I arrived back in St Barth November 5th in time to settle in, visit some new villas and welcome friends and family who were arriving November 9th for our much anticipated annual Beachside Bash. This year the party was an extra special one because the upcoming “Season” marks the 25th anniversary of when I founded St. Barth Properties. The party was held at the elegant Hotel Taïwana’s new Casa Flamands restaurant on Flamands Beach the 14th of November.
St. Barth Specialist Kathy Schlitzer was also on St. Barts doing inspections with me. She and I were looking at the new changes at Villa Ocean’s 5 in Flamands that included a wonderful new kitchen, a brand new heated pool and two new comfortable sofas in the living room. I love Villa Ocean’s 5 because the configuration makes it an ideal choice for families with younger children and the view is fabulous. To book, contact [email protected] or 1-800-421-3396.
It was a week before the Bash so I suggested that we swing by the Taïwana to check it out because the hotel is under a huge renovation. As we approached the hotel we could see that there was a lot of activity with construction workers everywhere. I walked into the empty restaurant and continued on towards the beach when I looked over to the right and saw the swimming pool. Yikes! It was empty! Not one to panic, I noted that there were men inside the pool painting it, so I saw that as a good sign that perhaps that meant that the pool would be filled soon. The hotel kept reassuring me that all would be fine so I stopped being concerned about it.
Sure enough we arrived at 7:00 pm and were escorted along a candlelit path to one of the three bars where I ordered une coupe de Champagne and mingled with the guests while the Casa Flamands staff passed by with trays of delicious hors d’oeuvres. The very talented singer Soley walked around serenading the guests and continued to do so throughout the evening. We had a DJ too which made the atmosphere really festive. Silver was the theme of the party because we were celebrating the 25th anniversary of when I created St. Barth Properties so we surprised the ladies by giving each of them a silver tiara to wear. So chic!
Time for my speech. The 200+ guests consisted of SBP clients, villa owners, hotel partners, service partners and staff from both the St. Barth office and the US office. Everyone was seated and I thanked them for joining us in the 25th anniversary celebration. Every guest played a part in making our company what it is today. I also thanked my son and VP Tom Smyth for his partnership and my husband Steve for allowing me to live my dream. Finally, I unveiled our Silver Anniversary Live Your Dream catalogue which is our best yet. (If you would like us to send you one, please email [email protected]. I think you will love it enough to make it one of your coffee table books.)
When I finished my little speech, Tom surprised me with a gift. I opened it and was thrilled to see that it was a hand painted caricature of our global St. Barth Properties team. Julia Hurd, our concierge in my US office came up with the idea and, with the help of Magda Votava, our concierge in my St. Barth office, commissioned a local artist to do the painting. I love it! If you were unable to attend, I hope that I will see you at next year’s Beachside Bash.
Click here to see all of the photos from our Silver Anniversary party.
