klt
Reged: 04/13/03
Posts: 24
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For the past several years, we have passed through
St. Martin on our way to our vacation on St. Bart's.
This year we decided to give St. Martin a try instead.
We found the island every bit as enjoyable as St. Bart's.
The two are different of course. St Martin is a French
"Caribbean" experience. St. Bart's is a French "continental" experience.
The cuisine, the beaches, and the hospitality are equal on both islands.
Now we have two favorite vacations spots.
The nice thing is that St. Martin comes at a
25%-35% discount. (If those kinds of things matter.)
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 andynap
Reged: 10/24/02
Posts: 12074
Loc: Philadelphia
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Good for you. SXM is a very nice island with excellent beaches and great dining. A little crowded maybe but you are on vacation so who cares. Plus you can fly direct fom many locations- no waiting.
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Andy -
St. Barts- where no day is ever the same and one day is not enough
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Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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Interesting perpective. Merci. Question for andynap:
If we stayed at St Martin, I assume we would stay on the French side. Do you like hotels (La Samanna, for instance) villas or condo-villas like Turtle Cay above Orient? Is the Orient Beach area too crowded? Are there preferred areas to stay?
We may add a couple of days to a St Barts trip before too long and stop over in St Martin.
Merci.
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klt
Reged: 04/13/03
Posts: 24
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We stayed in Grand Case. For info on hotels and
restaurants see: http://www.grandcase.com.
L'Esplanade Hotel and its sister, Le Petite Hotel,
are the Grand Case standouts.
The Orient Beach area does look like the upscale Jersey
shore. (My wife said it remindered her of Long Beach
Island).
But for real "over the top" fun, there is not place like
Orient Beach!
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Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15651
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
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upscale Jersey Shore????..isnt that an oxymoron??..what makes a Jersey Shore beach upscale?....one that actually DOESNT have medical wastes washng up on the shore and a barely above the minimum standard acceptable fecal coliform count???....
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karma is a beautiful thing at times
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Steve_in_STL
Reged: 02/01/03
Posts: 283
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IV, trust me on this, La Samanna is for you. Steve
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Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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Steve: I found La Samanna in the guidebooks YEARS ago. And I was VERY intrigued. But it gets very uneven ratings. Because of this, I never really know what to believe on the other sites. In this site, I feel like folks tell it like it is.
La Samanna intriques me but it is fairly expensive and with the uneven reviews it gets, maybe I better just play it safe and settle for St Barts.
sigh.
(hee hee hee)
Edited by Island Visitor (05/02/04 10:43 AM)
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klt
Reged: 04/13/03
Posts: 24
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Just to set the record straight,
over the past several years, New Jersey has poured millions of dollars into beach clean-up and restoration.
They have one of the the most agressive water quality programs in the country.
The state can now boast the cleanest water on the entire East coast.
Believe it or not, those are the facts.
They had to do it. Tourism is the third largest industry in the state.
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Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15651
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
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well thats nice to hear...I have many fond memoroies of times spent on the Jersey Shore before it became what it became....
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karma is a beautiful thing at times
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klt
Reged: 04/13/03
Posts: 24
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Mike,
Please visit again.
Try Spring Lake, Rumson, Cape May or Long Beach Island.
They are all great places.
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Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15651
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
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oh I still go back often......I'll be there in a few weeks on my way to SBH....my oldest daughter lives in Point Pleasant Beach....just too built up for me.....I lived in Spring Lake in 1977...loved it....great town
Edited by Mike R (05/02/04 02:05 PM)
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pdiddy
Reged: 01/06/04
Posts: 44
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I liked it alot. Sits on a beautiful, isolated beach. The restaurant has incredible views. Billy Graham checked in in front of us and turned around to introduce himself. While you are right that it is expensive, if you are going to go to SXM for a few days, you owe it to yourself to stay there.
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andynap
Reged: 10/24/02
Posts: 12074
Loc: Philadelphia
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IV: St. Martin has 2 sides- the Time Share side- Dutch- and the nice side- French. La Sammana has always been listed as one of the best- but I have my doubts. I have not stayed there but I have gone to the island so many times and have eaten there that I can give my opinion- it's overpriced and you can get better in Anguilla. There are mixed reviews about La Sammana that I would stay away. Oyster Bay is terrific altho it is technically on the Dutch side; Grand Case Beach Club is not 5 Star but the accomodations are very nice especially the 1 bedroom oceanfront and it has 2 beaches- one hidden from view- where you can get beach drink service; Esplanade has very nice rooms but it is on top of the hill and you have to walk thru the Beach Club to get to the beach. The location in Grand Case is the best because that is where the concentration of fine dining is. Further up the road on the way to Orient Beach is Le Habitation which is on it's own beach- but sometimes is an all inclusive- don't do it on this island- too much good food around. As to Orient Beach it's always crowded in high season but that is part of its charm- naked old coots showing off their shriveled whatever, newly minted implants parading around- it's hysterical- the beach is nice tho. It has the atmosphere of a party all the time- 5 restaurants spaced evenly around the crescent beach and beach chairs and umbrellas to rent. I don't know about low season.
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Andy -
St. Barts- where no day is ever the same and one day is not enough
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DebTor
Reged: 03/26/03
Posts: 1375
Loc: Toronto, Ontario Canada
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I'm so pleased you fell in love with St. Martin. It is one of our favourite vacation spots. We have enjoyed numerous dinners in Marigot and Grand Case that have been over the top. In fact, and I'm being quite honest, I prefer the restaurants in Grand Case to those in St. Barts...
