peterking
Reged: 10/12/04
Posts: 3
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My suggestion... make it a week, and stay in any house managed by Carimo (www.carimo.com). The houses are in the exclusive Terres Basses area on the French side. Beach front or hillside, doesn't matter, as ALL are amazing and all have fantastic views -- and you'll want to drive to a different beach every day. And maybe Orient Beach two days.
My two cents.
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marybeth
Reged: 05/22/04
Posts: 253
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We stayed at both Le Meridien and Grand Case Beach Club last March. The are both very different properties. Le Meridian is located in a secluded cove, Anse Marcel, and the drive in and out of there is not one to do in the dark. The beach is beautiful and there is also a small marina. The hotel itself is very nice by Caribbean standards and there is an all inclusive option, which we did not do, but we did have the breakfast buffet daily and one OK dinner. The Grand Case Beach Club, on the other hand, was not as fancy, the room was a little run down, but the people there were great, very friendly. I believe all rooms have a kitchenette. The location was excellent (right on the beach), as others have mentioned, and you can walk to any number of excellent restaurants in Grand Case (we also enjoyed Tastevin). No worries about driving under the influence. The first night we stayed in GC, there was a parade and street fair down the main street while we were eating dinner. Very fun and great music. We visited a number of great beaches while in SXM (including the infamous Orient)but my favorite was Il Pinel, a small island a short ferry ride away. There are 2 lolos where you can rent chairs and umbrellas serving great grilled lobster. Believe it, I am by no means a SXM expert but can at least provide some fairly recent information.
Overall, I liked SXM and my husband preferred Barbados. However, on a catamaran/snorkelling trip we discovered SBH and that is where we are going this February!
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Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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merci folks for great info!
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Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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does anyone ever stay at Orient Beach? What places to stay are there and are there good restaurants there? And is la samanna (not on Orient) back to its glory or fading? We have no real plans to stay on St Martin but with trying to make connections from US Scair to Winair, plans are somewhat changeable...
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marybeth
Reged: 05/22/04
Posts: 253
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There are lots of places to stay on Orient Beach, including hotels, villas and condos. Many looked very nice. We considered the Plantation Hotel, Cap Caraibes and Alamanda, but everyone we talked to advised Grand Case. There are a few restaurants near Orient that are open at night, but the best food is definitely elsewhere. During the daytime Orient Beach is lined with restaurants/bars/lolos that rent chairs and unbrellas and serve great food on the sand or under shelter. These are closed in the evening. Having never been to SBH except a day trip, I hesitate to compare but if you are looking for a quiet, secluded beach, it isn't Orient. If you are looking for people watching (nekid and otherwise) venders, jetskis and parasailing, floating trampolines, beach volleyball and basically a beach carnival, Orient is your place. However, there are plenty of quiet beaches on SXM as well, including the nearby Dawn Beach, Baie Rouge and Plum, as well as Il Pinel.
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tim
Moderator
Reged: 06/18/03
Posts: 5966
Loc: Vélo, Virginia, Vitet
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I used to spend lots of time on my boat in St. Martin every winter, but I had numerous bad experiences similar to the one mentioned in Grand Case, most of them seemingly racially motivated. I'm sure the vast majority of residents are kind, gentle people, but I've been in situations there where one could feel the racial hatred without words ever being spoken. I'd like to think I'm no more sensitive to this than most folks and have enjoyed meeting people of different races all over the Caribbean and this country. "St. Martin - the friendly island" is the joke of all time as far as yours truly is concerned. Not LOL.
BTW, I thought the object was to hit 10,000 without mentioning nekkidity, but if we really want to rev the meter, I'd suggest a picture of Mike R in his black knee highs - and nothing else. BdR.
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The best moderation is the least moderation.
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Midwest Mike
Reged: 10/01/02
Posts: 786
Loc: Hawkeye Heaven
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Quote:
If you are looking for people watching (nekid and otherwise) venders, jetskis and parasailing, floating trampolines, beach volleyball and basically a beach carnival, Orient is your place.
This is exactly why we don't like Orient beach anymore or St. Martin for that matter. Over run is an understatement for this beach!
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georgedp
Reged: 06/22/04
Posts: 2772
Loc: Beautiful hunterdon county new...
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Quote:
I used to spend lots of time on my boat in St. Martin every winter, but I had numerous bad experiences similar to the one mentioned in Grand Case, most of them seemingly racially motivated. I'm sure the vast majority of residents are kind, gentle people, but I've been in situations there where one could feel the racial hatred without words ever being spoken. I'd like to think I'm no more sensitive to this than most folks and have enjoyed meeting people of different races all over the Caribbean and this country. "St. Martin - the friendly island" is the joke of all time as far as yours truly is concerned. Not LOL.
