Donald Trump’s Caribbean Compound: Rent it for Just $6,000 Per Night

Welcome to Donald Trump’s Le Château des Palmiers, a walled estate on nearly five acres of beachfront property on the Caribbean island of St. Martin/St. Maarten (half the island is French, the other half Dutch – Trump’s estate is on the French side). The Commander in Chief purchased the property in 2013 for a reported $20 million, and placed it on the market in spring 2017, reportedly at an initial asking price in the $28 million range. The price was subsequently reduced to $16.9 million. Apparently the property is no longer on the market, and is being advertised as a vacation rental.

The walled compound is located on Plum Bay, on the northwestern tip of the Caribbean island, boasting spectacular ocean views and white sand beach.

While it’s not known how often Trump has personally used the property as a vacation home (he tends to prefer Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach or one of his golf clubs), he has used the place as a rental property prior to the apparent attempt to sell. According to reports, the property raked in between $100,000 and $1 million per year in rental fees. As the Mansion Global website notes, a one-time brochure advertising the the property read: “Greetings from Donald J. Trump. Escape to a place no other.”

The property includes several structures, including two main villas – the five-bedroom main house and a four-bedroom guest house – as well as pool cabanas, a home for the estate manager and other buildings.

The vacation property is not for the shallow of wallet. Rental packages begin at $6,000 per night in the low season for the smaller of the two villas, while the larger main house during the winter season will run $20,000 a night.

The entrance to the main villa offers all the hallmarks one expects from a Trump property: gleaming marble floors, ornate furnishings and Roman-esque columns – as well as the Trump coat of arms.

According to the New York Daily News

, when the home first went on the market the asking price was about $10 million more than the value of comparable properties nearby. As the News reports, the fact that the home went up for sale while Trump is in office raised ethical concerns that someone could overpay for the property in order to curry favour and seek a political quid-pro-quo from the president. It can’t be a coincidence that the price was subsequently dropped, and then taken off the market entirely, during the ongoing FBI investigation into Russian collusion within the Trump campaign.

The formal living room is decked out in familiar Trump-style, Versailles-inspired decor, with lavish draperies and a large crystal chandelier, which is somewhat at odds with the villa’s beachfront Caribbean setting.

The kitchen has some opulent touches yet carries a McMansion type of feel – and look, there’s another chandelier. For those who rent the home, a private chef is on hand to cater to guests’ every culinary whim. If you ask the chef nicely, he’ll probably whip up the president’s favourite dish: a well-done steak, slathered in ketchup.

The main villa’s formal dining room seats 10, and boasts yet another chandelier hanging from a cloud-painted fresco within the vaulted ceiling. Over the top? Of course, which is pretty much the point.

Loaded with comfy cofas and overstuffed cushions, the media room is an inviting space from which to fire off some angry, misspelled tweets while watching Fox News.

The two-storey master suite in the main villa (one of the building’s five bedrooms; the other villa features four), which also boasts two private balconies facing the pool and ocean.

Dual vanities and a large jacuzzi tub are among the features in the ensuite, which also delivers its own stunning view of the ocean for those who decide to take a soak in the tub.

Another of the villa’s bedrooms, featuring king-sized bed, Louis XIV-style furnishings and thick draperies. Note how the hidden television rises from its secret hiding place in the cabinet at the foot of the bed.

A casual area within the retreat, presumably dedicated to television-viewing – featuring a ceiling fan instead of a crystal chandelier (which may not be as classy, but is far more practical in the Caribbean).

The property hosts this fully equipped fitness centre; judging by the president’s weird beliefs about exercise, it’s a pretty safe bet he’s never set foot in this room.

In addition to the huuuuge heated pool, other amenities include a tennis court, covered outdoor bar, informal outdoor dining area and billiards room.

Trump himself has described Le Château des Palmiers as “one of the greatest mansions in the world,” but the Washington Post notes that the original asking price (estimated at about $10 million more than it’s worth) was indeed troublesome. “It’s a lot of money,” Hanneke Snow, the owner of Re/Max Island Properties, told the Post. “If it were in St. Barts, you would have a bigger chance. But if the name Trump is attached to it, people may want to see it.” Added Arun Jagtiani, owner of Island Real Estate Team: “If someone does pay anything close to the asking price, it will be because they are paying a premium to say they own a property that was once owned by President Trump.” Now that the home is off the market and being used as a rental, presumably those concerns are no longer valid.