Five Fantastic St. Barth Rental Villas
Five Fantastic St. Barth Rental Villas
by INHABIT EDITORS
New Year’s Eve is the height of the St. Barth season, when megayachts pull into the harbor, champagne corks pop in every villa and restaurant on the island, and it’s time to boogie until dawn. And with three months of winter ahead, the fun is just getting started.
Plan your first escape of 2023 at one of these spectacular homes, available to rent by the week.
Casa Tua
Casa Tua is in the surfer’s paradise of Lorient, with the perfect beach off of one side of the house and the popular La Petite Colombe bakery right across the street in the other direction. Lorient is considered the best beach by many, as it’s neither too crowded nor too isolated. With one end protected by a reef, Lorient’s waters are ideal for swimming or snorkeling. The area is quiet, but there are small grocery stores and burger stands nearby or take a short drive to Gustavia for more extensive dining and shopping.
Recently completed, this very new villa has four bedrooms, each with en suite bathrooms, sleeping up to a total of eight. There’s a fun outdoor sunken conversation pit, with large benches that can serve as daybeds if chatting turns into napping. Most delightfully, there are steps from the deck directly on to the beach, with Lorient’s famous surf break right in front of the house.
Villa Nureyev
The former home of legendary ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, this villa in Grand Fond is an extraordinarily special property, in an untamed and unspoiled part of the island, next to the côte sauvage, or the wild coast. Nureyev wanted to feel as if he was dancing above the waves and so he commissioned the enormous floating teak deck, entirely surrounded by the ocean, where there now sits a heated pool, whose panoramic view gives swimmers a similar sensation of floating directly in the ocean. Or, for those who dare, one can hike down to edge of the cliffs of Grand Fond where the ocean water is trapped between the cliffs to form breathtaking natural tidal pools that are some St. Barth’s most secret and photogenic swimming spots. Amazingly, the villa is minutes from Hotel Le Toiny, which can provide daily breakfast to the villa or guests can walk to its excellent restaurants for lunch or dinner.
This four-bedroom, four-bathroom villa can host a total of eight guests, with a king-sized bed in each bedroom. There are two primary suites off of the living room, each with an adjacent bathroom, while a third bedroom suite has a kitchenette and a private terrace. The fourth bedroom is in a separate bungalow, with its own outdoor shower. There are multiple communal living spaces including a separate dining room with a bar. There’s also a piano, a pool table, a heated pool, a spa, and a hammam cabana.
Villa Ixfalia
A stay at Villa Ixfalia means a front-row seat to the glamorous hotspots of St. Barth, with its hillside location above St. Jean. The St. Jean Beach is the most popular stretch of sand on the island, divided in half by the iconic Eden Roc hotel. Eden Roc has long been the place to see and be seen, with habitués including Greta Garbo in the 1950s and Beyoncé in the 2000s. The beach also has an amazing view of the dramatic plane descents into Gustavia and calm, clear waters. There’s plenty of dining available, whether it’s the raucous Sunday brunch at Nikki Beach where dancing on tables is a common occurrence or a snack of great paninis at Kiki-é Mo. Of course, eating at one of Eden Roc’s restaurants is de rigeur, with all menus overseen by Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
The villa sleeps eight, in four bedrooms with king-sized beds and en suite bathrooms. The primary suite is located in a separate bungalow, and three of the bathrooms also boast outdoor showers. Another bungalow is set up as a home gym. The large heated and angled infinity pool has a magnificent view of St. Jean Bay, with plenty of seating nearby. The living areas are the ultimate in indoor/outdoor living, and the entire villa is decorated in calming, neutral tones, with wooden accents.
Villa Thelma
In the 1950s, Edmond de Rothschild picked the quiet, rarely visited neighborhood of Marigot to build his St. Barth hideaway and the area has remained an under-the-radar spot for those in the know. This expansive villa, with its open layout and secluded location is the perfect place to escape the crowds and unwind in your own personal paradise. If you decide to venture out for a meal or nightlife, Marigot is a quick drive to both Pointe Milou and Grand Cul de Sac. Grand Cul de Sac has all the beach amenities anyone could desire, while a night out at the celebrated Le Ti St. Barth in Pointe Milou is a favorite with both locals and tourists.
This four-bedroom villa, each with its own en suite bathroom, sleeps eight people. In addition to the heated pool, there’s a private home theater and a fitness room. The kitchen is very long, with two sinks at each end, and two ranges and ovens, so there’s never a worry about having too many cooks in the kitchen. Plenty of room for group meals both indoors and outdoors as well.
Villa Utopic
Corossol is one of the few spots in St. Barth where you can catch a glimpse of what island life was like before the arrival of movie stars and tycoons. It’s a small fishing village where you can still buy some of the traditional woven straw baskets and hats that sustained the island’s economy before tourism. The colorful dories, or fishermen’s boats, bob in the water next to the beach and some of the simple, older homes still remain in the village. Villa Utopic is a short drive from St. Barth’s capital of Gustavia, where there’s all the name-brand shopping and dining your heart could desire, should you tire of the simple life in Corossol.
With five bedroom suites, two recently just completed, Villa Utopic is the perfect rental for a large group. The house sleeps ten people and boasts an extra-long heated infinity pool, plus a covered terrace with a barbecue and an outdoor dining area. There’s a fitness room as well, and the villa’s colorful decor includes photographs by the Dutch artist Desirée Dolron in many rooms.
