Park Hyatt St. Kitts Review

I had watched the construction and development of the Park Hyatt St Kitts for several years and was dying to stay there, but just hadn’t found the opportunity to fly to St Kitts and check it out.   That opportunity finally arrived in the form of my 50^th birthday.

Traveling to the Caribbean in peak season can be brutally expensive.  Both hotel rooms and flights are priced very high, making the trip a real budget buster.  Luckily for me, my birthday is in May, so we would be traveling during the shoulder season in the Caribbean.   Airfare and hotel rates are reasonable when traveling to just about any island in the Caribbean during May and June and the weather is still perfect, so it’s a great time to go.

This “birthday gift” was a quick trip with my wife – 2 nights at the Belle Mont Farm and 3 nights at The Park Hyatt St Kitts.   Two completely different hotel experiences on the same island.  This review will focus on the Park Hyatt St Kitts Christophe Harbour.

Park Hyatt St Kitts Location

The Park Hyatt St Kitts is a relatively new Caribbean resort located on the Southern tip of St Kitts, in a development called Christophe Harbour.  It opened in November 2017 and is the first (and currently only) Park Hyatt in the Caribbean.

Christophe Harbour is a luxury residential and resort development spanning 2,500 acres of the island’s southeast peninsula, with ultra-luxe homes, a super-yacht marina, Tom Fazio-designed golf course, The Park Hyatt St. Kitts, and a private Pavilion Beach Club.  No expense has been spared in building out this portion of the island!

The centerpiece of Christophe Harbour is the marina and village, which has a handful of small boutiques, a coffee shop, and accommodations for yachts up to 300 feet in length.

The Park Hyatt St Kitts is on the opposite side of the peninsula, with views of Nevis, which is just a short boat ride across Banana Bay.

Rooms at the Park Hyatt St Kitts:

The Park Hyatt St. Kitts Christophe Harbour has 126 rooms, including 48 suites.  The rooms and suites are in 18 separate, three-story buildings that are spread across the property.

Each building has a different room type on each floor with the 3rd floor having the suites and the 1st floor having the base level rooms.

• ADA King and ADA Queen Room – 1 king or 2 queen beds.  527 square feet with roll-in shower
• Park King and Park Queen Room – 1 king or 2 queen beds.  527 square feet with roll-in shower
• Beachside King and Beachside Queen Room – 1 king or 2 queen beds.  527 square feet
• Sea View King and Seaview Queen Room – 1 king or 2 queen beds.  527 square feet
• ADA Park Suite – King bed with a separate bedroom and lounge area, plus a private terrace.  708 sq feet with roll-in shower
• Park King Suite – King bed with a separate bedroom and lounge area, plus a private terrace.  708 sq feet
• Beachside Suite – King bed with a separate bedroom and lounge area, plus a private terrace.  678 sq feet, located on the first floor
• Sea View Suite – King bed with a separate bedroom and lounge area, plus a private terrace.  678 sq feet, located on the second floor with views of Banana Bay
• Nevis Peak Suite with Plunge Pool – King bed with a separate bedroom and lounge area, plus a large, private terrace with a plunge pool.  678 sq feet, located on the third floor with views of Banana Bay
• Park Executive Suite with Plunge Pool – King bed with a separate bedroom, lounge, and area, plus a large, private terrace with a plunge pool.  775 sq feet, located on the third floor with views of Banana Bay
• Penthouse Suite – King bed with a separate bedroom, lounge, and area, plus a large, private terrace with a plunge pool.  1,119 sq feet, located on the third floor with views of Banana Bay
• Presidential Villa – (5,000 sq ft, 3 bedroom Villa on the far end of the property)

There are more room and suite variations here than at any resort I’ve stayed at.  The most important thing to be aware of is the meaning of “beachside“.  We originally had a beachside room but when we walked into it we noticed something we did not like.  The rooms have sliding glass doors that walk out to the hotel grounds and beach.  This sounds nice on the surface, but what it means is that you are staying in a fishbowl for everyone to look in and see when your curtains are open.    People are walking the grounds all day long so anyone can look into your room at any time and you are definitely going to want to keep the curtains open to see the beautiful views.

Luckily for us, we were staying in May, which is a slow time on the island.  I call the front desk and requested a higher level floor.  They informed me that those are all suites and I could upgrade for $100 per night.  I jumped on the upgrade and it was definitely a great decision.  We stayed in a Park King Suite which had a ton of room, a large terrace, and beautiful views of Banana Bay.   The suite was amazing!

The walk-in closet was huge, with plenty of hanging and drawer space.  There are entrances from both the bathroom and the living room making it feel very large and open

The bathroom was very spacious with double sinks, a soaking tub, and a walk-in shower with a rain shower head.   The tall window next to the tub and open design of the bathroom brought in a ton of light making every part of the room feel large, bright, and fresh.

Amenities:

The Park Hyatt St Kitts was loaded with amenities as well, which was important because this part of the island is very quiet.  There is a Miraval Spa, 2 Pools (one for adults, one for families), a beach with water sports, 3 restaurants, 2 bars, complimentary kids camp, and a ferry to take you to Nevis (for a fee).

The Miraval Spa has a weight room with a yoga and meditation area, a hot tub, a steam room, and nine treatment rooms for massages, facials, etc.

Restaurants and Bars:

The property has three great restaurants and a couple of bar options (in addition to those in the restaurant)

1. The Great House
2. The Fisherman’s Village
3. The Stone Barn

The Stone Barn is an adult-only dining venue with food served from the wood-fired hearth oven.  Open for Dinner only.

The Great House is at the center of the property and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The Fisherman’s Village is open for lunch and dinner and is focused on “sea-to-table” dining.

We had lunch at the Great House several times and dinner at both the Fisherman’s Village and the Stone Barn.  I would recommend all three – the food was great at all three!

There is one more place to make note of – Salt Plage.  It is not officially on the Park Hyatt Property but is part of the Christophe Harbour development.  It has been ranked by Conde Nast Traveller as one of the best beach bars in the world.   If you are staying anywhere on St. Kitts, spending at least one evening here has to be on your “must do”list.

Activities and Things to do at Park Hyatt St Kitts:

The hotel has two pools (one for adults only and one that is a family pool), a large beach, and an activity center that provides kayaks, SUPs, snorkeling gear, etc…  There is also a boat ferry that will take you back and forth to Nevis that leaves throughout the day from the Fisherman’s village dock.

The resort is on an exclusive and fairly isolated part of the island, so you will spend most of your time within the resort property.  However, there is also a strip of beach with several “dive” bars and lunch spots called Reggae Beach.  Definitely, a different crowd from the Park Hyatt, but it’s worth checking out.

Golfing on St. Kitts and Nevis

There are currently three golfing options on St. Kitts and Nevis with a fourth in the works:

1. Royal St Kitts Golf Course
2. Robert Trent Jones Course at The Four Seasons Nevis
3. Erie Fields (9 holes) at Belle Mont Farm
4. Tom Fazio Course at Christophe Harbour (under development).

I didn’t have the opportunity to play any of them but drove past all three and none of them looked to be maintained very well.  I was especially disappointed in the Four Seasons.  Everything from the golf course and tennis courts to the pool and hotel design was well below what I would expect of a Four Seasons.  Unless they do a complete renovation of the entire resort, I would not recommend staying there.