St. Barts welcomes back the rich and famous

On December 26, Heidi Klum posted a video on Instagram sunbathing topless on a semi-deserted beach in Saint Barthélemy, commonly known as St. Barts. It was just one of the many videos the German supermodel posted during her Christmas vacation on this Caribbean island, a popular winter destination for the rich and famous. Certainly, she isn’t the only famous face who has made their way to the island. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have been spotted driving electric vehicles, shopping for jewelry, and enjoying a swim at a private beach. Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, chose this place to celebrate her 54th birthday with her future husband and friends. And sports legends Mike Tyson and Michael Jordan come here to cruise on their yachts. Other celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Beyoncé, Jerry Seinfeld, Paris Hilton, Paul McCartney, Ivanka Trump and Mariah Carey have also been spotted enjoying the island’s charms. What makes St. Barts so appealing to the very wealthy? An irresistible combination of seclusion and prestige.

St. Barts is where Hollywood goes to relax and unwind. The tiny French-speaking island east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands is just nine square miles (24 square kilometers) in area. It boasts 22 white-sand beaches and crystal clear waters, and is populated by only 10,289 permanent residents (per the 2019 census). The seven luxury hotels and numerous private villas provide ample privacy for a supermodel to sunbathe topless without any tabloids noticing. But the little hideaway in the French Antilles wasn’t always like this. “In 1957, a stroke of fortune befell the island when a captivated David Rockefeller built a seaside dwelling there. A steady stream of affluent Americans soon started flocking to this haven, seeking their slice of paradise,” wrote journalist Mónica Montero in a 2020 article for EL PAÍS. A New York Times piece in 2022 described the island as a humble place until 40 years ago. Job scarcity forced residents to migrate to St. Thomas, where workers from St. Barts formed a fishing village in the 19th century. St. Barts lacked an electrical system until 1980.

Nearly 70 years later, St. Barts is a very different place, and the internet is full of hotspot tips where you might bump into a celebrity. We know that J. Lo stays at the luxurious Cheval Blanc Hotel, which has also hosted Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Sean Diddy Combs, Ryan Seacrest, Madonna and Marc Jacobs. Flamands, Eden Rock, and St. Jean are among the top-rated beaches, with St. Jean being particularly renowned for its famous Nikki Beach club. Gustavia’s port is a lively hub where actors, entertainers and tycoons on luxurious yachts converge. The town is a popular spot for shopping and dining with its charming cafés, and a mix of French-Caribbean haute-cuisine restaurants such as Bonito, Le Ti St. Barth, and Maya’s.

One of the great attractions of St. Barts is its duty-free status, making luxury products considerably more affordable. The island is home to renowned brands like Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada (in a unique, colonial-style boutique), as well as esteemed jewelers like Cartier. St. Barts is also known for its beauty, health and wellness treatments. The Guanahani Hotel houses the highly-regarded Clarins, one of the top spas in the Caribbean. The nightlife is another draw, boasting several exclusive clubs where the likes of Leo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire can party without worrying about paparazzi.

Besides being an earthly paradise and mini tax haven, the island’s allure lies in its privacy, which starts with the challenge of getting there. The easiest way is to travel by yacht or private plane. The unfortunates on commercial flights must first fly to the neighboring island of Saint Martin, and then take a small plane ($250) or a ferry ($70) to St. Barts. Hotels and resorts can be quite discouraging for budget travelers. Room rates start at a hefty $800 per night, often demanding a minimum week-long reservation. Future Hall-of-Fame pitcher Justin Verlander and his swimsuit-model wife Kate Upton once made headlines for renting an 11,000-square-foot villa for an astonishing $450,000 per week.

But there’s some trouble in paradise. As the New York Times article reported, an ongoing legal dispute has pitted dwindling numbers of local residents fighting to preserve the environment against billionaire hotel magnates seeking to expand their domains for wealthy one-percenters. The local government maintains that 60% of the island is designated as a non-buildable green zone, but there are numerous accounts of the rich and famous purchasing property in these protected areas. Islanders sarcastically joke that the U.S. dollar is the true green zone and suggest that the national symbol could be a construction crane.

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