TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin 35th year, 1st trip report

Arrived Thursday 1/3 breezed through immigration and customs. No checked bags, so right to AAA Car Rental. Picked up brand new Kia.
Checked in at Mary's Boon for the first time. Very surprised at the state of things on Simpson Bay. It looks to me that there has been an unbelievable amount of work to get things back to some semblance of order. Went to SBYC for late lunch, early dinner and had the Grouper. Disappointed, batter was very heavy and grouper was extremely thin. scenery was great as usual, but one and done.
Stayed at MB Beach the three days before checking in at SBR, Simpson Bay Beach was in great condition and most buildings are up and looking great. Horny Toad was open and busy. front building has been raised about two feet and looks great.
Friday dinner at the Palms, both Greg and Jo were great and food was fabulous.
Saturday was football, had takeout from the Pizza Company on Airport Rd. Pizza was thin crust very good and reasonable.
Sunday checked into SBR with no problem at all, had dinner at Pineapple Pete's. No big changes, food and service was good. Wasabi Charlie's to the left of PP is new and looks good, but not a big sushi fan, so didn't try.
Monday headed to Mullet and found it also in good shape. Both Daleo"s and Rosie's up and running and busy when cruisers are in. Had dinner at No Where Special, owned by Al Wathey's daughter. Al owned the Turtle Pier Restaurant and told us some of the Turtle Pier's staff are working there. It is located right next to Simpson Bay Yacht Club. Was very impressed with the food and service. Al cane by each table to see that all is well. Explained that vthey had no grouper, because fishermen hadn't been getting any fresh and most on the island is frozen. Ate there twice and was extremely pleased, kind of takes the place of Skipjack's until they reopen.
Construction is going gangbusters at both Skipjack's and Lee's. Missed both very much. When Lee's opens parking will be a problem, but one suggestion is, to park on the street across from the entrance to Burger King and Garden Market. It has space on both sides and is blocked off making it a dead end. It is relatively close to Lee's and should be an easy walk.
Tuesday took a ride around the island and as others have already reported French side has been nowhere near as aggressive in rebuilding. The Marigot Market has half the the vendors, although went back Saturday and it was almost back to normal number.
Lunch at lolos in Gran Case. All rebuilt and no noticeable changes, however, the rest of Gran Case is in terrible shape. Most oceanside restaurants not open and looks like it will be quite a while. The other side looks much better with most businesses open.
Had dinner at the Greenhouse food and service was excellent, Met the President of the Flying Dutchman there, as the rain forced our two tables together. He came from Lake Tahoe ski area and he was very informative about the building of the chair lift, zip line, slide and restaurant. One suggestion, stay away if more than 3 ships in port, as zip line could be a 2 hour wait. He suggested doing other activities while waiting for zip line.
Wednesday went to El Zafiro. Beach is great, had lunch there, had burgers and they were great. Did El Zafiro a total of six days and hate to say it had the burger four times and the chicken/ribs combo twice, all excellent.
Had dinner at Vesna Taverna, probably the best dinner of the stay, we all had the grouper. Sally, our waitress, explained they had a delivery of freshly caught grouper that morning. It was great and the desserts, chocolate mousse and three layer vanilla cake were superb.
We went back the night before we left, as we used to go to Saratoga/1863 Charter House. This time Vesna suggested to stay away from the grouper, as it was not up to par.
Thursday stayed at SBR Beach, busy, but all well with both the palapas and the beach bar. Had dinner again at the Palms, excellent.
Friday, no cruise ships in at all, so a quick trip to Phillipsburg, Parked on Front St, shows you how busy it was. Walked from the school to the Greenhouse on the street and back the Boardwalk. Most businesses up and running, although not all open with no ships in port. Drove to Guana Bay and saw a tremendous amount of damage and not a lot of activity. Dinner at the Hideaway and they are up and running with all repairs completed.
Football Saturday with dinner at Isola. We took doggie bags back to the unit for lunch the next day.
Sunday back to SBR Beach and take out from LaPatrona, pizza was better than expected, thin crust.
Monday back to El Zafiro and had dinner opening night of Palapa Grille, the old Rancho, across from the Palms. Soft opening, but good crowd. Service was a tad slow and some orders were mixed up, but I thought they did great for first night. They have installed a tent covering the dining are to prevent any material that may fall while work is
continued on roof. Unfortunately, no view or access to the yachts in the lagoon. Barbara, the owner was around making sure all went as well as can be expected on a busy opening night. Would definitely go back next trip and hope that the tent is gone and some kind of windows/doors to the lagoon are installed.
Tuesday another first, Jimbo's. Never had been before fajitas were excellent, as was the service.
Wednesday El Zafiro, but cruise ships were in and visiting there along with heavy down pour, back to SBR Beach, cleared up good day. Our second dinner at No Where Special, again excellent food and service. Their scalloped potatoes are excellent along with the mahi mahi. Great place, but restrooms are a bit of a walk.
Thursday, last full day, El Zafiro and dinner at Visna Taverna, both excellent.
Friday, Marina pool and check out, picked up sandwiches at Peli Deli, Bob Barron picked up chairs and umbrellas. Off to White Sands Rd again, only this time to drop off our rental at AAA. Met Allain's son Guilleme and paid the reasonable bill and a ride to SXM.
Check in was a breeze, got there about 12:30 for a 3:18 flight. Went through everything in less than ten minutes. Waited in the second level, where there are three small restaurants. Domino's, a burger place and a small sandwich counter. Went downstairs to the gate after JetBlue to JFK was called, probably a mistake, Much more seating upstairs and much better pa system. You can definitely stay upstairs and hear your flight get called and go down and make it easier on yourself, as you probably are taking a bus out to your plane. Plane loaded and set to take off at 3:35, but didn't take off until after 4;00, but other than that. everything went well.
Made CLT got through Customs and Immigration in less than 5 minutes thanks to Global Entry.
All in all it was great to get back to Saint Martin and enjoy the beauty of the island and its great people.
Sorry about length and thanks for taking time to read.

Justin

Thanks for the report! Sounds like a great trip!

You said you hear JB flight called and went downstairs. Then you say better to wait upstairs because PA system not so good. Are you saying that 1st call for your flight isn't the only call so stay awhile longer upstairs and wait for another announcement of your flight?

Surprised you were able to park on front street without getting towed. I heard they were doing that.

Great report. Very informational. Thanks!

Thanks for the informative report. Glad you finally did one after so many visits!

Enjoyed your report. Liked the restaurant reviews.

Thanks for a detailed report!👍🏻

Thanks for the report. Glad to hear The Horny Toad is busy and back in business.

Great report.........wouldn't expect anything less from a fellow Waltham native.

The PA system is much louder and clearer in the upstairs waiting area.
Also, there seemed to be a lot of empty seats upstairs. When the JB flight was called
I expected there would be space downstairs, but that’s why they put
erasers on pencils. The lower level PA system needs work, over the din of
passengers and poor speakers, it is tough to hear announcements.

Thanks for a nice report. Arriving this Friday and looking forward to trying some of your recommendations.