Rare Caribbean Find: Le Petit Hotel

Love at First Bite

If the Mexican Riviera and the French Riviera spawned a love child, it would probably look a lot like Le Petit Hotel, located in Grand Case on St. Martin. In this slice of foodie heaven, more than two dozen restaurants with gourmet ambitions (plus the Caribbean's best-known street-food stands, the lolos) compete for your mealtime affections.It's a case of fusion gone deliciously right at this charming, 10-room, white-washed-stucco inn perched directly on the beach. The exterior drips with Mexican accents, like Saltillo tiles and lapis lazuli sconces, and when you step into your room, you're transported to Bali, surrounded by sleek teak furniture, paper lanterns, hurricane lamps and fresh bouquets of frangipani. Open the back doors of the airy living room, and you emerge onto a private patio or balcony, steps from the quiet bay. Owners Kristin and Marc Petrelluzzi clearly know their audience: Their kitchens pull out all the stops, with stainless-steel this and glass-tile that. But fear not if you didn't come to the island to cook. You're less than a croissant's throw away from gastronomic bliss.

From $265 in low season ($415 in high); (011) 590-590-29-09-65; www.lepetithotel.com