1. First, avoid a trip during high season — mid-December through mid-April — when hotel rates reach the stratosphere (don’t even think about Christmas).
2. Fly in from St. Maarten, consider ferrying over; you’ll pay about $120 round-trip versus airfare of around $200 round-trip.
3. At restaurants, search out prix fixe menus — at Gustavia’s Wall House, for example, a three-course dinner is about $38.
4. Two, three or more couples can enjoy the privacy, convenience and luxury of a rental villa, often for considerably less than the cost of a comparable hotel. (Check websites such as stbarth.com and wimco.com.)
5. Hotels here don’t add a service charge, and restaurant tips are strictly at your discretion. There’s no departure tax, no restaurant tax and no driver’s license fee to pump up the final bill. Still, bargain-priced is not necessarily the image the island wants to project, so do be discreet as you save your way through St. Barts.
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