TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin And so it begins.....

April 2019 - In the beginning.........

We arrived at SXM on the noonish flight via AA out of JFK. Perfect seats and a good flight down once we escaped the local north east area turbulence.

And we did NOT have a jetway but arrived the old-fashioned way, down the stairs and inhaling the aroma of all those aviation aromas. Airport arrival was easy - once down the stairs we had to take a bus to the arrival area, which we could have walked to faster but all’s well that ends well. We cleared immigration and luggage in no time and exited to take a cab to the Royal Islander, our home for the next two weeks and then it’s on to BSV.

First oddity was heading to the taxi stand since we always get our car from Kenny’s at the airport. We ran into a Lesley Bruce, and you just have to know - He is such a treasure. I know price is important to all of us but he is so much more than just that. Even though we weren’t getting our car until later, he ran over and greeted us and would you believe, he helped us to our taxi with our baggage - never ever have we brought so much stuff - and he loaded all into the cab for our driver.

Off to Royal Islander. You probably all know the sad story of that b itch Irma and the havoc she levied on our beloved Towers and then the mismanagement, putting it mildly, on the part of the owner Hushang Ansary and family, so for our second trip back post Irma we are forced to stay elsewhere. BSV would have been our first choice but it was booked for the dates we wanted so lucky for us, we found a two week rental in the same unit at Royal Islander Club La (Le?) Plage. It’s very nice and DH will certainly get his fill of airplane watching. It’s a two bedroom lock-out high up so the patio view is great.

The units at Royal Islander are very well equipped and nicely done inside with cool Caribbean colors and comfy furnishings and the staff have all been lovely. Only drawback - our room wasn’t ready so we had lunch at Tortuga while we awaited entry. By the time we got in and unpacked it was almost either nappy time or dinner time. We opted for dinner knowing if we tried napping we’d be gone for the night and probably wake up starving in the wee hours. Thanks to ShopandDrop and Jeannie we were able to make great hero sandwiches and call it a night.

April 14 - Palm Sunday

Did coffee and pastry in our room and eventually headed out for our annual island tour/drive. In November we ventured as far into St. Martin as Friars bay and as far into Sint Maarten as Front St. Today we covered the island and I have to say - much as we thought we had seen about the worse the island could throw at us, we were shocked and appalled by the absolute devastation across the French side of the island and equally amazed at how much more still needs to be done to restore Her to her former glory. This is just MY PERSONAL OPINION but for what it’s worth, the French government really needs to step up their game and help the people with more assistance than they’re currently providing. Either pitch in and help them or get out of their way. The Dutch side’s recovery seems to be light years ahead of what’s happening in French St. Martin and from the few I’ve spoken with, it’s not the people but as is so often the case, the government seems to be getting in the way more-so than helping. So very sad to see......

Okay, I’m down off my soapbox now and ready to share the rest of the drive. We ended up at Marks Place where we enjoyed a lovely late lunch experience, mussels with frites and a huge seafood salad plate. I will be the first to admit, if you’re looking for atmosphere this probably isn’t your best choice but if it’s quality well prepared food at reasonable prices you’re looking for, I just don’t think Mark’s Place can be beaten.

Oh, and the hat. John’s favorite “Air Mango” baseball cap of about age ten or twelve years by now, was once again left behind, this time at Marks Place, but a quick phone call and we found out they had it and would hold it for us. So far that hat has taken a swim in the deep waters off Grand Case, was abandoned once at Bar Code and reunited with its family and today, it’s resting peacefully at Marks. Well, at least it has good taste in venues.......

And we finished our day by stopping by and visiting dear friends. Our ‘quick stop’ ended up being at least an hour and a half visit. Time with good friends is always well spent.

Home again and before we knew it, it was cocktail hour. I think we’re too tired to head out for dinner tonight but plenty of time for that down the road.

Glad you arrived safetly and looking forward to updates. I am with you on Mark's Place.

Welcome back and do enjoy . Cheers !

We loved our meal at Tortuga! Thinking about staying at Royal Islander our next trip. Enjoyed Beachside Villas this time....Maybe you will learn what is going on at Alegria with the construction going full speed....

It now will be called Morgan Resort and Spa. They are working on it full time.

Thanks for the report! I am SO with you on your opinion of the French side government....

Thanks for that bit of information....same owner as Alegria?

Yes .

A nice first report. Glad you made it safely. I am looking forward to your future writings!

Great to see you arrived safely and ready for another fun island vacation. Enjoy every moment......you are off to a good start!

Excited to read your reports Pat.

as i have said many times....Mark's place is FANTASTIC. I am with you Pat on the atmosphere, but the service and food quality surely make up for the ''atmosphere''. I have stated more than once, that i think Mark's Place has some of the best ''italian'' dishes on the island, for a fraction of the price. I had both the lasagna, and the veal parm on our two visits a couple of weeks ago. Both were delish. Pat...i am a bit confused though...you mentioned you took a cab to RI...but ventured out exploring....how did you do that without a car?? inquiring and confused minds want to know. Did you find the filters?

Pat, sounds like you're off to a great start to your vacation, I'm so happy for you. Looking forward to hearing about your days in paradise.

Enjoy!! keep us posted!

Looking forward to more of your reports. We never made it to Marks last trip so I really enjoyed reading about the food you ordered.

Are you at Royal Islander for the entire trip, or will you be moving?

We are here at RILP for two weeks as we rented the same two bedroom two bath unit from separate sources for back to back weeks. We had hoped to be at our timeshare and by the time we started looking for alternatives, BSV, our first choice, was booked for our dates. We will be moving there for four nights before we finally head home. We’re on the 5th floor here so the views are very nice. This morning there was a beautiful double rainbow and LOTS of planes going by.

Remember, peeps, we are not foodies as such but we do enjoy good meals wherever they’re found but sometimes a ham and cheese sandwich is just as enjoyable as a full course meal, depending on the ‘who’ and the ‘where’ and that certainly applies on SXM.

And Ed, no filters and did rent from Lesley but picked up the car here at RILP later instead of at the airport. We usually don’t do Italian here on the island - so many great Italian places at home but we will make exceptions for La Rosa Too or Sal and Pepe’s but that’s anout it for us.

Have a great day, Everyone.

Thanks for including us in your current visit to SXM. Always fun.