone Villa de France with five bedrooms. Culinary offerings are led by French chef Jean Imbert: the beachier La Cabane serves local fish, fish fritters and a ceviche of wahoo, while La Case presents more elaborate plates — the reviewer had the oeuf-surprise — "a lobster-stuffed avocado covered with a trompe l’oeil black-sesame-vegetable-ash "skin" — and chicken cooked inside a crust of cocoa-nib-flecked brioche" — and there is an on-site boulangerie/patisserie called Le Kiosque producing baguettes, croissants and other breads and pastries daily. The recently renovated spa (reopened late October 2024, interiors by Isabelle Stanislas) features Guerlain treatments including the "Sweetness of the Antilles," during which the reviewer had hands and feet treated with a vanilla-scented scrub before a relaxing massage with heated shells in place of hot stones; there are also medi‑spa offerings (the reviewer did a micro peel and cryo facial that left their face sculpted and glowing all day), and the spa beds were described as "without exaggeration, the most comfortable I’ve experienced." The property offers two pools, a small gym and a pavilion for yoga/Pilates and outdoor treatments, boutiques with local jewelry, guided hikes (including to Colombier), the Le Grand Bleu full-day boat experience with snorkeling and a Champagne picnic, family activities and concierge-arranged private dining and excursions. Practical and sustainability notes: shops and restaurants in Gustavia are about a 10-minute drive (the airport at St. Jean roughly half that), common air routes connect via St. Martin (SXM) or San Juan (SJU), the resort has 80 solar panels powering thermodynamic water heaters that supply about half of hot-water needs, a solar-powered desalination unit is under development to meet daily water demand, and single-use plastics have been eliminated from guest rooms and restaurants." - Hannah Walhout Hannah Walhout Hannah Walhout is a senior editor at Travel + Leisure, where she edits the Discoveries section of the print magazine and develops longer stories focusing on food, wine, and spirits. She has previously worked at Food & Wine and in the writing program at NYU Abu Dhabi. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"In a hidden corner of St Barts, down a steep and winding mountainous road, you come to a Gauguin-like canopy of lush green vegetation, beyond which the half-moon sandy perfection of Flamands beach reveals itself and the Cheval Blanc Isle de France reigns supreme. Low-built and quietly sprawling, the property was elegantly renovated following Hurricane Irma by Parisian design supremo Jacques Grange, whose interiors speak to a chic European aesthetic of quiet indulgences: linens and ikat prints; palettes of pale greens, blues, and pinks; and raffia, bamboo, and stone accents. The atmosphere is almost Parisian (Bulgari hosts a fashion show here, and there’s a Guerlain spa on the premises) but with a devil-may-care attitude. Young French culinary star Jean Imbert’s Creole-inspired menu at La Case (and laid-back beach restaurant La Cabane) is light but gastronomic, and the cocktails are sublime. I spend my lunches with feet in the sand at La Cabane, watching a parade of Birkin bag–carrying Upper East Side ladies power-walking along the beach, moguls on their phones doing business, and boho French girls running into the waves in tiny Eres bikinis. It reminds me of Saint Tropez’s Plage Pampelonne, but a lot less frenetic, and with an ambience that’s both relaxed and indulgent. My assigned butler WhatsApps me when my room is done or a spa appointment is due. But it’s my private yoga sessions in the garden’s pagoda with the late Alber Elbaz’s personal instructor, Nicolas Legrez, that I won’t forget in a hurry. —Vassi Chamberlain"
