This is NOT for the budget traveler, so take a dramamine and read on:

I shacked up in the Sea Villa with my beloved and our toddler after the Saint Barth's bucket regatta. I'd expected a nice house with good service on a not-too swim-friendly beach. Other places I have frequented on the island include the Cerulean villa, Cap J, Malliourundown, and Queasynart. Temenos' Sea Villa blew me away. None of the marketing tools do it justice. The service and welcome was outstanding. None of us wanted to return to our fully crewed 110ft yacht, if that says something.

Everything is fab. 4 couples can stay together and enjoy complete privacy in their incredible suites while a fifth can snuggle up in the "nanny room", which itself compares well to the finest double room you can find at any of the hotels. The house is so well laid out that we also felt perfectly comfortable to be just 3 people using one bedroom, which should say something about the privacy factor and how the place is laid out. The bathrooms.... well, they're even bigger than they look. The living area is large and cozily sectioned. The outside dining area is perrrfect for early sundowner dinners. The Butler is so spot on that ESP can be suspected. The chef, William, who serves the three villas, is very good and there is little reason to "go out" for meals. Housekeeping somehow happened twice a day but I can't remember ever bumping into the staff (again, ESP?)

It's just perfect. Cerulean is pedestrian by comparison. I especially liked having access to kitchen to grab myself a drink (if only to try to catch the butler with his crystal ball). Know that no cooking actually happens in the [professional-grade] kitchen unless you do it yourself - Chef William runs a StRegis kitchen at the entrance to the three-villa property. At cerulean, the kitchen is a more commercial operation that isn't somewhere you sneak into for a quick expresso. Most importantly, I NEVER SAW A MOSQUITO at Temenos. We were seriously chewed up at Cerulean, so I had my worries (and the boat was anchored in Road Bay "just in case" of mozzie-drama).

My last bit of gushing will be over the beach hut, which came as a complete surprise to me: once you've descended the stairs (about 100 ft vertical), passing a shower-nook and sandrinsing station, you hit a wonderful fully palm-shaded oasis with hammocks, a few tables and a hut run by Stephen. Naturally, he's got a major bbq tucked away in the bushes behind his bar and lunches and dinners by tikilights are a dream (Chef william is on hand as well of course). The beach is nice, but not great for swimming unless you have southerly breeze (rare), as the swell makes for a rough entry/exit and there is a reef running along the beach just ten feet off the break.

But hey... you can always drive over to Cap J or the Dune Preserve if you need a dose of beach perfection. When you come back, you'll still feel like you are the luckiest vacationer in the world. If you go, don't make a lot of plans to do stuff - after one outing you'll know that there is no real reason to ever leave the place.

A proviso. Our "Sea" villa has perfect exposure on the ocean and beach, right in front, and good exposure to the ventilating breeze (i.e. also likely to be very windy from xmas through Jan). The "Sky" villa I'm not so sure about since it faces more easterly and sits back "behind" on the property. The "Sand" villa looks nice and maybe more intimate than "Sea", but it sits in a bit of a hollow (less breeze, more chance of mozzies). The price difference is marginal to step up to "Sea" and its extra bedroom, and I am sure it is worth it.

I'm going back next winter.