The Bucket weekend is over and it was a great success. The weather was exceptional and the addition of the vintage World War II air show over Shell Beach was a sight to behold. Nautor Swans’ 100S model sailing yacht VIRAGO won the overall prize.

Be sure to mark your calendars to be here next year. It will be held March 22-25, 2012 and you should book early. Many of our villas are situated on the hillsides affording views of the sailing yachts as they race by.

Have you received or purchased the April issue of Condé Nast Traveler magazine, yet? I just found out that I won Condé Nast Traveler’s Villa Rental Specialist Award again this year! Wendy Perrin created the list 6 years ago and I have been honored to have made the list every year (Wendy says it is harder to stay on the list than to get on the list in the first place). Only 44 agents worldwide made the list and I was named as the best for St. Barth! Merci beaucoup, Wendy!

In celebration of receiving this prestigious award, we are pleased to join in Condé Nast’s truth.travel promotion by offering a 10% reduction on the weekly rate at select villas. Bookings must be made between March 29 and April 30, 2011 for a 7 night minimum stay commencing March 29, 2011 and ending no later than November 15, 2011. You must mention the Condé Nast Villa Rental Specialist award and their site, truth.travel to your Villa Rental Specialist in order to receive this special price. Please call 1-800-421-3396 or email reservations@stbarth.com. (This offer is valid for new bookings only.)

Here is an excerpt from the article:

“There’s nothing like the privacy and luxury of a rental villa. But to get it right, you’ve got to know who to call. Herewith, the world’s 44 top villa rental specialists, painstakingly vetted by Consumer News Director Wendy Perrin and team. These people can make your vacation dreams come true, whether in a Paris pied-à-terre, in a hilltop hacienda in Spain, or on a private island off Sri Lanka. Go on, live a little!

Six years of putting villa rental agents through their paces—renting from them, accompanying them on villa inspections, interviewing them, hearing feedback from readers—have produced this list of the experts best qualified to match you with the right property. The agents on these pages have visited every home they represent (all handpicked for their authentic sense of place), have slept in many of them, and re-inspect them at least annually. They have cultivated local connections and use these on behalf of Condé Nast Traveler readers. Getting on this list requires filling out a 47-question application and sending documents that include sample house books, sample driving directions, checklists used to evaluate properties, and at least one client reference. Staying on this list is even tougher: It requires proving user-friendliness, conscientiousness, and honesty time and again…”
Wendy Perrin