Four Reasons To Skip St. Barts and Head to St. Martin. WSJ

[Beachcomber]

Sal8ne…the new dining Capitol?

And refuge from the instagram types. On my very first trip I stayed at a tiny place on Flamands called White Sand Beach Cottages run by Monique M. It was nothing more than a bedroom on the beach but it was quite charming as was Monique. My next door neighbor was an elderly couple named Arthur and Vivian. They lived in Paris and had already been going to SBH for 20 years and this was 1990. They took us under their wing and showed us all around the Island for the next week. We met Kat and I had my first Crème Brûlée at Tamarin etc. etc. I’m going to go looking for that magic again.

 

[cec1]

And refuge from the instagram types. On my very first trip I stayed at a tiny place on Flamands called White Sand Beach Cottages run by Monique M. It was nothing more than a bedroom on the beach but it was quite charming as was Monique. My next door neighbor was an elderly couple named Arthur and Vivian. They lived in Paris and had already been going to SBH for 20 years and this was 1990. They took us under their wing and showed us all around the Island for the next week. We met Kat and I had my first Crème Brûlée at Tamarin etc. etc. I’m going to go looking for that magic again.

Such a wonderful experience & memory!

 

[alachick]

How are the skeeters at Saline Gardens?

 

[davesmom]

We went to Sint Martin twice on the French side. Never felt very safe there. We've been to St. Barts seven times so far and have always felt very safe (except on the roads). It would take a lot to convince me to go back to Sint Martin.

Sorry to say that we only went to Marigot in Saint Martin, a couple of weeks ago, (not Philipsburg) and it was so run down, we did not feel safe after walking around and going to a little French bakery for a sandwich and pastry. ( Pâtisseries obligent!). Shocking after 43 years..it was so nice before and had luxury stores..nothing of the sort now. The people, and taxi drivers, however, were very nice wherever we went. We felt safe in Grand Case but only went for dinner, and we were driven by our hotel taxis. Taxi from the airport to the hotel was eye-opening, to say the least…horrendous traffic and the condition of the homes and buildings were, for the most part, very sad. But the food was great in Grand Case!

 

[amyb]

Sorry to say that we only went to Marigot in Saint Martin, a couple of weeks ago, (not Philipsburg) and it was so run down, we did not feel safe after walking around and going to a little French bakery for a sandwich and pastry. ( Pâtisseries obligent!). Shocking after 43 years..it was so nice before and had luxury stores..nothing of the sort now. The people, and taxi drivers, however, were very nice wherever we went. We felt safe in Grand Case but only went for dinner, and we were driven by our hotel taxis. Taxi from the airport to the hotel was eye-opening, to say the least…horrendous traffic and the condition of the homes and buildings were, for the most part, very sad. But the food was great in Grand Case!

Grand Case once known as THE dining spot of the Caribbean. Sorry to see this update.