Orient Beach

After my short but fabulous time in St.Barths, I returned to St.Maarten for a stay in an apartment rental in Orient Beach. The apartment - a 2nd story 1 bedroom plus loft - was cutely decorated and had great amenities including laundry, internet, cable, a balcony and access to a swimming pool. Plus, it was only a 2 minute walk to the beach, restaurants and a small market. My days were all about the beach, and evenings involved either take-away pizza from the market (the most delicious!) or dinner at a local restaurant and a late night swim in the pool. Pure rest and relaxation. Although I did venture out to Baie Rouge on the other side of the island for some beach time, my only real outing was a day trip to the nearby island of Anguilla. Once a British territory, Anguilla is a peaceful, quiet place with high-end hotels and powdery white beaches. After landing at the ferry port, I grabbed a taxi to the beach at Shoal Bay, rented a beach chair and ordered some cocktails. I also grabbed some lunch at a local barbecue stand before heading back to St.Maarten on a high-speed ferry with yet another stamp in my passport.

Only the ocean and me...

Because I had wheels, I was able to explore a few of the the excellent beaches in St.Barths. Most of the ones I did visit, I had almost completely to myself...

Only a one minute walk from my hotel, Anse de Lorient is a surfer's beach with rolling waves and powdery sand. With no beach clubs or chair rentals, the beach seems quiet...but not too quiet. It's also a short walk to a mini-mart and grocery that sells prepared cheese plates, baguette, fruit, sandwiches, and cold beer and wine. There are two small snack-bar style restaurants close by - Bouchon and Jojo Burger.

Anse de Grand Saline is a stunning, pristine, seemingly secluded beach. Reachable by a 10 minute winding path shaded by trees followed by a rocky climb, it's totally worth the walk. I was literally the only person on the long stretch of beach at one point. There is nothing at this beach so it is absolutely necessary to bring some water and snacks. Although, there are a few restaurants (recommended by my guide book) just near the parking area.

Baie de St-Jean is the most famous beach on St.Barths and is where the jet-setting, special people get away from their yachts to play in the sand. This powdery, calm stretch of beach I visited is flanked by the posh Hotel Eden Roc and the Nikki Beach Club - the very famous celebrity party spot.

I could never pick a favourite but Saline does get top marks as I actually visited there twice during my short stay. There are nearly 20 different beaches on this tiny island, all of which are open to the public - which definitely means I will still have a lot to see when I return again someday soon.

Budget St.Barths

Although I had hoped to travel with a few friends, my latest trip back to the French West Indies was destined to be a solo one. While it would have been more affordable…and fun…for the three of us to travel together, there was no way I was going to cancel my plans to get away, especially given the recent drama in my career.

I decided to again visit my favourite island in the Caribbean, St.Martin, and used two of my favourite online resources Homeaway and VRBO to locate the perfect apartment for my stay on Orient Beach. But, sadly, my perfect apartment was not available for my entire 14 night stay so I decided to consider a visit to nearby St.Barths for the remaining 3 nights that I still needed accommodations for.

I’m sure most of you think the words “budget” and “St.Barths” don’t really belong in the same sentence, unless the word “unlimited” is included.  But, surprisingly, St.Barths is way more affordable than one might suspect. I am always motivated to find a good travel deal so with lots of research on blogs, Tripadvisor and travel web-sites, I managed to find some bargains I am so happy to share. St.Barths is an exceptionally beautiful place and people shouldn’t be so daunted by its pricey reputation; especially when so many Canadians travel to nearby St.Martin, which is only 15 minutes away by air.

I started this trip with a reasonably priced, direct flight to Princess Julianna International airport on the Dutch side of St.Maarten. I arrived too late to catch a flight to St.Barts (the last flight leaves around 5:30 pm) that night so I spent the night in the French capital of Marigot at an inexpensive hotel overlooking the pretty marina. The following morning I caught a taxi to the small L’Aeroport Esperance on the French side for my short flight to St.Barths. I had carefully packed to ensure my bag was well within the set limits for traveling on a small aircraft – no more than 20 kg per person to be checked and no more than 10 kg carry-on. Trust me - this was very difficult for a two week trip and for someone who really, really likes her shoes. The check-in was simple and as it turned out, I was only one of 2 people on my flight. The flight wasn’t exactly cheap (at $190 US return) when compared to taking a Ferry from Marigot ($100 US) but I really wanted to experience an inter-island flight and see St.Barths from the sky. The flight was beautiful and short at only 15 minutes. The descent into St.Barths did make me feel a little nervous because I am afraid of heights but I am definitely glad I did it. I would not, however, recommend it to people who don’t like to fly.

