ROSEWOOD

LE GUANAHANI

2022
Saint Barthélemy, West Indies

Rosewood Le Guanahani is a village comprised of many communities that presented an opportunity to create an authentic tropical design language rooted in the French Caribbean style of St Barth.

The void speaks for itself, our understanding of luxury is associated to what is not build. Building less and planting more. Doors are thrown wide open to the broad veranda and lush surrounding gardens, creating the seamless connection between indoors and nature that defines the tropical lifestyle.

Each cottage was restored, preserve and enhance. Verandas and plants are used to protect the sun to heat up the cottages. Using the existing architectural features as part of the décor, adding as little as possible to impact less our surroundings.  

“True luxury is in the void”

The Caribbean style and its Creole influences have been the core of the entire renovation. It was important to retain the character and history of Rosewood Le Guanahani, to embrace the traditional language of the place and its context, to restore the integrity of the existing structures.

Rosewood Le Guanahani’s design is a history of layers. Each interior space seems to contain the memories of different owners across many time periods.

The hotel interiors carry the experience of the architecture and landscape into the spaces.

Each space evokes a different vision of the world, has its own character, and creates the story of a different persona. Found objects that are common to daily life, antiques, souvenirs from adventurous journeys. Art pieces are display creating layers of old and new, history and contemporary style. 

The interior also reflects the spirit of the exterior of the bungalows; it validates a new Caribbean contemporary

style that uses its own cultural references rather than borrowing from the languages of other tropical destinations.