Exceptional honeymoon spots on St. Barts

While the remains of an ancient volcano might not seem like the ideal place for a honeymoon, St Barts, in the Virgin Islands, offers two spectacular locations for a romantic vacation.

Guanahani on the water and Francois Plantation high in the mountains feature luxury villas, all the tropic plants anyone could want and restaurants offering superb cuisine.

Privacy is the watchword at Guanahani, set high on a peninsula between two beaches. The individual villas are designed so no door or window faces another door or window. The usual view from the terrace is the sea, with perhaps an edge of the roof of a villa on a lower level.

What a setting. Perched in a grove of coconut palms between the two beaches, the restaurant is a large open porch with sliding glass panels for protection against the sometimes boisterous tropic winds.

The interior is white with muted touches of turquoise and blue to echo the colors of the nearby water - and huge pool. The food is excellent and the porch is a spot for lingering. The walk back up the hill to the villa is an excellent excuse for a second croissant and butter.

Guanahani's Bartolomeo Restaurant is good enough to be its own excuse for visiting the island. The young French chef who oversees its kitchen is a master at combining traditional cuisine with the heart-healthy ideas of today. Herbs picked nearby in the morning season the evening's presentations.

At least one evening, try to be near the Bartolomeo at about 4 when the resort's pack of cats assembles at the back door to be fed. Like many islands, St. Barts is overrun with stray cats, but Guanahani's live the good life. Ribs are padded, fur is sleek, attitude is wary but open to the friendly gesture and kittens tend to go to new homes via the first-class cabin of international airlines.

Perched high in the mountains, Francois Plantation is proclaimed to have the island's best restaurant.

Again, the restaurant - La Route des Epices - is a porchlike affair, this time in deep wood tones. The surrounding landscaping is so lush it overflows and joins up with the interior decor.

Francois Beret, who developed the former citrus fruit plantation, takes pride in his exceptional wine cellar (actually a refrigerated room), which he will show off at the drop of a grape, and his smoking room, which accommodates cigar smokers with much the same attention to detail.

Francois Plantation's appeal is shared equally between the restaurant and the resort's 12 delightful cottages, furnished in mahogany and marble, again set to create the maximum privacy and served by a dedicated staff. The high site is cooled by breezes in even the hottest weather and the view is spectacular. The beach is a brief but challenging drive away.

If you go

Francois Plantation, St. Barthelemy, French West Indies; telephone 0-590-29-80-22; fax from United States 800/207-807; $1,740 per couple for six nights and seven days with Continental breakfasts, a dinner, car and some other extras from April 15 to Dec. 20; hotel is closed from August to October; restaurant is closed from June to October. For information on Guanahani, contact a travel agent.