TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Our trip so far. part 1

The following will be a quick synopsis of our trip so far.

This is i think our 30th or 31st trip to the island. As i posted earlier, we were one of the first reservations booked as soon as the flights were finally opened up from Fort Lauderdale to SXM direct. I do have to say,...it was GREAT. Left right on time from FLL, and within a short 2.5 hours we arrived back ''home'', after a two year absence thanks to that b/tch Irma. We were pleasanty surprised after landing, that the new ramp brought to the plane for deplaning was a ramp instead of stairs. My knees appreciated it a lot. Then bused to a corner of the airport to go through immigration...which took less than ten minutes...and i think for the first time in many years, our luggage came out within three to five minutes. Quickest through the ''airport'' ever. It is very sad to see the ''new'' airport in its current condition...but nice to see people working on it. Hopefully it will get back to full use soon. Picked up our car at AAA, and it is always a pleasure to be greeted by Myra and got to catch up a bit. Then off to LaPlage, and was there by 11: luckily, our unit was ready when we arrived, so were able to get into it quicker than expected....changed...and off to the pool and beach right at Maho. Had lunch at the new tortuga....but honestly, the food was okay...but not like the old place was. It is much more ''sterile" looking like ever, and I think the new managers of the place...the same people that run 3 amigos, are making a big mistake by taking off a lot of the lunch staples that was always offered by previous owners. Tortuga is NOT a gourmet restaruant, and having 30 dollar steak dinners for lunch is probably crazy there. food was good though.....and off to the beach and pool. Every year, seeing all our regular RI family is heartwarming. Irma surely didn't change that. The building is in excellent shape, all repainted...and fixed up. New furniture in the lobby and all rooms effected by the storm. All the units do have new air conditioners, and they are much more effective than ever. They are even in Farenheit degrees, so much easier to control for us that don't have a clue about celcius. Maho beach is wonderful so far....plenty of sand.....gentle waves.....and bluer than ever. Hat's off to the entire maintenance crew for bringing the building back to much better than it has been in years. Also, the grounds are spectacular. As for the Sonesta....it has opened with a ''soft'' opening, mostly complete, but some work still being finished. It is totally amazing to see how quickly that building came together. Only thing that totally pissed us off, we went over to the Sonesta to look around, like we always did since it being right next door...and at one time all owners at LaPlage had full use of all the amenities there. There were three of us checking out the grounds, and all of a sudden a security person came over to us, and politely asked us to leave, since NO ONE THAT IS NOT STAYING AT THE HOTEL are welcome. We left, but chances are, as beautiful as it is.....with that attitude we will NEVER EVER stay there again, as we used to when we would come in early or later to our timeshare. Not the right way to impress people. Some of Maho village looks like it was never touched.....but then you see the remains of Pizza Pasta, and the building....and of course the empty area of Cheri's. Honestly, I do miss Pizza Pasta BIGTIME....but don't miss Cheri's. The vibe without it though, is pretty evident. We did eat at LaRosa for our first meal....It is now larger and fully remodelled thanks to Irma. Food was FANTASTIC. As good as ever.

The casino is up and running, totally remodelled, and looks great. They are having a big world wide poker tourney this weekend, so they do expect a lot of people coming in to play. Time will tell. It is much quieter in the village, and even at our timeshare. I guess a lot of people still didn't think the island was back yet. Their loss.

Yesterday we spent the day at Orient.The beach itself is beautiful as ever, the water perfect....but so sad to see the damage still left. As reported, the area that the restaurants were in is all fenced off....and so sad to see the area so underdeveloped. First time I ever was in SXM, without at least Pedro's up and runnning. To think of all the unemployment just from that fenced in area is heartbreaking, and thinking off all the families that have been out of work now for the last 18 months. Talking to the locals is also heart wrenching. Each story even more dramatic than the one before it. We parked ourselves at Kon Tiki, and through it all had a wonderful day...although a bit more expensive than we ever had before. One thing Irma could not erase was that beautiful view, that i have come to love for all these years....the same view that i go to when i think of my ''happy place''.

