NDtraveler

I am planning a trip for my 10 year wedding anniversary (next spring) and wanted the gurus of this forums input.

I am looking at the Christopher Hotel (hooray for earning points now) vs the Park Hyatt St Kitts.

I would use points for the PH SK but flights are more expensive (extra 2K overall in business). I would earn a nice chunk of points for the Christopher.

None of our friends have been to either so I have not been able to get first hand input. We love beaches, diving, snorkeling and general water activities. We are also adventurous and would like do some hiking.
Thanks!

nas6034

Without knowing what you like to do I’ll give my view.

Did both islands on one trip. You could always fly into St Martin and make a short hop to St Kitts or even a shorter hop to St Barts.

St Barts has a totally different vibe from the other Caribbean islands I’ve been to. The approach for landing is very cool. For one, it’s a French island with French vibes. The local currency they use is Euros and as you probably already gathered it is expensive. The other is that you want to explore the plentiful dining options of the island so you’ll need to rent a car to go places. If you like to party they do a lot of that on this island from the day time beach clubs (I suppose like St Tropez) to the evening night outs. It is indeed a very safe island albeit quite small. Cabs are not plentiful and they don’t have Uber or the likes. A negative that I read online either here or somewhere else is that it’s New York Upper West Side winter destination.

St Kitts isn’t really on the traveler’s trail. PH felt more to me like stay at the resort but there are plenty of offsite activities. Their beach isn’t great but the view is fantastic. They do have a bunch of cool, free activities like chef kitchen, rum tasting, croquet, etc…. The globalist breakfast is great. There is a beach that is walking distance, off resort, which is definitely much better but it can get packed with cruisers. Definitely more cabs available. Plenty of offsite excursions like volcano hike, ATV, port area, and Nevis to explore. I did the ATV excursion and it was really great!

mrfussion

Note: Hotel Christopher is out in Point Milou. While St Barts is small, the busiest parts of the island are St Jean and Gustavia of which you’ll be about 15 minutes and 20 minutes from respectively. You really need to rent a car on St Barts and be comfortable driving narrow, windy roads. Hotel Toiny is nicer than Hotel Christopher and also joined Hyatt through Mr and Mrs Smith. Toiny is similarly away from the main part of the island, but the drive would be about the same to St Jean or Gustavia. I prefer the Toiny area to the Point Milou area. There is hiking in Toiny (and also on the other end of the island out to Colombier).

As far as the island comparison, I’m not sure this forum is the best place, but I will simply say St Bars is different from the rest of the Caribbean (even other upscale islands like Anguilla). If you like bougie lunches and fancy dinners on an extremely beautiful and safe island you’ll love St Barts. And of course you have wonderful beaches with all the water sports like most spots in the Caribbean. If you are price sensitive, if your travel style is to stay at your hotel, or you're looking for the experience of sitting at a reggae bar in your swimming trunks I would not recommend St Barts.

NDtraveler

Thanks for the comments! I think I would be comfortable driving in St, Barts. Thanks for the input on hotels as well and I will certainly check out Toiny.

moondog

I went to St Barts often with my family when I was growing up, and we eventually settled on staying in villas, some of which (e.g. FIT comes to mind) are really nice. Since you end eating at lots of different restaurants, on sight dining options aren't super important. I agree that renting a car is key, regardless of where you stay.