TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Recommend a Resort

We are hoping to return this fall for the first time since Irma. We normally did an Interval exchange to OBBR but they do not have much availability. We spend most of our time at Orient Beach so OBBR was close but perhaps it would be good for us to explore new opportunities. If you had to select from these, which would you choose and (briefly) why? Thanks for the help!

• Simpson Bay Resort
• Royal Islander Club La Plage
• The Villas at Simpson Bay
• St Maarten Sea Palace
• La Vista Resort

My first criteria would be general location. In that respect, I have ZERO desire to stay in P'burg, so I would eliminate that first. P'burg basically closes up at night. And the last I knew, there was no assigned parking for Sea Palace. Second, I personally would eliminate RI because I much prefer Simpson Bay over Maho. Many people love Maho, but I don't. It feels like Miami Beach to me. The beach there comes and goes and you have to pay for parking in the garage. Because I prefer Simpson Bay over the other locations, those three would be my top three picks. I personally would prefer LaVista, as it is a small resort, more intimate. BUT they do not have a real beach there, just a kind of rocky shore. And is it LaVista or LaVista BEACH? LVB is all right on the ocean, with full unobstructed views of the ocean, which is very important to me. LaVista units, some of them have ocean views, some are somewhat obstructed by other structures. My number one choice would be LaVista, if it is LVB that is available. The Villas at Simpson Bay are all full ocean view units.. BUT, it depends on what type of unit there. The studios are VERY small and have only a mini fridge and maybe a microwave, not a full kitchen. The one bedroom units there are lovely. There is not a beach in front of the villas, but of course you could use the regular SBR beach. Simpson Bay Resort could be anywhere within the resort and could be a non ocean view room, which would be a total non-starter for me. View is EXTREMELY important to me. IF it's an ocean view room, SBR would be my second choice. If no ocean view at SBR, I'd go with the Villas, unless it was a studio. Your mileage may vary.

That about says it all....

Don't rule out Royal Islander Club La Plage. I am not an owner there so no dog in the fight but I have stayed there several times and in my opinion it is an excellent option. Great pool area, walk right down to the beach with free access to chairs and umbrella, great view of landing planes and easy walk to restaurants and nightlife right next door. It is a well run and managed property.

Like I said, many people love Maho area. I'm not one of them, but I know a lot of people like that area.

While it isn't among the list of resorts you listed, I would also suggest you take a look at Grand Case Beach Club. It is a favorite among many who visit the island and has the advantages of:
- being close to Orient Beach where you say you spend most of your time
- having its own beach with nice sand and almost no waves
- having the Sunset Cafe which offers good breakfasts, lunch and dinner as well as a nice bar for watching sunset
- being an easy walk to the town of Grand Case and some of the best restaurants on the island
- being a small, friendly and intimate hotel and not crowded like the Simpson Bay properties can be

You may want to look into it. Good luck.

We love to visit Maho. Hole in the Wall is a bar with entertainment at night where you will meet up with many long time friends. (Well Wild Bill did). But there were some who post here that were there that night as well. Use the valet parking at the casino. Free parking. Give them a tip. If you are into a nightlife kind of scene with daytime bars etc try Royal Islander. Depends on what you are looking for!

Bruce--the original poster is looking for a timeshare exchange, which GCBC is not a t/s.

Thank you all. Very helpful. We don't care about the beach at the resort as we will be driving over to Orient every day for the beach experience. It would be nice to have more variety of places to eat in the evenings than OBBR afforded us.

We are locked into the choices that Interval makes available to us so that is why I listed those resorts. We are not exactly night life kind of people, which is why we enjoyed OBBR. To give you an idea of our age range, we just registered for Medicare this morning!

We too prefer Orient and if you weren't doing an exchange I'd say stay in Orient Village
However from your list - hands down Royal Islander - almost all units have an ocean village - ground floor will not. Not owners but stayed several times at La Plage including this year - late March / early April - drove to Orient about half the days.
Carols' comment re Maho and feeling like Miami Beach - funny because that's how we feel about Simpson Bay, too crowded, noisy, endless traffic.

Regardless - you can't lose - enjoy your trip

J&B

We spent two weeks at RILP and our stay confirmed what I long thought - IMHO it is one of the best timeshare resorts on the island. We experienced a beautiful suite with an incredible view along with all the conveniences Maho has to offer right at our finger tips. The only inconvenience I personally experienced was the street sounds throughout the night and into the morning hours, but. ...... I am a very light sleeper. I would personally stay there again in a heartbeat if I had to find an alternative location and there’s no way I would prefer a Simpson Bay location. Vanilla? Chocolate. How about strawberry for a real change?!

Everyone's wants are different. Maho feels like Miami Beach to me (as well as most of Cupecoy) because I think high rise buildings do not belong in the Caribbean. Therefore, I have no desire to stay in one. I feel totally disconnected from the ocean and the water in one. But of course you, my friend, love your high rise building at the Towers. (And maybe you will get to enjoy it again, one of these days...)

