ONE THAT SPARKLES EXTRA BRIGHT
FOR large groups who want their own space, say for a milestone party or family gathering, Villa Susanna is hard to beat.
Set high on the headland above Marigot Bay, it is so outrageously stylish that passing motorboats would slow down to try to get a better look.
Completely private in a three-acre garden, the villa comprises a 65ft pool, six two-bedroom suites and a one-bedroom apartment, all linked by wooden walkways snaking from the main building. Eyrie-like up a steep set of stairs from Marigot Bay, our suite offered incredible ocean views from the bed, the hot tub and even the shower, as the shutters and doors fully retract.
The main building is similarly open to the elements, merging lush garden and hammockslung verandas with a huge social space with vaulted ceilings, massive sofas and vast dining table. It also features a kitchen, where private chef
Fabien Vigee rustled up traditional dishes with a twist – including green banana rosti with avocado and chicken smoked in coconut husks – using seasonal ingredients from his own farm.
Here, it’s easy to fall into a routine: pre-breakfast swim in the pool or head down the private trail to the beach, followed by ‘house chef’ Lucilla’s lunch of creole fish, salad, Caribbean flat bread and fresh pineapple in the gazebo, then an afternoon lazing in hammocks.
Villa Susanna, which sleeps up to 14, costs from £1,680 per night, or £120pp (blueskyluxury.com).