Villa Henson St Barts - Villa Book

May 2020 VILLA INSTRUCTIONS Page 1 Dear Guest, July 2022 Welcome to the Villa Henson, probably one of the best kept secrets on St Barts. Also known as Villa Manon with Ici et La or West View with Marla Villas. This Villa Book is to help you have a pleasant stay and covers many frequently asked questions. Please take a moment to glance through it. An online version is at: villahenson.com/villa-book.html We live in France, please contact us by email: [email protected] We are 6 hours ahead of you in St Barts, so please be patient. If it’s urgent, contact Eric Magras (see Useful telephone numbers) or your local agent if you came through Ici et La or Marla. We would be delighted to hear your comments. There is a Guest Book in the lounge and if you could spare a few moments and post a review on TRIPADVISOR (look up either Villa Henson or Villa Manon). If you do, we will be eternally grateful. Relax and enjoy yourselves in our villa. Anne-Marie and Henry Barnett Colombier 97133 St Barthélemy PS Please read the warning about cell phone charges. • Back to Index

















May 2020 VILLA INSTRUCTIONS Page 10 Spa Control Panel On/O puts the Spa on Standby and will shut down all pumps. Spa will shut down after a certain time. This is not a fault. Turn the knob near your seat to increase or decrease pump ow. The pumps will stop after 20 minutes as it’s not good to overdo it. Pump 1 - Press once for low power pump - press again for higher power pump - and again to turn o . Pump 2 - Press once turn on - and again to turn o . Pump 3 - No Pump here! Light - Turn on/o lights Arrows Up/Down sets the temperature BUT PLEASE NOTE it will heat naturally with the cover closed to at least 35°c and more, depending on the weather. We leave it set to 33°c as it is not really needed. If you see a Spanner icon, there is a fault. It may reset itself after 10 minutes or more. You may also go into the utility room. Flip the fuse “Spa” for 2 minutes and ip on again. If not please report it to Eric or Martha. SWIMMING POOL THE POOL IS HEATED. IT IS SET TO A COMFORTABLE TEMPERATURE. PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE IT. Use the plastic glasses provided not glass ones. If broken glass falls in the water it is invisible, sharp and extremely dangerous. The pool or spa then has to be drained of 30 cubic meters of water and cleaned. It will take 2 days to do and you will be charged for this. • Back to Index lffffffflfff

















May 2020 VILLA INSTRUCTIONS Page 19 HURRICANES There is a small hurricane kit in the tall lounge cupboard. Just in case. The Hurricane season is generally from August to October. There have been hurricanes even in January but that is a very rare event. If you happen to be caught on St Barts with a hurricane please read this section entirely. YOU WILL BE VERY SAFE IF YOU FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS. NO NEED TO PANIC! After the 2017 hurricane - class 5 (it should be a 6 really), we will not allow any client to stay in the villa. We will not be responsible for any client who will not move to a designated safe place. The villa must be closed. There will be no Internet, no TV, no A/C, as the Mains electricity will be turned off. It was left on for Hurricane Irma and this ruined the Spa and other electrical equipment. If you came through either “Ici et La” or “Marla” you must call them. We can't move you to other accommodation or give you a refund (act of God !). There are special shelters in designated buildings. Make your enquiries well before the Red Alert. You should have plenty of warning and time to nd shelter. Listen to the FM on the amp or Internet for instructions. • Radio St Barts 98.7 - 100.7 - 103.7 FM also on Internet radiostbarth.com/ • Website: Collectivity of St Barts for details. Here. http:// www.comstbarth.fr • Live updates of the hurricanes's progress:  NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER and CENTRAL PACIFIC HURRICANE CENTER • Complete Hurricane data (including the NHC) with St B webcams. https://www.meteotropicale.com/   • Back to Index fi

May 2020 VILLA INSTRUCTIONS Page 20 • There is a very good weather website Windy Use the battery radio only if the electricity has been cut off. WARNINGS - must be followed. Yellow alert – The hurricane is expected soon – You can still leave the island. Orange alert – The hurricane is imminent - You can no longer leave the island. The shops and the administrative buildings are now closed. You must go to the public shelter chosen. Red alert - You should now be inside the designated shelter. Listen to Radio St Barth for instructions. Violet alert – The hurricane is here, (if you haven’t noticed!) You are forbidden to go outside. The emergency services will not respond. During the period Violet you are must stay inside. During the Violet alert – It can happen (and it did with Earl, Gonzalo and Irma) that the eye of the hurricane passes over St Barts. You may think that the storm has abated because the wind has dropped. This calm period can last several minutes or even longer but as the eye passes the winds will pick up from the opposite direction and fast. Wherever you are do not go out during this time. Things like fridges or metal roof plates can be ying around. They are mortal. The end of the alert will be given over the radio. Be careful as there are then 2 possibilities: Grey alert – You can now go outside and the danger is over. Orange alert - You can now go outside but the hurricane has turned around and is heading back. (As did Louis in 1995) We will not be held responsible if you fail to go to a designated safe place So what’s it like? EARL (October 2010) passed at level 3 with winds of up to 200 kph and 7 meter waves. The damage was to the foliage. Leaves and branches were everywhere but no structural damage occurred. We had to clean the villa walls with the Karcher immediately. If we had left it till later they would be stuck rm. • Back to Index fifl

