Behind the reception area, discreetly hidden stairs descend into the neuronet of the Carl Gustaf hotel. Here, in an office tucked in the back, Emmanuelle Bourgueil looks up from her enormous desk and smiles warmly. As the mother of two toddlers and general manager of "the Carl", the luxury hotel in Gustavia that her father, Jacques Laurent, built and owns, she handles interruptions with imperturbable poise.

"My father was so involved with his business that as a family, we all naturally rallied around him. My mother, Marie-Luce, became his right arm, and my brother, Jean-Jacques, and I both learned to do whatever was needed. We both knew we wouldn't be babied or privileged because we were the boss' kids. On the contrary, not only were we expected to pull our weight, we were really challenged to push ourselves beyond our own limits. It wasn't always easy, but we knew that when we needed them, my parents would always be there for us. To this day, that has always been the case,"affirms Bourgueil.

It was in the mid-80's that the Laurent family first started coming to St. Barth and soon, it became a favorite family vacation spot. "When we would come on holiday," Bourgueil reminisces, "my father would spend some of his time sketching. To him, drawing was just a pleasurable pastime, but truly, he has the soul of an architect and his doodles eventually became the artistic template for what is now the Carl Gustaf."

After logging in summers working with her father, the time came when the young Emmanuelle, eager to sow her oats outside of the family circle, began to entertain different career dreams. "I initially wanted to be a flight hostess or a translator with the UN," she confides. Eventually, the young woman decided to go into hotel management and began to consider working with her father, now owner of the Carl Gustaf. In essence, it meant starting from scratch. "My father has always believed in starting at the bottom and working your way up, department by department. By the time you become manager of a business, you know your company inside out" explains Bourgueil.
"Once I improved my language and administrative skills and learned about promotion, my first big test was to see whether I could market the Carl in Europe, then later, in New York."

When Bourgueil took the reins of the hotel as its general manager in 1998, succeeding Eric Tronconi, she was alone in her category. Not only was she one of the rare women in luxury hotel management, but at the age of 27, she was also the youngest. "It's been quite a challenge," admits Bourgueil, who credits the hotel as being, aside from her father, her greatest teacher.

Under Bourgueil's management, the Carl, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2001, has developed its own niche clientele. The hotel is popular among the cognoscenti, business travelers and honeymooners, as well as guests who want to visit the beach, but prefer sunsets at the bar and a more classic type of hotel experience "in the city". Husband Christophe, a former chef and wine connoisseur, handles the practical aspects of hotel operations and has handsomely developed the hotel's restaurant and wine cellar. "We offer more than 30 premier wines by the glass, and have over 500 selections on our wine list, 100 of which are from the Loire valley alone," explains Christophe, who has also conceived the hotel's gourmet evenings, wine tastings and other special events. Together, the couple shares the pleasures and challenges of running the hotel, raising a family, and honoring the dream of the man behind the Carl.