Legal
Rental terms
The conditions of a stay at Villa Ciel: what is let, what it costs, when it is paid, and the rules that apply in the house.
What is let
We let Villa Ciel whole and furnished, to one party at a time: three bedrooms, three bathrooms, the pool, the terraces and the garden, at Anse des Cayes, Saint-Barthélemy. A descriptive schedule listing the rooms, the beds and the equipment is attached to every contract.
Price
Rates are weekly, for the whole villa, in US dollars, and no service or booking fee is added: the rate shown is the rate. Any euro figure shown on this site is indicative and converted at the rate the site holds that day. The minimum stay is five nights, and seven nights in high season and over the festive period. Over the festive period we let three stays at a fixed price: the Christmas week, 19 to 26 December; the New Year week, 26 December to 2 January; and the fortnight, 19 December to 2 January. Any other stay that includes 25 December or 1 January is priced pro rata to those weeks, for at least seven nights, and is confirmed personally by the owner.
Tourist tax
The tourist tax is 5% of the rent, and of the rent alone. It appears on its own line of every quote, contract and invoice.
Deposit (acompte)
We take 50% of the total when we accept the booking, for every stay, the festive period included. The sum is an acompte and not arrhes: it binds both sides, and the booking is firm from the day we receive it.
Balance
The balance is due 60 days before arrival, and 120 days before a festive stay. A stay booked inside those windows is settled in full at once. Payment is by bank transfer to the company’s account; the details are on the invoice.
Cancellation
More than 90 days before arrival, we refund what has been paid less an administrative fee of 5%. Between 90 and 61 days, we retain half. At 60 days or less, the stay remains due in full. If we let the dates again, we refund what has been paid less the same fee. The cancellation page sets out the whole scale.
No right of withdrawal
A stay booked for set dates carries no fourteen-day right of withdrawal.
Security deposit
We take a security deposit of $5,000, and $10,000 over the festive period, as a card pre-authorisation on arrival or by transfer beforehand. We release it within fourteen days of departure, less the cost of any damage, which we itemise.
Occupancy and house rules
The villa sleeps six people, children included; six is the maximum. Events, parties and functions are not permitted. The quartier is quiet and residential, and we ask guests to keep it so.
Pool
The pool carries an immersion alarm certified to the French NF P90-307-1 standard. It is not supervised: children stay under the constant watch of an adult, and the lawn ends at an open edge above the hillside.
Insurance
The villa carries the owner’s liability cover. Guests are advised to hold travel insurance of their own, covering cancellation and their liability during the stay.
Tropical weather
Weather alone gives no right to a refund. If a named storm closes Gustaf III or Sint Maarten on the day of arrival, or leaves the villa uninhabitable, we move the dates or issue a credit. The cancellation page sets out how.
Consumer mediation
Our registration with a consumer mediation scheme is in progress. Its name and website are published here as soon as it is signed.
Governing law
French law governs the rental, and the Tribunal judiciaire de Basse-Terre has jurisdiction over Saint-Barthélemy.
Version 2026-09