May 2020 VILLA INSTRUCTIONS Page 21 The pool was full of leaves but was soon cleared with the net. The pool cleaners were at the villa very quickly to get it all cleared up properly. We saw one idiot leave Gustavia harbour in his Catamaran and sail past us to Grand Colombier. He left at about 6pm just as the order not to put to sea had been implemented. He was shed from the sea and his Catamaran was in a 1000 pieces on the beach. We were con ned 20 hours in the lounge! GONZALO (October 2014) arrived on the eastern side of the island as a tropical storm but actually made landfall as a category 2 hurricane and quickly strengthened. It caught everyone by surprise. It left as a category 3. We were ready by early afternoon and the winds got too strong by about 5pm. When the eye came over Eric came down to see us, had a lobster dinner with us that Anne-Marie had prepared and went back as the eye passed and the wind picked up again. Again no major damage on the island and the clearing up was done brilliantly by all concerned. Irma (September 6/7 2017) The strongest ever Atlantic hurricane at the time, with recorded gusts of 460 kilometres per hour (about 290 mph). Earthquake activity was recorded on the island but it was the force of the wind shaking everything, trees, villas etc. We were relatively lucky but still suffered lots of damage. The stories of people’s lucky escapes convinced us that no one should remain in the villa during one. They are ckle things and change speed and direction without warning. We nally arrived in St Barts on the 25th of September just as the electricity came back at the villa. Internet was only available near the airport. All telephone lines and wi was down until the end of November. The damage was extensive all over the island. A roof had been blown about 4 kilometres over a hill. The deck at Nikky Beach (next to the Eden Rock Hotel) was found above Anses des Cayes (2-3 kilometres away). Fridges were blown through roofs. We found a 2 meter long and 20cm x20cm wood beam near us that had been blown from somewhere very far away. For the clear-up at our villa we made 35 trips to the rubbish dump using the family's small atbed truck.  We stayed on the island until the villa was ready to • Back to Index lfififififif

May 2020 VILLA INSTRUCTIONS Page 22 receive clients and on the 14th of December we we were one of the rst villas to reopen.  One of the images in the album (link below) is of a silver grey Renault Clio. It was parked there when the hurricane arrived and was seen  downhill, blown there during the lull of the hurricane's eye. When the hurricane had nished it was found again parked but sadly wrecked where it started!!  • Back to Index fifi

May 2020 VILLA INSTRUCTIONS Page 23 BUGS AND OTHER ANIMALS Being on a Caribbean Island you cannot avoid some of the strange insects and other animals that co-habit the Island with us. You will see lots of tortoises both at the villa and on the roads all over the island. Many people stop to put then at the side of the road. Be careful if you do (hazard lights for other cars..) There are the small « Yen-Yens » (pronounced Nyang-Nyangs) that y low around your ankles in the early morning or early evening. They are little mosquitoes. Use the repellent « OFF » or similar. There may be some near the sink. Or have fun with the tennis bats. Do not swipe (they will break) just gently move them to the insect and zzzzap. Very small ants can be seen making runs. Use the spray or the ant products in he kitchen, if you want to, or ask Martha - nicely! - to help At night, light attracts moths of all sizes. Using the outdoor fan helps as well as turning o the terrace lights and using candles - (very romantic) Some times, if a storm is in the air, you may have an invasion of small ying ants. We move the table out, turn out the lights and use (very romantic) candles for a while. You could turn on only the parking lights to tempt them away. They can be instantly killed with a y spray BUT be warned they can come in their thousands, look disgusting, make a real mess if sprayed but are harmless. That’s life. Dont try to kill them as you will only ruin the paintwork and there will be lots of them. You’ll never win. There also a type of builder wasp that seems to have its body in two parts! It will build several 2 inch long cocoons out of earth and lay eggs in them before sealing them up. The cocoons have holes in the top and when the babies are born they y o . They make a mess but there is little we can do. Ask Martha or Eric to get rid of them if possible. They are very intelligent and watch me when I line up to thwat them, then nip through the opening when I am not • Back to Index fflflflffflf