I was greeted at the airport by the lovely Olivier, my representative from Welcome Car Rental who transported me to my hotel so we could take care of my rental car agreement. While I hadn’t planned on renting a car, my hotel recommended Welcome and I was so glad they did. As cabs are few and expensive on this small island, it would have cost me €20 Euros each way to / from the airport. Instead, I paid €25 Euros per day to have a car at my disposal to discover all of the beautiful beaches on the small island. No deposit. No strings. Just €75 (approximately $110 CN) paid upon return – a fantastic deal! My car, a small SUV, had 4-Wheel-Drive, which is necessary with all of the mountain roads and a pre-programmed GPS system to help me easily and safely travel throughout the island. I will say the roads are a bit daunting – mountain roads with steep inclines and descents, fast, impatient French drivers, scooters and lots of construction – but after my first drive around the island I felt very comfortable finding my way. You can contact Welcome through their web-site here.

My hotel – Normandie Hotel - was also perfectly lovely! Not only because it was extremely stylish, affordable and cleaner than any hotel I have ever stayed in – but because the staff of the hotel was so personable, helpful and nice. Eula, Melane and owner, Wendy, made me feel like I was visiting with friends rather than staying in a hotel. While I was given plenty of space to do my own thing – they were always available to recommend a good beach or restaurant. My rate per night – a measly €105 (approximately $160 CN) – included accommodations in a renovated room beside the pool complete with satellite TV, wireless internet and a cool, modern bathroom. It also included a fantastic breakfast (coffee, juice, croissant and baguette) which can be taken beside the pool or inside the lobby area. And, at 5 pm the ladies offer you a nice glass of wine. A hotel with free wine – does it get any better?  Yes. It does. The hotel is a short (1 minute walk) to a fantastic beach (L’Orient) and some markets where you can purchase wine, cheese, baguette etc. I kept my trip affordable by eating from the markets, where they will happily make you a sandwich for €3 and picking up snacks for a picnic at the beach.

I did venture out for dinner in the pretty capital of Gustavia with Wendy, the owner of the hotel. We visited Harbour, a restaurant along the pretty marina and I had a nice glass of rose, a Thai style beef salad and finished it with some amazing coconut ice-cream.

I was actually quite sad to leave St.Barths. I had met some really nice people and felt like I was just getting my bearings for the island. It is a really beautiful place – there is a reason fancy people love it. But now that I know I can visit without breaking the bank, I will have to come back more often.

It's not what you lost...

The e-mail simply read: Are you getting on an airplane? I wasn’t. But…maybe I should be? I mean, why not? So at 3 pm I booked an evening flight to Los Angeles. I booked the hotel just minutes before a taxi whisked me and my disorganized suitcase off to the airport for one seriously last minute adventure.

But I think I should really back it up a few steps before I get into the details of this trip, which was considerably impulsive even by my standards.

For those of you who don’t already know, my job will be ending in a few months as my employer has made the decision to close their Toronto office leaving most of their sixty employees without work…including me. One might think that I’d be angry or frustrated or sad or even scared by this situation. And, while I am certainly sad to part ways with my amazing friends and cool job, I am honestly quite okay with how everything has turned out. I am happy, healthy and extremely grateful for the amazing fourteen years I got to spend working on something I am very passionate about, with some amazing friends and seeing a bit of the world along the way. Most people rarely find the time (or money) to pursue something new in life, especially at my age. So I plan to make the best of it.

And I get to leave on a high note…how very Costanza of me.

But what does this have to do with my trip to Los Angeles?

I actually got the news about my job right in the thick of a press and promotional event I had been planning for almost an entire year, with special guests and friends flying in from far and wide. But what should have been a sad and awkward weekend ended up being one of the most fun and special experiences of my career. Mostly because of the great group of people I got to know over the course of the weekend. So, when one of my guests invited me to another press event in Los Angeles, I thought, why not?

After landing in L.A. and smartly taking the affordable Super Shuttle ($16/person), Lyndsey (my colleague and travel partner-in-crime) and I checked into the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel and were surprised to find that I had been given the exact room I had stayed in on my last trip – 924 – directly beside the room that is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Montgomery Clift. You can read my previous visit here. The 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom suite was perfect. How lucky! After ditching our bags in the room, we made our way down through the beautiful, historical lobby to 25 Degrees and indulged in a martini and a delicious green chile cheeseburger (veggie burger for Lyndsey) with fries AND onion rings. With the time change, we were eating these burgers at 2 am – which meant it was 5 am in Toronto. That's my kind of breakfast.