So far for dinners....Saturday night was LaRosa, as i mentioned. Sunday night was a smoked platter from Fat Tony's. Absolutely delicious. Monday night filled my duck craving from Chesterfields, and once again was not dissapointed at all. Chesterfield's sustained a lot of damage, and interior has been redone and expanded. The inside was remodelled to resemble the old look, but all new stuff on the walls....and the outside area is all brand new, better lit, tiled floor and beautiful. and tonight was my brisket craving from Topper's. Again, as good as ever. We did spend the day right here at our own beach, and it was great. Sand gravity better not settle in this fast....we still have 2.5 weeks to go.

Driving around the island, there still is plenty of damage seen, but honestly not as bad as i thought it was going to be. Boats sticking out of the lagoon, including the icon Pink Iguana. and the one thing that i didnt see reported in previous trip reports is the condition of the three large pelicans by the airport. One has its wing totally ripped off, and another with a few holes blown in it. If you remember a few years ago, when the birds were installed, there was a hole hullaballoo about the money that was spent on them. I guess they weren't constructed with a Cat 5 hurricane in mind.

All in all, the island is back....just won't be back to the old normal for the foreseeable future, but am so glad to see the progress being made. If someone is thinking of waiting to come back....don't hesitate in making those reservations. The island is as welcoming as ever, the people as friendly as ever, and paradise awaits immediately. Will post more as days go by.

Glad you are here and thanks for your report. I was going to mention those pelicans but you beat me to it. Also N S E is missing W.

Thanks Ed, for the really nice report. With that many return trips to the island you definitely have us beat! It was difficult to see the residual damage that remains, but we were so encouraged by what has been re-built and the continuous efforts being made. It was really strange with no Pedro's and no 'Plage Naturiste' sign (with the two people on it) as you entered the former Club Orient area. Our very first photo was in front of that sign many moons ago, and I hope another sign will be raised somewhere down the road (along with a new Pedro's). Of course, the new sign can't say 'Club Orient' until that place is also re-built.

One vibe I definitely picked up when talking to the locals was that many of the residents did not want to discuss the hurricane. I suppose that would get annoying if visitors were constantly asking you about it (i.e., "was your house damaged?" or "did you stay on the island when it hit?"). I quickly stopped asking about it, and found they wanted to talk more about the efforts being made to re-build and the bright future laying ahead for SXM. But, what great people there. In the years we've been visiting I can count the number of people with bad attitudes that I've encountered on one hand, and I can't say that for many other places that we have traveled to.

I wonder how that works, as far as a ramp to get off the plane. It seems like Jet Blue has it, but not some of the other carriers? My knees would definitely appreciate a ramp also..

Very nice write-up, Ed. Thank you for sharing and I'm glad your return was a good one. We went back nervously for our first return after that b itch Irma but it was all good for us, too.

We will be staying at RILP for the first time in a couple of weeks - and I'm very excited and John is too because he loves looking at the planes. We rented two weeks in a fifth floor two bedroom unit (because of the situation at the Towers) and I can't wait. We had tried to get into BSV for our whole trip but they were booked for the dates we wanted and I found the RILP unit instead but we will still do a couple of days at BSV before we go home.

Thanks for your update.

Nice report. Enjoy your stay.

Interesting report. I loved the pelicans and was sad to see them. I hope they are repaired someday but there are a lot more important things to spend money on right now.

Nice report.
Funny, we have been back a couple of times since the hurricane, and after a while didn't see the damage
any longer. We were so impressed at how quickly everything was up and running, on the Dutch side, that we stopped looking
at the flaws.
Hopefully, it will continue on the French side also. We did stop at two coffee places near Orient, last April, and were
happy to see how friendly everyone was. Never got back in November to have breakfast and missed that.

It will all come back---we will miss our April trip, that we have been taking since the 80"s, but hopefully will be back in November.
So please, keep posting, so we can hear all about your experiences and that blue water......

Thanks for the interesting report. I've never had the duck at Chesterfields (where I normally am underwhelmed) so may give that a try. And maybe give Sonesta another try after it's finished? Perhaps security wasn't speaking for management?

jazzgal......found out today....that the ''security'' issue is the new norm there. A whole lot of other people were discussing it today at the pool, since they also were asked to ''leave''. unreal.

Ed, have you run into Mr Spadaro, the owner? He’s around. Good to chat with.

i have seen him...but not going to bother him with it.