If you are planning to spend your days at Orient Beach then I would plan to stay up in that area rather than deal with the long drives through traffic from the Simpson and Maho areas. Of course, you could always split your time between the two areas and stay maybe four nights at the Simpson Bay Resort, and then move to some place like Palm Court where you can simply walk to beach. The less time you drive (and are stuck in traffic) the more time you'll have to relax on the beach! Also, too bad CLT is so expensive plying to St. Maarten. Did you try mid-week pricing if that's an option for you? Or, you simply drive over I-85 to Atlanta and fly Delta to SXM. Way closer the Ft. Lauderdale.
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