Gustavia Culture: Le Select Bar, Eden Rock Art Collection, Saint Barthelemy Spa Wellness, the Finest Caribbean Wine Lists, Fashion and Film Connections, and the Gustavian Local Community
The cultural depth of Gustavia encompasses the historic Le Select bar where yacht crews and locals mix, the Eden Rock museum-quality private art environment, the luxury spa wellness economy, the finest wine lists in the Caribbean, the French fashion industry connections, and the distinctive Breton-descended Gustavian local community.
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Gustavia Nightlife: Le Select and the Bar Scene
Le Select, the open-air bar in the center of Gustavia established in 1949 and one of the inspirations for the Hemingway Bar tradition in Caribbean literature, is the most storied bar in Saint Barthelemy and the natural gathering point of the local population, the yacht crews, and the winter season visitors in an atmosphere of complete informality that contrasts with the luxury hotel formality of the high season. The Gustaf Bar and the Eddy's garden bar complete the intimate Gustavia nightlife circuit.
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The Eden Rock Art Collection: Private Museum Quality
The Eden Rock hotel art collection, assembled by the late owner David Matthews and including works by the major 20th century artists alongside the personal memorabilia of the rock-and-roll and film worlds, creates a hotel environment in which each room contains a museum-quality art environment accessible to the hotel guest in a setting of exceptional architectural drama. The Eden Rock is the most significant private art environment in the Caribbean open to overnight guests.
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Saint Barthelemy Wellness: The Spa Economy
The Saint Barthelemy spa and wellness economy, centered on the hotel spas of the Cheval Blanc, the Le Barthemian, the Christopher, and the Villa Marie Saint Barth, provides the complete luxury wellness experience in the French Caribbean setting, with the combination of the beach access, the French skincare and treatment tradition, and the island calm creating the wellness retreat that competes with the Maldives and Bali in the international luxury wellness market.
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Vins Saint Barthelemy: The Wine Culture
The Saint Barthelemy wine culture, imported through the French system and curated by the island restaurateurs and wine merchants with the seriousness that the French bring to the oenological subject, produces the finest wine list in the Caribbean across the spectrum from the Grand Case village restaurants to the harbor boutiques. The island's proximity to Guadeloupe, which produces the finest French Caribbean rum agricole, and its EU status create the most complete alcoholic beverage environment in the Caribbean.
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Saint Barthelemy Film and Fashion Connections
Saint Barthelemy has served as the location for multiple fashion campaigns, music videos, and film productions attracted by the combination of the extraordinary natural beauty, the French cultural cachet, and the discretion of the island community in not identifying the celebrity visitors who choose Saint Barthelemy for the combination of luxury, privacy, and the Mediterranean light quality that makes the island the Caribbean choice of the French and international fashion industry.
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The Saint Barthelemy Local: The Gustavians
The Saint Barths local population of approximately 3,000 permanent residents, descended from the Breton and Norman settlers of the 17th century with the fair skin and the French language that distinguish them from the Creole Caribbean population of the neighboring islands, has maintained a distinctive cultural identity centered on the straw weaving craft of Corossol, the traditional fishing culture of the north coast villages, and the hospitality industry employment that has transformed the island economy from the subsistence agriculture of the 19th century to the luxury tourism of the 21st.