BTW, I thought the object was to hit 10,000 without mentioning nekkidity, but if we really want to rev the meter, I'd suggest a picture of Mike R in his black knee highs - and nothing else. BdR.
I suspect we will get more hits and posts about racist experiences in SXM than we will get about being NEKKID. I have also had a number of experiences in St. Maarten/Sint Martin over the years - been flipped the finger too many times because I am ''white'' and called white MF - who needs that crap!! Friendly Island indeed. It is a shame because some 15-20 years ago it was my preferred vacation spot - quiet if you wanted it that way, casinos - excitement etc if you were in the mood. Now, pardon my french, St. Maarten/Sint Martin is a shithole and they've ruined what was once a percectly beautiful, tranquil and ''friendly'' island.
A few years ago we had a 3-4 hour layover in SXM and grabbed a taxi and went out to lunch and the taxi driver asked us where we had stayed - and we told him the truth and why. We stayed in SBH because SXM had been ruined - and he sighed but he agreed. He admitted that he was making better money than in the past but that crime, cost of living, quality of life and many other issues had made living in SXM a big farooking mess and he wished the clock could be turned back to better, simpler times.
St. Maarten/Sint Martin, properly developed, had a potential to be a very special place which it was in the early to mid 1980's - but they ruined it and it will never be the same again. I don't give a flying farook about Grand Case or Vie en Rose ( a restaurant that I truly loved) - I will never stay there again, except for the transit at the airport on the way to SBH (until we figure another way to get to SBH without having to stop at SXM).
As far as I am concerned, may a Tsunami strike SXM and let it be buried in the sea - sorry - they deserve it because they ruined what was paradise for me (before I discovered SBH).
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Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15651
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
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Well..first of all..I am certainly crazy enough to do a picture wearing only knee highs.....so be very careful what you wish for here....LOL.......as far as St Martin goes, I worked there in the late seventies/early 80's, when I was contracted to salvage a supply boat aground on a reef, and barge it back to St Croix...and I liked the French side quite a bit....didnt care much for the Dutch side.....people were genrally very friendly and crime was really a non factor...I remember one day I needed a break from work and jumped in a cab and told him to swing by a liquor store for some beer and then take me to the quietest beach he knew....he took me to Baie Rouge which was very nice... I had a lot of great nights n Marigot for sure......and here is the funniest thing......in the daily paper back then was regular editorials written by people who saw changes coming and they didnt like what they saw,... subtle as it was....and guess what????...they were called reactionary and how could they possibly think that this little paradise of theirs can change in any way, shape or form, and a hundred reasons were given in response as to why that was purely an overreaction and blah blah blah.........ahem ( thats the sound of me clearing my throat)......guess what??????......you fill in the blanks my friends...Im certainly not defending those unfriendly racist people of SXM. but let me tell you, as one who has to deal with tourists a lot.....tourists can easily wear you down and erode your attitude with their stupidity and self centered demeanor...and St Martins is mostly dealing with lower class American, "package deal" types of tourists and cruisers.....all in massive overwhelming numbers 365/24/7.....thats enough to make anyone a cynic to the umteenth degree....trust me...I know firsthand.....again..its not an excuse at all...its a reason....right or wrong, its a reason.....I'm just wondering....what came first here....the chicken or the egg???>>> maybe, just maybe, we North Americans had as much to do with destroying their spirit as they did in making the choice to market themselves to the lower class American tourist.....thats my perspective on the whole thing....
never say never my friends.....not in this business
now Im sure the card carrying members of the "St Barts is Heaven and Therefore Will Never Change, Bleeding Hearts Club" are going to pounce here... so go for it.....I know better then to pay any attention to it at all
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karma is a beautiful thing at times
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BillK
Reged: 10/02/02
Posts: 1376
Loc: Aurora (Toronto) Canada
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. . . and people ask me how I can spend a month on 8 square miles with just my wife. It's been 25 years and I ain't bored yet.
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BillK
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bchsunlvr
Reged: 04/14/03
Posts: 267
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We always spend a few days on Orient Beach on our way to Sbh because it's so different from sbh. I guess some would say it helps us appreciate sbh, but it's because we enjoy the difference (and it is different). I would say that all that has been said is very correct from each perspective, but I would agree most with Marilee. That is the way we see sxm and Orient. La Semana is a great hotel on a beautiful beach----but if that is what you want, you can do better on sbh. Sxm is really about the other beaches and Grand Case.
We prefer to stay at Cap Carrraibes and spend our time on sxm on Orient. We don't leave Orient for the few days we are there.
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Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15651
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
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Quote:
. . . and people ask me how I can spend a month on 8 square miles with just my wife. It's been 25 years and I ain't bored yet.
anyone who is stupid enought to ask anyone else a question like that has got their head so far up their ass they are looking at yesterdays dinner.....
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karma is a beautiful thing at times
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