Vacation Like Jagger

St. Barth. When I hear those two words, I think white sands, cocktails at sundown on the deck of a yacht and the freshest seafood prepared in ways that rival Eric Ripert’s creations at Le Bernardin. If you want to join me, book a flight to the island and arrange a stay at the very private, insidery Le Sereno, a small family-owned hotel on 600 feet of Grand Cul-de-Sac beach, one of only a handful of properties with all-but-private sweeping beachfront. Le Sereno is also the first hotel in St. Barth to receive the five-star classification under the revised French standards.

You’ll be whisked through customs at St. Maarten airport and driven to your lodgings. Suite or villa? That’s up to you. I’m leaning toward the latter, because there will be six of us, and four bedrooms will be necessary (as will the private garden and pool).

Le Sereno, built in 2002, is the vision of designer Christian Liaigre, whose attention to architecture and design has produced an indoor-outdoor continuum of light and nature. A 2,300-square-foot spa and restaurant round out Le Sereno’s offerings. Suites from $620 per day per couple, villas from $4,890 per day (low season), at lesereno.com.