Why book?
We all need glamour sometimes – and nowhere in the Caribbean delivers glitz quite like Eden Rock.
Hotel address: Eden Rock Hotel, St Jean Bay, St Barthélemy, F97133, French West Indies
Website: edenrockhotel.com
Phone number: +590 590 29 79 99
Price from: from about £770 per night
Set the scene
Built on a quartzite outcrop in the middle of beautiful St Jean bay, the red rooftops resemble butterflies clustering on a rock. St Barth’s is the Caribbean’s party island, and Eden Rock started it all. These days, it retains a sophisticated French older sister cool. Everyone who visits the island turns up here eventually.
The backstory
Eden Rock was founded in 1953 by Rémy de Haenen, a rogue and smuggler. He was the first person to land a plane on what was then just a jagged isle. Once he built a guesthouse on the rock he’d seen as he flew in, others followed: Greta Garbo, Jack Cousteau and Robert Mitchum among them. In 2017 the hotel was mostly destroyed by Hurricane Irma but the Matthews, who took over in 1995, have built back better.
The rooms
Many of the suites are named after the Matthews’ children and one of the newest – where the famed On the Rocks restaurant once stood – salutes daughter-in-law Pippa Middleton. The uneven rock forces the accommodation into variety, and the decor follows. Some are calm and gentle with rattan wallpaper, carefully picked art and Camus by the bed. Others are glittering dens filled with mosaic, long sofas and plunge pools. At the top is the Columbus suite, vast at 2,200 square feet, with views across the whole bay, and one of the best-situated desks I’ve ever seen. But really, why would you work?
