This was our 24th trip to SXM since our first trip there in 1992. Because of family commitments later in the month, we decided to take the Thursday December 6th departure from Toronto, rather than the following Sunday. More about this error in judgement later.
We left Toronto around 6:30 in the morning on Sunwing, a company that could teach the sardine canning industry a thing or two. Leg-room was non-existent but cabin staff was pleasant and helpful. Also, the captain was a woman – first time in 46 years of flying that I have ever flown with a female pilot.
We arrived in SXM just before noon, had no difficulties getting through immigration and picking up our luggage. Lesley Bruce was waiting outside with our car – excellent service as always. After about 5 minutes of paper work, we were on our way to the Sonesta Maho.
We were in luck as our room was ready for us. The front desk proudly announced that we had a “suite” in the Ocean Terrace section of the hotel. We have never stayed in that section before. I am not sure I can recommend it. Unlike other parts of the hotel, the room had not been renovated. The room, however, – not really a suite – was clean and comfortable, with an enormous bathroom and a great view from the balcony of one of the hotel pools and of the beach at the end of the runway. The only issue I had with the bathroom was that in an attempt, I guess, to dress up a crummy bath-tub, they had done some sort of Bath Fitter thingy to the tub. The end result was a tub that was very narrow, sloping on all sides into the centre of the tub, with extra-ordinarily high sides. Very difficult to get in and out of. Would not be good for anyone much older than me (I’m in my early 60’s).
We had lunch at the buffet in the hotel. Here I have to state that we are not foodies and so can always find something edible in just about any dining establishment. In fact, the buffet had a reasonably good selection.
We unpacked, then went in search of distilled water. Many thanks to those on TTOL who had advised that we could pick this up at Garden Market. And, by the way, Garden Market is a very impressive grocery store.
Back to the hotel and time for a nap. My husband has had some type of cough since Canadian Thanksgiving. He thought a week in the sunshine and sea air would be good for him but found any type of exertion to leave him short of breath. He has been to his doctor and to hospital. Up to going on vacation, they just kept giving him cough medicine and antibiotics.
In the evening, we went for ice cream at the Haagen Dazs shop near Maho, did some people watching then went back to hotel for a drink.
Each morning we ate breakfast at the hotel buffet. Again, nothing to complain about. There was a fellow making omelettes plus the usual scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon (My, it amazes me how much bacon some people can eat!!! I heard there was going to be a shortage?) pancakes, French toast, pastries, fruit, cheese, ham, bread, bagels, cream cheese, jams, etc. Everyone eating there seemed quite satisfied with what was on offer.
Friday we drove into Philipsburg. We had purchased two new phones earlier in the year, and had been told they were unlocked so we went to UTS to get SIM cards. We found parking in the “pay” lot – we are always lucky there, always find a spot. Went to UTS only to be told they have no SIM cards at all as so many people have been coming to SXM lately. Hope they get some more before the season really starts. They told us to go to UTS in Simpson Bay. After that, we did some shopping. I was quite excited to see a store on Front Street called London Jewellery, thinking it was London Links and hoping to pick up charms for my bracelet. Sadly, it was nothing like London Links so no jewellery purchased there. My husband went in DK Jewellers to look at a watch. While he was browsing, one of the very pleasant salesmen showed me a 9.25 carat diamond ring worth $150,000.00 US. Sadly, my spending money didn’t run to that type of purchase. Besides, the Canadian Customs would have caught me with it, seeing the enormous smile on my face if I had been able to buy it!
We headed back towards Maho looking for UTS but could not find it. We stopped in at The Mail Box for directions and learned that they could sell us TelCel SIM cards. We went back to Maho for lunch, then tried to get our phones to work only to find out they were not actually unlocked. We went back to The Mail Box to see if they knew anyone who could unlock them. Yes, they did, but it would cost more than the phones. The lady who appears to be in charge at The Mail Box was very helpful and let us return the TelCel SIM cards for a full refund. We later figured out that my husband’s i-phone was unlocked so we went back and bought a SIM card and extra minutes for that phone. I need to have a phone there to call home regularly to assure my 91 year-old mother that we are O.K and will actually be coming back home. Anyway, after all of this running around trying to set up a phone we had just enough energy left for a quick trip to the casino, where we lost our money, a drink and off to bed.
