Pearl Beach Hotel

With a name like Pearl Hotel, and a location like Saint-Barthélemy, you can guess you’re in for something glamorous. And it is, if cool white decor and the warm blue Caribbean and a party-all-night atmosphere — the kind with DJs on the turntables, free-flowing tropical cocktails, and fire-eaters dancing in the sand — are your thing.

The goal is to appeal as much to locals as to stylish travelers. With a killer location on the white sandy beach of St. Jean and just fourteen rooms, it’s a perfect scale: small enough to feel exclusive, and to prevent huge crowds of hotel guests from overwhelming the local scene, but large enough that you don’t stick out like a sore thumb at happy hour. Original artwork turns the hotel into a dynamic gallery space with frequently changing exhibitions, while La Plage, the terrace bar and restaurant, keeps the party resolutely going.

While the atmosphere at the Pearl is decidedly social, guest rooms are far from perfunctory. The hotel’s rooms and suites are welcome refuges from the busier scene outside: think high ceilings, four-poster beds draped with white fabric, soaking baths, and private terraces with direct beach access, plus amenities from iPod docks to flat-screen TVs. Other inducements include a freshwater swimming pool, a picture-perfect continental breakfast, and a private beach outfitted with white umbrellas and chaises loungues .

Enjoy the relative solitude while you can: come sunset, La Plage starts getting busy as the hotel’s French chef turns out gourmet takes on freshly caught Caribbean seafood. Later, order a Planteur’s Punch and watch the action unfold: once this party gets rolling, it won’t stop until the wee hours of the morning.