Rosewood Just Handed Back the Keys to St. Barth’s Biggest Hotel

One of the Caribbean’s best-known resorts has changed hands. Rosewood stopped operating Rosewood Le Guanahani St. Barth on October 1, and the property will reopen on November 1 under a new name: Airelles Le Guanahani. The buyer is LOV Group, the holding company of French businessman Stéphane Courbit, which owns the Airelles hotel brand and is acquiring the building as well as taking over its operation. Le Guanahani becomes the tenth Airelles property and the collection’s first beachfront hotel.

The sale grew out of a change in ownership. The hotel belonged to David Bonderman, co-founder of private equity firm TPG, who died last December. His heirs chose not to keep the asset and triggered an exit clause set for 2026 in Rosewood’s management contract. That timing explains the short handover, with a gap of one month between Rosewood leaving and Airelles reopening, falling in a quiet part of the year on the island before the winter high season begins.

Le Guanahani is the largest hotel on St. Barthélemy, with 66 rooms, suites and villas spread across an 18-acre peninsula. It opened in 1986 as an independent hotel and became a Rosewood in 2021, after spending several years closed following damage from Hurricane Irma. Its scale and setting make it one of the island’s few true resorts in a market otherwise dominated by villas and smaller boutique hotels.

For travellers, the main questions are about bookings and benefits. Anyone holding a stay from November onward should confirm their reservation, rate and inclusions with the new operator, since policies and pricing can change with a new brand. Guests who booked for Rosewood-specific perks, including those arranged through travel-advisor programs, should check whether equivalent benefits carry over. Airelles is known for high-end service, and its properties are typically priced at the very top of the market, so expect winter rates to reflect that.

Sources: Hospitality ON, One Mile at a Time