Most regulars to St. Bart's knew it as the Sereno Beach, a bungalow-style hotel that's been a fixture on the island's eastern coast for more than 30-years. Guests arriving to the resort feel instantly transported to southern France, minus the traffic of course, boasting a sophisticated resort environment of kempt colonial-style architecture and urbane interiors. Recently renovated by designer Christian Liaigre, best known for New York's Mercer, the beachfront resort offers a sparse lobby area of white-wood siding, polished-teak floors and industrial fixtures that add an authentic patina to the mostly new space. Undoubtedly a luxury resort, the outdoors area is decidedly casual with decked-infinity pool surrounded by simplistic lounge chairs and mattresses reeking of well-perfumed sunbathers and spilt champagne. In-house Restaurant des Pecheurs features circular whitewood banquettes and canvas chairs, serving an eclectic French seafood menu overlooking the Caribbean. Le Sereno Bar and Lounge is one of the hottest nightspots on the island's seemingly casual with a yacht-hopping contingent of celebrities and logo-wearing New Yorkers.

The Room:

Bungalow-style rooms, 37 to be exact, with pitched-beam ceilings and ocean views face the cobalt-blue water of Grand-Cul-de-Sac. Each walking distance to the hotel's private beach, even in sandals, the rooms offer canopied four-poster beds draped in silk netting with deliciously soft linens and fluffy pillows. Powder-white walls offset teak wood-floors and shutters with slip covered furnishings that are functional as well as stylish -- this isn''t one of those painful boutique hotels. Flat-screen televisions and in-room iPods lend a modern, connected touch and make-up for the resort's spotty Wifi service that even the 24-hour butler can't explain. Bathrooms feature bento-box size sinks of veiny-black marble suspended on teak countertops, with Ex Voto Paris bath products, custom-made towels and thick-robes for runaways to the in-house Le Sereno spa.