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St. Barth is one of my favorite places in the world because it is, in fact, the perfect destination - and I always turn to WIMCO and their incredible array of luxury villa rentals to find the ideal accommodations for my stay. WIMCO is the top villa resource and service for securing villas on the island because, from start to finish, they make your trip as easy as humanly possible. I booked a 7-night stay at a stunning villa with them recently, Villa Voyage, in the area of the island called Colombier.
Colombier is not only beautiful, with easy access to two of my favorite beaches, Plage Colombier and Plage des Flamands, but it is within a ten minute drive to charming Gustavia and the seaside village of St. Jean. From the time my stay at Villa Voyage was booked, the on-island team at WIMCO helped me organize my connection flights from nearby St. Maarten to St. Barth, assisted with my car rental booking, made restaurant reservations for myself and my guests, and even offered their services for pre-stocking the villa with food and beverages. WIMCO takes the idea of concierge to a different level when booking a villa through them. It's a full service option, and one where you don't have to think about a thing if you don't want to.
Villa Voyage is a stunning, newly-renovated 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom villa owned by renowned travel journalist and filmmaker, Pierre Brouwers. A born traveler and documenter of places, cultures, and journeys - Mr. Brouwers has infused his love of the world and travel into the villa and its stunning gardens.
Villa Voyage is striking and, unlike many of the other villas on the island, offers ample land and an easy driveway to navigate for those who choose to stay here. It’s an ideal spot for a family stay, friends trip, or celebration. Driving through the red gate and into the large car park, the sight of the villa, grand in every way, with a peaceful infinity pool, is enough to take your breath away.
Villa Voyage offers an open layout with two large bedrooms on the upper level, one with a private terrace, open kitchen, dining area, living area, outdoor dining room, lower level with two bedrooms, and phenomenal infinity pool with views over the famous rock landing at St. Barth airport, and Gustavia in the distance. The villa has everything one would need for the perfect stay including a sound system that you can easily connect to with bluetooth, outdoor pingpong table, select gym equipment, and real privacy. Although there is so much to see and do on the island, it is hard to want to actually leave the villa considering how comfortable it is.
Once I landed in St. Barth, I was met by my dedicated WIMCO concierge at the airport. He helped me with my car rental and I quickly followed him ten minutes up the road to Villa Voyage. He gave me a 30-minute orientation of the villa, including instructions on how to properly use everything from lighting to the sound system, WiFi to kitchen gadgets. Before he departed, he offered his WhatsApp number for easy communication and that is such a benefit, because it creates a direct line of access to someone who can help do everything from booking a private chef, to organizing massages. I quickly unpacked and settled-in for an afternoon of sunbathing by the pool before my other guests arrived later in the evening.
Villa Voyage is modern in style and decor, with large windows and doors to allow the natural daylight to bathe over its interiors. Though I spent many nights dining out at some of my favorite restaurants like Baz Bar and L’Isola, I stayed-in too, connecting my Netflix and Amazon accounts to the huge television in the living room and simply laying back to watch a few movies that had been on my list for a while. After all, that’s what vacation is all about, right?
WIMCO stayed in touch with me daily to be sure my needs were met, from needing extra towels for the beach, to making sure we had all the supplies we needed for lunches made at home. We spent one morning on the sand at Plage Gouverneur and WIMCO set-up beach chairs and umbrellas on the beach for us before we arrived, to take the physical labor out of our beach experience. This made all the difference in the world that day - to allow us to just focus on the fun, instead of hauling chairs and umbrellas out on the sand.
As my 7-day trip was coming to a close I had really settled-in to Villa Voyage and, quite frankly, didn’t want to leave. The villa Mr. Brouwers owns and offers to select clientele is special in both its spot on the island, as well as the energy that it imparts on guests. There is an ease on-property and an air that this is your home while you are there - inviting you and your guests to enjoy warm nighttime swims in the pool, an impromptu game of ping pong, or simply having meaningful conversations on the terrace with a piña colada in-hand, while looking out over the horizon. This villa is one of the most unique the island has to offer.
On departure day, our WIMCO concierge arrived to help us load luggage into the cars and head towards the airport. He had printed our boarding passes for international flights, and made sure we got through immigration easily. WIMCO is all about details and these details can be the difference between a good trip, and a phenomenal trip. That is why they are always my personal choice when visiting this magical island is the Caribbean Sea.
