TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Day 3/4 report from Divi

Sunday morning started out overcast with some scattered rain showers, but by noon time, it had burned off and was a great afternoon.
Dinner was at Izi’s. I am an ossobuco guy, so I always get it here. As usual it was served with saffron risotto and was excellent. One change thou, Marco (the head waiter/maître d) no longer works there. After working for Davide for twenty years. It was a little vague as why he is gone.
Monday was a bit humid with no breeze. Had our owners meeting scheduled for 9:00am.. They now take you to breakfast first (at Pure Ocean). After that came the sales push. Basically they are trying to get everyone to opt out of their timeshare contracts and go to a points system. There are a lot of details too numerous to go into, but for $15,000 you can buy into it. I said no thanks. Happy the way we are.
Dinner was at Le Bistro Nu. Had crocodile steak, it was lightly breaded and pan fried. Was good, it is like alligator, for those who eaten it.
Tonight we headed to Gran Case for Harmony Nights.

A friend had the osso buco also and thought it was very good. Like you, I was surprised Marco had left Izi and Davide. I talked to Davide some but did not push the issue on Marco. He did say he was working somewhere in the Simpson Bay area but I have no idea where. Not sure what precipitated the split and Davide did express it was a tough thing to have happen. Regardless, I enjoyed two meals at Izi and as always, things were running smoothly like one would expect. I wish both Davide and his staff and Marco well with whatever he is doing.

thanks for the report! I thought you were going to say the crocodile tasted like chicken!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Where do you park when you go to Harmony Nights?

Divi was pushing their "owner update" meetings really hard this year, so we assumed they had some new deal they were trying to sell. So it was interesting to hear about their latest effort to get more money out out owners' pockets. Had a new person who was even more aggressive in trying to schedule than in the past. We usually avoid the meeting, because we have no interest in changing anything with our basic week. We spent time listening to the RCI points deal several years ago, which had no value for us.

where is Izi, exactly?

WOW! Been here since Sunday and no one has pressured us to even make an owner's appointment. Maybe they got the idea last year we are happy as we are?

[quote]Carol_Hill said:
thanks for the report! I thought you were going to say the crocodile tasted like chicken!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Where do you park when you go to Harmony Nights? [/quote

Carol, we take a taxi from Divi ..it is a van and they fill it up,so it only costs
$15 per person, I gave eaten alligator also, it taste is close
To that.

Oh, that's a good deal for sure, on the van!

I'm enjoying your Divi reports. Still 79 days until I'm back there.

Did you have Alejasandro as your waiter at Izi. Younger guy from Italy.

He was very funny.

For Harmony Nights you can park at the pay lot just across from Il Nettuno. If you dine at certain restaurants, they will reimburse you the $5 (might be $6 now) parking fee on your dinner total. The great thing about that lot is that there are always several men sitting at the booth and keeping an eye on the cars. If you're lucky enough to find a spot in the free public lot, that's a good, well-lit spot, as well. Sometimes young guys will try to get you to pay them to watch your car but don't fall for it!

Yes we did. Seems like a nice kid. Took over for Marco.

He implied he was Davide's son but I am not convinced it is fact.

I would think you would have to get there WAY early, in order to park there?

JD, No he is not Davide's son. His family owns restaurants in various cities in the states. He was working in Chicago prior to Izi. He wants to be a chiropractor.

Thanks. I figured he was messing with us.

We also were at Harmony night tonight. Was the quietest we've ever seen it...and the couple of quick rain showers didn't help the situation. we went with friends.....and ended up finding a spot on the main drag....then took a side alley which let us out right by the church.