View from a table for two at Brasserie Fouquet.
FRENCH CONNECTION
Perched high above Gustavia Bay, Hôtel Barrière Le Carl Gustaf sits at the pinnacle of luxury on the French island of St. Barth. Written by Bridget Williams
Location, location, location, as they say in real estate, is everything. The same could be said for the proliferation of luxury resorts on the chic tropical island paradise of St. Barth, where one in particular—Hôtel Barrière Le Carl Gustaf—stands alone. Its high hilltop location on the aptly named Sunset Hill provides sweeping views of Gustavia Harbor, Shell Beach, and Fort Karl, offering a simultaneous feeling of being away from it all but close to everything while enjoying the upscale service and amenities indicative of the family-run Hôtel Barrière Group. The result of a five-year build on challenging terrain, Le Carl Gustaf is executed as a series of standalone buildings that terrace
down the hillside. While densely packed onto the site, each of the 21 northwest-facing bungalows, most endowed with a private plunge pool and all crowned with a red metal roof, indicative of the architecture in the capital city of Gustavia, are enveloped by dense tropical landscaping that affords an incredible feeling of privacy. Guests are welcomed into the open-air lobby, which is also home to an outpost of the legendary Parisian restaurant Brasserie Fouquet as well as Spa Diane Barrière, named in honor of the hotel heiress who died in 2001 from injuries sustained in a plane crash. The spa's petite size belies the broad range of available face and body treatments. slmag.net
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