I've just returned from a 7 night stay at Emeraude Plage in St Jean, St. Bart's. I decided on this hotel on the recommendation of a close friend. I have to say I was not dissappointed. This hotel has a lot going for it.

It is a low key place with an execptionally friendly staff and great location. It was the perfect place for my first visit to St. Barts. It is directly on the beautiful beach of St. Jean. It is in walking distance to the 'town' of St. Jean where there are shops and restaurants, as well as walking distance to the airport, grocery store, bank , or pharmacy. The close proximity to all of these services was nice because driving in St Barts can be a bit harrowing to say the least.

The room or cottage I stayed in (#4) was about 50 yards from the beach. It did not have an direct ocean view, but I was aware of that when I booked the room. Every cottage has an very pleasant outdoor patio with a seperate little kitchen which I found to be clean and in great condition.

The kitchen also has a can of bug spray which you will DESPERATELY need. The mosquitos are relentless on St Barts. But one spray in the morning around the patio kept them away all day long!

The actual rooms are clean, comfortable, and a nice size for one or two people. It is not a 'luxury' space or hotel but for the money it is much much nicer than I was expecting. I found the beds and bedding to be clean and very comfortable. Very nice sheets and pillows!


The only thing I did not care for about the cottage is the lack of privacy. The cottages have windows on two sides which is very nice but people constantly walk by on the way to the beach or the office and can easily see inside your room. There are curtains but its a shame to block out the views of the gardens--which I must say the garden is very lovely.

Overall I would highly recommend Emeraude to anyone going on a first visit.

We ended up in St Barths on January 31 and we decided to stay...so started making calls. Most hotels were over $1000 a night and we really got lucky with one cancellation at Emeraude and so grabbed it. We really lucked out, apparently they get booked a year in advance. I had no desire to even see other hotels and if I went back I would stay there again, and again...
Our room was amazing, although some were being revamped and others had aleady been done. The only tiny thing which could have topped our room would have been an ocean view, as ours overlooked greenery, but the beach just to the left and just as close. The place is beautiful, all the bar and beachfront furniture has been replaced with beatiful, modern, white woven. The beach is stunning. A few kids, couples, some families, teens -a real mix...but all in good taste...no loud people drinking and screaming. We ate breakfast every day by the beach, and often went next door for lunch at The Beach at Toms. To the other side...Eden Rock. Cocktails in town around 5, Dinner out every night, you want to do that in St Barths, and rent a car, bring all your nice clothes...

St Barths is a lovely island and St Jean is a gorgeous beach with the added attraction of the airport. The Emeraude Plage has a private beach on rocks raised up above the sea and is between Edden Rock and Tom Beach. Being raised up is useful in high tide! The hep bar on the beach is fantastic - gorgeous breakfasts and french snacks at lunch and great cocktails too. The girls that work there are very friendly. We had Bungalow 7 which backs on to the garden area but is not too near to the road. It was great and for €220 a night great value for where you are. Very clean, nice wet room shower and the kitchenette was very useful.
The big car park was useful as well.
I really couldn't fault this hotel and we already booked to go back next year.

As winter starts to invade... I just can't help daydreaming about getting to St Barth again.
Well, let's talk directly about the hotel (as I could just continue for pages just about paradise on earth...).
I've been to Saint Barth 3 times, stayed in 3 different places.
I've been to Tropical Hotel, then Filao and finally Emeraude Plage which was a couple years ago.
I'm now starving to go back and will definitely go back to Emeraude.
The location is one of the best on the island, the bungalows are comfortable and fully equiped... even the smallest and cheapest ones are within 1 minute from the beach (Saint Jean is definitely my fave).
The Hepy Bar (which seems to be Club Eau de Mer now) was nice, people from the hotel were always great with us (I was staying with my brother) and we spent wonderful holidays.
I was thinking for a time I missed the Filao swimming pool, but how can you complain about a swimming pool while bathing in a 30° sea and running every couple of hours to your room to shower and think about which beach you're going to try next...
We finally spent most of our time... at the Emeraude.
Hopefully going back soon!