St Barts Island :: Anne Dentel

In a new issue of St Barth Weekly, Anne Dentel, the new president of the Saint Barth Hotel Association, talks about a few things that might be of concern to our American tourists when they visit St Bart Island :: the value of the American dollar and the delays at St Martins airport.

Anne is a friend from the island, and I value her opinions very much.  Not only does she know every single villa on the island very, very well, she is the go-to person if you need to find a villa at the last minute.  So, when I saw her in the paper, I just had to share her thoughts with you!

First up, Anne tackled a subject that’s on everyone’s mind: the decline in the value of the American dollar.  According to Anne, the euro/dollar conversion rate is not going to affect the number of visitors to the island this year, but it may change the spending habits of visitors while they are on the island.  Herself and villa owners are more worried about next year and the low season as those reservations have not yet been made.  However, Anne is quite creative, and is investigating putting together some packages and deals to help bolster visitors and keep our little economy humming right along.  Stay tuned; if there are any deals to be had, I’ll certainly pass them along!

Next, the delays at St Martin airport.  This has bothered me for quite some time.  Once you go through customs and leave the states, you go nowhere but St Martin.  Once in St Martin, it’s not like you leave the airport before you hop on a plane to head here.  Yet, you must go through the same procedures over again; it really gets quite tiring.  What’s worse, with these delays, many visitors that arrive to St. Martin after 4:00pm find that they are not able to catch a flight over to St Barts until the next day, or they are forced to take a boat over. As president of Saint Barth Hotel Association, Anne is working with other members of the association, and the president of the island council, Bruno Magras; their goal is to get this process working more efficiently so you can get here and start enjoying your vacation!!

Anne is a great resource for all things St Barts related.  She was an excellent choice to head up the Hotel Association, and I’m sure her work will be wonderful.  Remember, if you’re ever in a pinch and need a villa at the last minute, she’s the gal to call!