Pointe Milou, St Barts: Views, Privacy and Which Way the House Faces

Pointe Milou is the point of land on the north-east side of St Barts, between Lorient and Marigot, where the island gives over a whole hillside to villas. People come here for two things, the views and the privacy, and they accept the rest: a drive to every beach and to most dinners, and a few questions to ask before booking that matter more here than anywhere else on the island.

What it is like to stay here

The point is rock and houses rather than sand. Le Christopher, the one hotel, trades a beach for a long infinity pool, which tells you what the neighborhood is. The nearest sand is at Lorient on one side and at Marigot and the lagoon of Grand Cul-de-Sac on the other, both a short drive. What you get instead is the sea spread out below the terrace and the light changing through the day, which is a large part of why people fall for St Barts in the first place.

The one caveat that is specific to the hillsides: the island runs a steady program of roadworks, especially in the quieter months, and a hillside spot’s peace and easy access can depend on what is happening on the roads nearby. Ask your villa host directly about any current works before you book, so that a calm retreat does not turn into a daily detour. Phone signal also drops at times in the hills around Vitet and Dévé, which is worth knowing before a week of remote work. Our guide on where to stay puts the hillsides beside the beach bases.

Sunrise side, sunset side

Pointe Milou has a sunset side and a sunrise side. It sounds like a detail and it decides your evenings: on one side the terrace faces the light going down over the water, on the other you get the first light of the day. Ask which way a house faces before you book it, and ask for photographs taken at the hour you care about. Le Christopher sits on the side where the drive out is part of the evening, and the sunset from there is the quiet reason to go early.

Eating on the point

Two addresses, and both worth knowing. The table at Le Christopher is genuinely good, one of the better hotel restaurants on the island, and you do not have to be a guest to book it; our best restaurants guide says why. Le Ti St Barth is the other, the dinner-and-cabaret institution of the island, with costumes and a show that runs late, open through the season and at its peak in the New Year week. Everything else means a drive, mostly to Gustavia, and a driver booked ahead if the evening is meant to end late.

Villas on Pointe Milou

This is a villa neighborhood before anything else, and the houses here are chosen for the view. The villas in Pointe Milou are listed with their position on the point, which is what tells you whether your evenings face the sunset.

Who should stay somewhere else

If you want sand at the bottom of the garden, this is not it: Flamands or St Jean put a beach at the door. For evenings on foot, with dinner and a drink a few streets from the door, Gustavia is the only place on the island that offers it. Pointe Milou is for the view, the quiet and the villa week, with the car as the thread between them.