For those in search of an active and glittering night life, the choice is St Barts . Most of the island’s bars and nightclubs are filled with chic, well-heeled travelers…
For those in search of an active and glittering night life, the choice is St Barts . Most of the island’s bars and nightclubs are filled with chic, well-heeled travelers, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t overflowing with island flavor.
Le White bar
Recently rebranded by its new Louis Vuitton owners, the bar at Cheval Blanc’s Isle de France occupies a poolside perch of quaff sofa and teak-accented sectionals just a few steps from the sand. A dressy assortment of local guests, Cheval Blanc club members and hotel residents opt for an all-day menu that eases into more of a sultry sunset lounge with champagne sprits set against angst-y house DJs.
Hours : 11am-late, daily
Phone : (590) 590 27 61 81
www.stbarthisledefrance.chevalblanc.com/en/culinary-art/white-bar.html
Modjo
Its single-story bungalow façade was long a rotisserie eatery popular with those leaving Nikki Beach in a drunken haze; these days it’s a lively new bar that brings a bit of nightlife to otherwise sleep St. Jean. Inside and past a picky doorman, a full revamp exposes loft beam ceiling with industrial lamps accentuating a room of oversize sofas, booths and long bar with impressive mixology and premium drink selections. Walls feature a mix of pop art and built-in shelves of books and bric-a-brac that lend a charming, living room feel. Weekends feature promoted DJs as well as a seasonal calendar of events.
Hours : 7pm-3am, daily
Phone : (590) 690 66-1261
https://www.facebook.com/modjostbarts
First Floor
Its location above Le Yacht Club couldn’t be any better; the First Floor is a relative newcomer to St. Barth nightlight located on the upper-terrace of the famous building facing showy Gustavia Harbor and all its high season decadence. Visitors ascend to the upper-level lounge and bar space and into a sophisticated space arranged in putty-colored walls and glossy white trim. A townhouse-style décor includes opposing white sofas with monogramed pillows and wingback chairs flanking oversize windows overlooking the water. High ceiling are framed by white double beams opposite high-gloss tile floors surrounded a long galley-style bar attended by a set of sexy lady bartenders and staff that services a collection of tables offering nightly bottle service ranging from Rose` to magnums of champagne.
Hours 7pm-2pm, daily
www.caroleplaces.com/
Le 88
Its location couldn’t be better in the middle of Gustavia’s Carré d’Or, privy billionaire fashionistas that stalk shops like Hermes and Cartier. Now the street is also home to this Santorini-inspired lounge and eatery known simply as “Le 88”. Arranged under a covered courtyard off Rue du Port, a lively courtyard is arranged in umbrellas and cushioned outdoor chairs popular for lunch and late night drinks. Inside, a more serious dining room is found with open-kitchen and chill setting of iced buckets of white and sparkling wines offering a menu of tzazikis, hummus, calamari and grilled fish dishes ideal for long lunches and casual village dinners. Afterwards, a patio lounge and outdoor bar perks to life once it’s dark with live lounge acts and rotating DJs in a space that’s quickly become a St. Barts hotspot.
Hours : 12pm-12am, daily
www.jetsetreport.com/
Le Select
It not the usual bar that we’d send you to whilst on one of the world’s most glamorous resort destinations, but Le Select is an anomaly of local St Barts bar and nightlife. Best experienced on a quiet day in off-season when the bad weather makes landing at the local airport or lying out at the beach less than ideal, locals gather with neighborhood celebrities for casual beers, Ti punch and a comfort food menu of cheeseburgers in paradise. A mixture of ‘60s hippies looking to reinvigorate love culture with visiting 20-something girls, the indoor/outdoor location gives way to impromptu rock performances by former-musicians that have seen the better days.
Hours : 11am-2am, daily
www.st-barths.com/fr/saint-barthelemy-guide/night-life-st-barts.html
Le Ti
It looks like a stage left over from Pirates of Penzance but cast in short-skirt, Jimmy-Choo strutting socialites on their winter holiday from glamour capitals like London, New York and Milan. Mutiny comes in form an early evening dinner scene that’s anything but about the food. The bordello-inspired space is cast in shades of scarlet red with vaulted wood ceiling and single-room bar surrounded in photographs of various party debaucheries and topped off with a feather-trimmed chandelier. In a neighboring room is a small pub-style dining room enveloped in cherub statuettes, satin drapery and chatty staff eager to tattle on the season’s wildest escapades. The after-dinner scene kicks off around 8pm as the island’s older guard grab a table and indulge in the tavern’s lengthy wine menu and champagne cellar. The younger crowd sets-in well after midnight in a fashion show of excess busting a move to classic rock and pop tunes by DJ Frankey.
Hours : 7:30pm-2am daily, closed Sunday.
www.ksplaces.com
Le Yacht Club
It’s the chicest place to be on the harbor, aside from on the bow of a 150-foot Azimut surrounded in bikini clad companions and latest soccer star du jour. Created by Carole Gruson, a must-know name in St. Barts who also owns nearby Le Ti, this waterfront supper club and lounge Is one of the hottest social scenes in St. Barts throughout high season. Perched above the white fiberglass landscape of endless luxury yachts and their ever-chic inhabitants, the space offers an early evening supper club scene with menu of continental French and seafood flavors that transitions by 9pm into a full-out nightclub with harbor champagne scene dotted with celebrities like Ron Perelman and Mariah Carey. Le Yacht Club is arranged in slip-covered chairs and fluffy oversize sofas in cool all-white palette with floor-to-ceiling walls of glass that open to an outdoor terrace. By midnight the space takes the turn of a full-out nightclub with disco lighting and tabletop dance scene of models, actresses, and simple billionaires looking to showoff at the Caribbean’s hottest winter address.
Dec. 25th – Jan. 9th 2010: VIP Room and Jean Roch are taking over Le Yacht Club. Look for the Paris/St. Tropez nightclub to throw late-night parties that are wilder and more-lavish than ever before at Le Yacht Club.
Hours : 6pm-2am, daily
www.ksplaces.com
Nikki Beach
You’d think it were a local political faction given the polarization of local residents to the St Barts outpost of Nikki Beach. Some think it’s neuvo riche at its worst with champagne showers, topless sunbathing and hip-hop noise. Everyone else thinks it’s the chicest place to be lying belly-up to the sun with magnum of Dom, oily bronzed models and yacht-hopping billionaires never more than an ass grab away. Nikki Beach occupies a strip of St. Jean sand that takes a bit of navigating to get to if arriving by town. Once there, however, it’s an all-white beach club paradise of nonstop DJs spinning Jay-Z and Rihanna tunes to one of the sexiest clusters of bodies you’ll find on the island. The space is divided between an indoor dining room and lounge of canvas director’s chairs emblazoned with Nikki logo overlooking a sandy beachfront of teak cabanas draped in endless swags of white fabric. The action lasts from 11am till around 5pm, where that quintessential scene of tabletop dancing and girl-on-girl make out sessions unfolds at the end the day. By 7pm the show is usually over, as everyone sobers-up, packs into their cars and makes their way back to town for evening dinner and nightlife revelry.
Hours 11am-7pm, daily (Nov. – Aug)
www.nikkibeach.com
