St. Barts appears to be losing its steam as the premiere vacation spot amongst the wealthy. The New York Post reported recently that Russian mogul
Roman Abramovich will not be holding his annual New Year’s Eve on the exclusive Caribbean island. Instead, he has moved his party to Moscow this year. And without the lure of such esteemed celebrities and the party’s they throw, this alone is detracting other celebrities from traveling to St. Barts this year as well.
Abramovich, who owns the Chelsea Football Club, and his “fashion-designer, art-collector and editor girlfriend, Dasha Zhukova,” are foregoing their annual party on their property on Gouvernor Beach this year, and their party was the primary reason others journeyed to the Caribbean island.
Other celebs who are bowing out from St. Barts this year, according to the Post, include Harvey Weinstein and Georgina Chapman, who opted for the Swiss resort of Gstaad instead; Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber, who traveled to her native land down under; Rachel Zoe, Jon Bon Jovi, along with Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict, who are spending the new year in
Turks and Caicos.
Also missing in action this year on the island this year is billionaire Ronald Perelman, who has held his annual New Year’s and birthday bash on his 261-foot yacht, C2, in Gustavia . Apparently Perelman is heading to another island as well. to a different island.
An anonymous source told the Post: “A lot of people are skipping St. Barts, partly because they want a change, and mostly because many of the big parties and big moguls are missing.”
Still, a few big names still are drawn to St. Barts, however, including Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell, ¬Peter Brant and Stephanie Seymour.
And where exactly are people opting to go instead? Page Six reported on Monday, December 30, 2013 that the Viceroy Anguilla is hopping with New Yorkers who came to enjoy the Caribbean waters.
Page Six stated: “Our spies have spotted Les Moonves and his wife, Julie Chen, Leonard Lauder, Cablevision/MSG boss Jim Dolan, Stephanie Winston Wolcott, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, TV producer Marci Klein, Fox News contributor John Stossel, power lawyer Allen Grubman and his daughter, power publicist Lizzie Grubman, and Viceroy owner Barry Sternlicht on and around the property.
Our spies describe the atmosphere as more family-friendly than other New Year’s Eve hotspots: “Everyone’s kids are running around,” we’re told.”