As a twenty-year owner at La Plage, I can only second all the other positive posters. While it's probably not all that convenient for Orient, it's proximity to the airport is a big plus for me. Three minutes from the airport and your vacation is underway. Arrange for your car to be delivered to the RI the next day and avoid that arrival hassle. The market across the street is also a great convenience. And of course your departure is just 3 minutes away as well - I return my car the day before departure and spend the last half day relaxing by the pool - walk out front door and grab a cab to the airport. Everything about the Islander contributes to a stress-free vacation.

I have stayed at RI for thirty years now. We also (pre Irma) spend most of our days at Orient. With the Causeway now, it is less than a twenty five minute drive to Orient Beach. Maho being compared to Miami is a joke....much quieter in Maho...with MUCH LESS TRAFFIC. Simpson Bay in the last couple of years (post Irma) is a nightlife addicts dream. PLENTY of bars, noise, dancing and restaurants. Also much less traffic in maho than simpson bay. As for resorts themselves, NOTHING on the island in my opinion beats LaPlage. The place is ALWAYS in tip shop shape...the beach is right out your door. The pool area is beautiful.....some of the best restaurants on the island are less than a two minute walk, and even though they charge for parking...i think it was 30 for the week....is underground, guarded parking!! That right there is worth the price...Probably the safest place on the entire island for parking!!!!! As I think Pat wrote above.....some people like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry...and I will add ALL OF THE ABOVE!!! Any of the places you have on the list will do....the only one i would not and never do would be the sea palace...because of location.

I would choose the Villas at Simpson Bay or the Atrium Beach Resort which you did not mention. Both to me are close to many dining facilities, casinos and bars in the Simpson Bay area. I prefer Simpson Bay to Maho for location but have stayed in both over the years. Parking across the street in the parking garage at Royal Islander is not my preference although the resort is OK. La Vista Beach Resort to me is better than La Vista because of parking too. I would rule out the Sea Palace because of poor parking as well. Good luck with your choice.

I agree with Elizabeth on the Villas @ Simpson Bay. Stayed there many times and enjoyed it very much. Just go for the 1 bedroom if you choose there. All rooms are ocean view with large balcony. full kitchen, and huge pool with swim up bar.

Thank you all, very helpful. Please humor me one more question. Do all these resorts have an elevator for getting to upper floor rooms, especially RI (which we are leaning toward)? May sound like a dumb question but OBBR does not.

La Vista. Top Floor.

La Vista Beach is OK, but the beach itself is often rocky and dangerous.

Royal Islander has two elevators - one on either side of the lobby and more or less servicing each side of the resort, Thank heavens.

0n one trip we were staying three weeks on the island and as so often is the case these days, I waaaay over packed, even for me. We ended the last of our island stay, after vacating our timeshare which does (or did?) have elevators, with a week at the GCBC in one of their upstairs loft units. I thought DH was going to strangle me when we got there and he had to lug the suitcases up two flights of stairs to our suite and then, once inside our unit he realized there was still another flight of stairs to the actual bedroom area.

If you decide on RICLP, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. They really have thought of every amenity and in theory, you could stay there without a car if you are of the mindset to relax and stay put. That would definitely NOT work for us but this IS one place where it would be doable.

The RI has 2 elevators - both new since Irma. One goes all the way down to the pool level - the other only goes to the lobby

My first choice of what was listed would be La Vista, love the feel of the resort, peaceful. My second choice would be RI LP, different reasons and places to go from there and walk to. From there to go to Taco Macho, the Maho Area or the Cupecoy area you are walking distance or a no traffic drive. You can also pick which way from there to go to and from Orient. My third choice would be as Elizabeth stated, Atrium which has a great location to walk to different Simpson Bay area places to drink and eat. We have stayed at Sea Palace and going in if you have the right attitude and are able to find parking it is not all bad. Older and no where near the others for condition of units but there are positives there as well. Probably one of the best front desk and housekeeping services that we have had on island, but again the property is worn. The positive is it would be easier to get to Orient. Divi is also a nice property, remote but an easy to and from Orient.
Have a great trip!

Okay, here's my two cents...

Until our last trip I would have said something different but on our 2018 trip we stayed at The Belair. Prior to that visit we usually packed things up after breakfast and headed to Orient or Mullett or ??? But we found the resort and the beach and location so ideal that we rarely went anywhere for the whole two weeks. Granted we are dedicated beach people and for us The Belair had it all with no crowds, on-site access to all your needs and a great staff. IMHO

I can answer for RI - yes, a elevator to upper floors

RI has two wings - an L shape. Wing "1" is on the street side, "2" is parallel to the Maho hotel next door
The RI web site has room plans for the 1 and 2 bed units

Room # info - the room tells you where the room is
Room 4104 means
4 - 4th floor
1 - street wing
04 - 4th from the elevator

J&B