Around this time whatever was ailing my hubby kicked into high gear, possibly, I think, aggravated by the air conditioning. He spent the night coughing and gasping for breath. We finally shut the AC off. When I suggested next morning that, maybe, we should just go home and back to the doctor, he said that he thought a few days on the beach would help. So, off to Orient. We spent the day at Le String. Our friend Jean was still there and a very pleasant group of people behind the bar and in the restaurant. It was Saturday so a couple of the ladies who work there had brought their children to work with them. Really sweet, especially the youngster with the skimboard who very much wanted to show us how well he could surf.
We had lunch: calamari, Caesar salad, mahi mahi and rum punch. I like the food at this place.
Note: the two American owners, Ray and, I’m sorry, I can’t remember the name of the other fellow, were not around. Apparently they were stateside and had leased the place to someone else. If the French ladies were the ones in charge now, they are doing a great job.
Later in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel. Hubby was exhausted, so we stayed in for the night.
Sunday we took a drive around the island. We visited Paradise View for a drink, Friar’s Bay, the marine reserve. We meant to go back to Paradise View for a meal, as their menu looked impressive. They had beef tartar on the menu and I love it. Sadly, we never did get back.
Back at Maho, we had a late lunch at Cheri’s Café. It was very quiet at the hour. In the evening we had a few drinks in the bar at Maho. I like to watch the people in there but find it really does not have much atmosphere since they put in all the slot machines. Makes it noisy.
Sometime around the weekend the hotel experienced problems with pipes in the hotel and judging from the odour of the liquid waste flowing out of them and flooding parts of the parking garage, these were sewage pipes. The stench was unbearable. Also, at times, the smell drifted through the open areas of the hotel. More than once, in the following days, guests of the hotel and others parking at Maho had to pick their way around pools of what appeared to be effluent. Like walking through an outhouse. Guests were inquiring about the smell but were just told that there were some plumbing problems.
On Monday we went back to Orient and Le String. It was very windy; no umbrellas could be put up. It started to rain at one point so everyone headed for the restaurant. We had lunch: coconut shrimp, smoked salmon and mozzarella pannini, a burger, more rum punch. We headed back to Maho around three in the afternoon. We were lucky – traffic was moving well in our direction but for folks coming the other way, traffic was backed up from the bridge near Marigot all the way to Nettle Bay and the Flamboyant. Not sure what was going on but it may have been due to a funeral procession in Marigot.
A few comments on traffic and the roads: Our previous trip to SXM was in July 2011. At that time the detour around Simpson Bay/Cole Bay was in place and was making life miserable if you got caught in the traffic back up. That construction is ongoing. On the French side, however, in the time since we were last there, a long stretch of road in front of Le Pirate and Beach Plaza, from the cemetery all the way to the bridge, has been re-routed, to make parking for the hotels there. The road is finished, the traffic moves well, which begs the question as to why it is taking soooo long to do road work on the Dutch side.
Tuesday we just stayed around the hotel. We found a shady spot near the quiet pool, read, dozed and just took it easy. Any amount of walking, even from our room to the front lobby of the hotel and back, left my husband extremely short of breath. I really, truly doubt the advisability of us taking this trip at this time.
Wednesday, we went back to Le String and had one more day on the beach. The beach was crowded; business seemed to be good for most places there.
Thursday and it’s time to be going home. We packed up and arranged to stay in the room past normal check-out time so that my husband could rest as our flight back to Toronto did not leave until 10:00 p.m. This was the error we made in booking the Thursday departure.
I also convinced him to call his doctor at home and make an appointment for the Friday.
We left the hotel mid-afternoon and went to Layla’s. We had looked in on this place one day on the way back from Orient, as we had heard good things about it. We decided to go there and spend some time. Lovely place. I wish we had gone there and spent time earlier in our stay. Nice people, very hard working and friendly dogs all around.
Finally we headed back to PJIA and left the car for Lesley. He really does make car rental simple.
Our flight left SXM on time and arrived in Toronto around 2:00 in the morning. However, they had no gate available for us. We had to wait while they towed another Sunwing plane away, and then let us have the vacant gate. We got through Customs and Immigration, and then into the baggage pick up area, only to be told that the conveyor belt had jammed. A lot of tired, cranky people stood around for quite some time waiting for luggage. Felt sorry for a couple near us who had to drive to London after all that. As for me, next time I will check the flights more carefully and if it’s coming back that late, we will travel on a different day.
All in all, I can say that the trip was pretty good. I think we did get a rest and the warmth and sunshine are always a great change from Canadian pre-winter. We did have great weather – just a speck of rain one day at Orient. In the darkest, coldest days of winter, I like to imagine myself lying on a lounger bed at Le String, with a drink in one hand and a book in the other, watching the surf roll in and the people walk by. This trip’s memories of Orient will hold me until next time.