Another colleague – Kelly – arrived on Saturday, just in time for some lounging in the sun by the Roosevelt’s famous pool with a steady flow of margaritas, mojitos and prosecco keeping us cool. Following that we headed out to our evening event – a screening of a film directed by our friend. After technically working the previous event back in Toronto, it was nice to be at this event as a guest and show our support for our very talented friend. It was a super fun night topped off by drinks at a local pub and finished by yet again another green chile cheeseburger.

Unfortunately I somehow forgot to bring my camera in my packing haste but I did get a few snaps on my blackberry. I guess I will just have to go back to LA to get another pic of that burger.

GoldenEye: Double-O-Heaven

I don't have a good excuse. I took way too long to finish this post which is strange; because it was truly one of the nicest days I have spent in quite a while.

As a lover of hotels and the Bond books and films, I had long wanted to visit this famous beach hotel that was once the private home of Ian Fleming on the very beach where James Bond was first imagined. Called GoldenEye, the hotel has been built on Fleming’s original property including his own cottage on a pristine stretch of beach in Oracabessa, Jamaica.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may recall that I visited another Jamaican property in the Island Outpost family of hotels – Jake’s – just last summer. You can read those posts here, here, here and here. My experience at Jake's was so amazing that all signs pointed to visiting their fancier (meaning more exclusive and expensive) sister property, GoldenEye, as soon as I could. Renovated and re-launched just last fall, GoldenEye (and all Island Outpost properties) is owned by Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records who was raised in Oracabessa and is best known for helping to introduce Jamaican music and culture to the rest of the world. Now a luxury resort, GoldenEye offers rooms starting at around $400 a night and has 2 restaurants, a bar and a spa. You can check out their very cool website here.

As I was again traveling in Jamaica for wedding this past April, I had the crazy idea to steal away from my all inclusive resort and make the 2 hour road trip to Oracabessa. But GoldenEye is uber-exclusive with people like Beyonce and Bono (you know, like people with only one name that starts with “B”) staying at the hotel so I knew just showing up on their doorstep would not work. I decided to contact GoldenEye directly through their website and they were happy to make a lunch arrangement for me at their restaurant. I impulsively booked a table and crossed my fingers a few friends might like to join me.

I would have gone alone but I didn’t have to! My new friends Melissa, Norm and Spiro (fellow guests of the wedding) were also up for a crazy adventure to the land of Bond. We booked a driver, Andrew, to take us out for the day and packed up our swimsuits and cold beer. Andrew picked us up in his sporty car and Norm rode shotgun to keep the Jimmy Cliff pumping and ensure we were never without a Red Stripe in our hands. After a quick stop in Ocho Rios for some shopping at the dodgy market, we headed to the town of Oracabessa, about 90 minutes south of Ocho Rios to find the entrance to GoldenEye hidden amongst the greenery and without a sign. How cool are we? We were warmly greeted at the hotel and were given a quick tour of the facilities starting with the beautiful lobby filled with Fleming and Bond memorabilia.

Our amazing lunch was served at their open air, ocean-side restaurant. Melissa and I started things off with the GoldenEye, their signature cocktail featuring their own Blackwell Rum. We also split the jerk chicken taco appetizer, which I followed up with a vegetable curry. We didn’t pass on dessert, which was brilliant because it was crazy good. We sipped a digestif and were surprised to discover that Spiro had secretly (and generously) picked up the entire tab. So very sweet.

After lunch we decided to take a dip in the infinity pool. Newly nicknamed Octopussy (Melissa) and Honey Ryder (moi) and still tipsy from the rum, we moved from the pool to the ocean and then to the famous lagoon that inspired the lagoon scene in Dr.No. I never wanted to leave there. Ever. But, I think perhaps we may have been overstaying our welcome, so the time came to say farewell. But not before we were lucky enough to get a quick tour of one of the rooms from the hotel manager. The beautiful villa overlooking the lagoon featured a four poster bed, outdoor shower and open air soaker tub. I imagine it would be the perfect honeymoon getaway. Maybe I’ll come back when I finally meet my Bond…or some other guy with a one-word name that starts with “B”.