St Barths is a French island, as is evident from the name, but it is no secret how popular our Caribbean island is among travelers from the United States. Thanksgiving has an interesting role to play in this dynamic, as high season restarts in St Barths around mid-October as hotels, restaurants, and more begin to reopen. By the time Thanksgiving weekend rolls around, the island is just beginning to hit its stride with new openings and reopenings, offering a host of joys to visitors. This makes St Barts ideally placed as a vacation destination for US travelers on Thanksgiving weekend.
Unsurprisingly, this was a busy Thanksgiving weekend in St Barts. Demand was high, which is why Tradewind Aviation added additional shuttle flights to St Barth during the Thanksgiving season.
In St Barth, Thanksgiving is at 90% and Festive is at 75%
Stiles Bennet, president of WIMCO Villas
This high demand manifested in more than one. A large number of regular travelers to St Barths prefer to book villas instead of hotels for their stay. According to Stiles Bennet, president of WIMCO Villas – a premier villa rental agency in St Barth, “In St Barth, Thanksgiving is at 90% and Festive is at 75%,” in terms of villa occupancy. This is in spite of the ongoing pandemic, and in big measure heightened by it, as more travelers look to book entire villas for privacy and safety concerns. What this means for you is that if you are planning a trip to St Barths, it is in your best interest to book well ahead of time to ensure you have ideal choices available to you. Here are Thibault’s villas BelAmour and Maison Domingue for your consideration 😉
Aerial view of Maison Domingue in Pointe Milou
St Barth Art Week 2021 Photo Festival concludes
Organized by the Artists of Saint Barth Association along with the Collectivité de Saint Barthélemy and the Tourism Board, the Photo Festival ran from November 23 to December 2, 2021. On Thanksgiving Day the second opening party of the festival occurred at Hotel Christopher with the unveiling of Greg Lotus‘ By The Pool exhibition.
Legendary photographer Marco Glaviano‘s completion of 50 years in St Barts was also celebrated during the festival, with a solo show at the newly reopened Rosewood La Guananhani. The opening reception on Nov 27 was such a roaring success that many could not enter due to overcrowding.
Thanksgiving specials at Nikki Beach and Amis
More restaurants, both old and new, got in the spirit of things to offer Thanksgiving specials. For example, while Nikki Beach Saint Barth is renowned for its Sunday celebrations and New Year’s Eve bash, this time the luxury beach club also hosted a Thanksgiving lunch and a fall-inspired Thanksgiving dinner at the beach.
Le Barthélemy‘s brand new restaurant Amis also organized a special Thanksgiving menu with chef Vincent Gomis.
Le Ti St Barth reopens to much fanfare
Le Ti is a true blue St Barth institution and its reopening was an event that predictably created waves among St Barth regulars. This private club and Caribbean tavern reopened on Thursday, November 18, and was completely booked for the weekend that immediately followed. Thanksgiving weekend also saw similar attendance. Seen in the Instagram post below is St Barths habitué Victoria Silvstedt.
Did you celebrate Thanksgiving in St Barths? Share your experience with us and our thriving community of St Barth insiders on Facebook and on Instagram.
