Le Sereno

St. Barthélemy has more excellent hotels per square kilometre than almost anywhere else on earth, which makes the continued supremacy of Le Sereno all the more remarkable. Designed by the late Christian Liaigre in 2004, the hotel has not been substantially redesigned since — and it doesn't need to be. The aesthetic is complete.

Thirty-nine suites face the calm lagoon at Grand Cul de Sac — one of the few beaches on St. Barths where the water is genuinely protected from Atlantic swell. The architecture is low-slung and horizontal, painted in warm whites and naturals, with teak detailing that has aged to exactly the right shade. Nothing shouts.

The beach here is shallower and calmer than most on the island, which makes it particularly suited to morning swims and watersports. Windsurfers and kite-surfers use Grand Cul de Sac regularly, and watching them from a sun lounger with cold rosé is a very specific kind of perfect afternoon.

Every suite faces the sea. The interiors are Liaigre at his most restrained — dark wenge, raw concrete, linen the colour of sea salt — with none of the ornamental excess that dates so many Caribbean hotel rooms. There are no televisions facing the beach. That space is reserved for the view.

The suites range from junior suites at 590 sq ft to the three-bedroom Villa Sereno with its own private pool. For a couple, the Grand Deluxe Suite — with a terrace just metres above the waterline — is the right choice.

Il Sereno, the restaurant, is the best in the hotel category on the island. Lunch is the main event — grilled fish, pasta, cold rosé, French island ease — and the setting, with tables on a deck above the water, is the kind of thing that makes you feel you've arrived somewhere that does not try.

Dinner is equally composed. The menu changes with the season and the catch, and the wine list is the kind that takes an hour to read properly. Service is French in the best sense: attentive but not intrusive, warm without being familiar.