DESIGN
Le Sereno ’ s restaurant ; outdoor seating was extended to the beach ( below )
Sereno , owner Luis Contreras turned to crews from Italy who had helped build his luxury resort on Lake Como in northern Italy three years earlier .
Contreras employed specialists in stonework , painting and concrete . Some portions were built in Europe , “ like Lego pieces ,” he says , and shipped by container and assembled in St . Barths . A specialist from Venice arrived to restore damaged tropical wood . “ At one point we had 200 Italian workers ,” he recalls .
Contreras acquired Le Sereno in 2002 — which , at the time , was run down , he says . His company spent about € 20 million to renovate the property , including employing
Bungalow piscine suite , Le Sereno
42 hotelsmag . com March 2019