Hi all,

You all were very helpful a few months back with rental car questions as I planned out our trip. As I stated then, we are returning for our first trip to Sint Maarten in nearly 10 years this Saturday for a week's stay and we can't wait, after having gone pretty much at least once a year since the early 90s with my family when I was a teenager and into my 20s/30s (pre-kids). Now we are coming back as a family of my own with our 12 and 10 year old boys in tow. I have a couple of questions hopefully all you experts can help with!

We're staying at Flamingo for the first time after decades at La Vista where my parents were owners. Does anyone know if Flamingo has laundry facilities available or laundry service? I didn't see anything on their website saying they did. It would make packing light much easier to be able to do a load of laundry midweek. Or if there is a laundrymat nearby that does laundry service. Also, does anyone know if they provide beach towels at Flamingo which would save a lot of luggage space.

I always loved going to Pinel for a day on previous trips, though I had seen now that advanced reservations are recommended to get beach chairs/umbrellas. Is this actually needed as I wasn't sure which day we were going try and go yet so hadn't made a reservation. How far in advance should I make a reservation and also is there a preference on which of the restaurants to reserve at?

We plan on doing a day trip to Prickly Pear with Aqua Mania at SBR. Any other recommended excursions that will keep our very active boys entertained? I thought about zip lining, though I highly doubt my wife or I would do the zip lines ourselves, so somewhere that they would let the kids do them on their own while we watch. Maybe even half-day boat charters for snorkeling as both my boys are really excited to snorkel.

Any recommendations for renting beach chairs and umbrella for the week in case we go to beaches that don't have rentals available? We always enjoyed Baie Rouge but understand that there are no rentals there anymore since no more Gus' or Raymond's.

Thanks in advance! You all are the best!