Be ready to pay

Okay, how was the first day on the St-Barth island? Well, I like the place (on the photo - Abramovich's villa, click to enlarge, info - below).

So, what is St-Barth actually? The island was named after Christopher’s Columbus son – Bartelemy (the famous sailor came here once). The population of St-Barth is 8700 people, the size of the island – is 21 square kilometers. It is the luxury headway for those how can afford to spend 25 euro for the French fries. Locals says: “If you wanna live at St-Barth, you have to work hard”. It’s impressively expensive. If you want to stay here as a visitor, also prepare your bank account.

What is special about this island and why it is so unique? It’s a kind of private commune for wealthy people who want to have absolute privacy.

In the beginning of the year Abramovich bought here the villa (it used to be owned by a successful internet trader). He paid 70 million euro. And what is interesting – he had no chance to buy the beach and make it private. All beaches are public. So even if you pay a lot, you will never have a private beach here, on St-Barth.

By the way – this guy is vegetarian. I didn’t know. The owner of a restaurant Xango where mr Abramovich comes sometime told me that. So if you want to catch Russian star – come and try the food. It’s not horrible.

Let’s go back to the story. The island is different. There are some luxury areas, there are some villages where locals live and it’s totally different. As I wrote before, I am staying at Le Toiny. One of the best hotels on the island, the member of Relais&Chateaux assosiation. Is it good? Yes, it is. The good thing about this hotel: it’s not in the tourist center. So, it’s always calm here. And very private.

And very peaceful.

Oh… And very luxury. The hotel has only 17 villas, so it’s the real private hideaway. Believe me, you will not suffer from any noise (except singing birds)...

I like very much the privacy, the location and the panoramic views (the hotel is on the hill and I am the fool on that hill who writes to my blog instead of walking around).

Take master villa (it has 2 separate guest houses and can easily be transformed to the family nest). You will never regret. I will post some pictures tomorrow.