DebTor
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LHouchin
Reged: 05/11/03
Posts: 96
Loc: Tulsa, OK
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The politically correct thing to say is "To each his own", but from my perspective, the statement, "We found the island(SXM)to be every bit as enjoyable as St. Barts" is due a rebuttal. We spent 6 years, 1983-88, vacationing on SXM. Finally, the hassle of fighting the cruise crowds in Philipsburg, the tour buses tying up traffic all over the island, the total commercialization of places like Orient, and the skyrocketing crime rate, drove us to St. Barth's. We have very close friends who have owned a beautiful home on SXM for over 30 years. They spend four to six months on the island each year and are invovlved in the local community. They are appalled at what the government has allowed to happen to the island over the past 15 years. Obviously, as evidenced by all the crowds, there are a great number of people who find SXM attractive. But each time I look across the 18 mile strait from St. Barth's to SXM, I am very glad to be viewing SXM from afar.
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DebTor
Reged: 03/26/03
Posts: 1375
Loc: Toronto, Ontario Canada
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IV, Roger and I are huge fans of Grand Case Beach Club. We love staying there....
DebTor
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Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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Thanks all. I think Orient Beach would be fun for a day or so but it seems to me that some of the other beaches might be more to my taste. Appreciate everyone's input.
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KathyD
Reged: 05/12/03
Posts: 139
Loc: NYC
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Iv as a fellow lover of IDF I will tell you that La Sammanna is an incredible place to stay..I had to stay over in SXM last year on my way out of SBH and even though it was just for a night.. we had a lovely experience . Our room (right on the beach) was just as beautiful as IDF. We had an outdoor "living" area that looked out on the beach that was bigger than my NYC apartment (I do not jest here)..we ordered room service which was very good and also had a fabulous dinner at their restaurant. I was actually quite upset that I had to spend my last night of vacation on SXM and not SBH but after arriving at La Samanna I was happy to experience such a fine hotel...I think you would enjoy a couple of nights there....
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Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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Kathy: Thanks for the input. I may someday try it out. Comparing it to IdF is STRONG praise indeed. Hard to ignore such a glowing report.
If we do stay on SXM in the future, we may give La Samanna a try. Oh, as I understand it, post-Luis, the people who own IdF hired away the former manager of La Samanna, perhaps contributing to a similar aura between the two places?
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EARL
Reged: 06/14/03
Posts: 357
Loc: Tidewater area of Virginia
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IV--
If going to SXM, I highly recommend a villa on the French Side. We stayed at La Samanna a while back and were very disappointed...quite expensive and the room less than we expected. While there we found Green Cay Villas, overlooking Orient Beach...liked it much better--away from the action on Orient; however, within walking distance of the beach and easy driving distance of Grand Case restaurants. We have been to Green Cay 5 times since then. I found IDF on SBH much better than La Samanna on SXM.
Of course, all of this is just my opinion.
EARL
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EARL
___[OoO]___
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Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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Merci Earl.
Green Cay looks good on the internet! Thanks.
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Kirby
Reged: 01/08/05
Posts: 56
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If you have never stayed in SXM you must at some point. Grand Case has fabulous restaurants. I agree La Samanna is wonderful. IV - maybe you could just stay somewhere in SXM for a few days when you are going to SBH. Of course Andy is right about the dutch side. The problem I guess about SXM are the cruise ships. Last time we were there we made the mistake of going to Pinel Island and there were about 200 + cruise ship passengers on this tiny island. So it was really crowded. We did find other beaches that were pretty much deserted which was great!
It was a great trip though. We went to Anguilla, then SXM (French Side) then Nevis.
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andynap
Reged: 10/24/02
Posts: 12074
Loc: Philadelphia
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Since I went there this year, I must add Le Petit Hotel to my list of very favorites places. The rooms are exquisite, it's on the sand at the near side of Grand Case away from all the action so it's quiet and the hotel staff couldn't be more accomodating. I reviewed it on Trip Advisor.
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Andy -
St. Barts- where no day is ever the same and one day is not enough
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Kirby
Reged: 01/08/05
Posts: 56
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Andy - That is where we stayed, it was wonderful. Its so nice being able to walk to all of the Grande Case restaurants. Le tastevin and le cottage are 2 of my favorites.
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Carolina Blue
Reged: 11/23/03
Posts: 58
Loc: North Carolina
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Have anyone rented a five bedroom villa on the French side? Any recommendations?
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AandM
Reged: 01/31/05
Posts: 68
Loc: Channel Isles (near France)
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We (a group of six) have just returned from St Martin and yes it is a very friendly safe place.....generally.....we had our belongings stolen from our cars and found some of the airport staff when dealing with our lost luggage painfully unhelpful - so if you do not lose baggage and do not leave items in your car - yes - St Martin is a friendly safe beautiful place - BUT - it aint a patch on St Barts !!!!
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andynap
Reged: 10/24/02
Posts: 12074
Loc: Philadelphia
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That is a shame but any rental car agent will tell you NOT to leave things in your car. LUGGAGE- is a big no no.
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Andy -
St. Barts- where no day is ever the same and one day is not enough
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