TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin A hint..

As to where we're staying, and a photo of the hazy sky

Nice setting looking at Anguilla.

For the fun of it, I will guess a private villa in Terres Basse. I would say a private villa overlooking Orient Beach, but I am not sure that it would give a clear view of Anguilla.

No, Its not Terres Basses as you do not have a view of Anguilla....More towards Orient Bay.

View of Anguilla, yes.

Depending upon which villa you are in, you will get Anguilla and some of Orient lights at night.

I'm leaning towards a private villa in Terres Basse facing the Southern edge of Anguilla but still considering another location.

Wrong. Another hint.

between Grand Case and Anse Marcel

Villa Canoua on Happy Bay

I think somebody nailed it!

https://www.st-martin-vacation.com/villas/villa-canoua.html

yes, think thats it. If so nice Carol, enjoy every minute...........................

Yep. I googled it and there it was. Same picture Carol posted.

Fantastic! Enjoy every minutes!

Great looking property. Hope you're really enjoying it.

bdeeley--I knew it wouldn't take too long, once I posted the pic of Happy Bay from here. Really enjoying it here!!!

Carol, it’s wonderful that you and Eric have enjoyed such a wonderful vacation and such a special anniversary. Safe travels on your return home.

Thanks. We go home tomorrow.

Safe travels

That place looks awesome.....

It IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sweet! and Enjoy!

Wow - that surely went by fast!

Nice choice with pool and view. Is it an easy walk to beach or a drive thing?

Carol, couple questions: Does the villa have daily maid service? Is it gated? Is there a caretaker on property? Are there other villas in close proximity?
TIA

I hope you’ve had a relaxing holiday and a wonderful anniversary. Be sure to leave all your extra wine and I’ll enjoy it after ten more sleeps. Leave the light on...

Maranjo--The maid service is every other day. There is a gate for the community AND a gate for the villa, as well as security shutters for all windows and doors. I have felt extremely secure. There is no caretaker on property, although the owner lives somewhere close and there is a local French phone here at the villa, that you can call him if need be. There is one villa off to the left, very close, but there has been no one there since we have been here. I understand that villa has a very low occupancy rate. Someone who has stayed here before said they didn't even know that villa was there ,the first time they stayed here because the vegetation hit it so thoroughly. Now the vegetation isn't as thick, because it hasn't rained. Other than someone with binoculars on Happy Bay or on a boat going past, it is impossible for anyone to see you, whatever your state of dress or Undress. It is VERY quiet here. You do not hear anything most of the time, other than an occasional barking dog, and an occasional sounds from a villa that are constructing quite a ways away, or a far away plane coming in to Grand Case airport. The predominant sound is a little waterfall in the back which trickles into a fish pond, where there are koy (??) that you can feed if you like. It is very peaceful.

Pelican--OllieEh has stayed here a couple of times and I understand they regularly walk to Happy Bay from here. You can drive part of the way to Happy Bay, but Happy Bay has no vehicle access. We have not attempted to walk it, as I could not do it, I know. I'd ask Ollie to address the question of walking to Happy Bay.

Linda--yes, short trip this time, but we're coming back to Beachside in October!!

C’mon Carol, you’re going to make it harder for us to book next year, keep it a secret. Haha. Glad you enjoyed it. Will be back mid August.

We attempted to find a path to walk to Happy Bay but failed. We just drove our car to the small parking area and walked in.

Pelican...we have stayed at this villa 3 times with our fourth stay very soon. We have used 3 different ways to walk to Happy Bay. The first two ways require some good strong legs with an above average fitness level.

1. The walk TO Happy Bay isn’t too bad. There is a STEEP downhill walk in the beginning and the stairs leading down to the path from the community are steep too and the last step is really challenging due to erosion....but doable with average abilities. Once down the stairs, it’s fairly flat. The trail lead to the path from Friars. The walk back UP the stairs and up the hill to the villa is very challenging in the late afternoon sun. I’m literally soaked with perspiration...lol. I measured on Google Earth and it’s about a 650 yard walk in total.

2. It’s the same route but we drive the car down the hill and park within the community at the gate where the stairs are located. It reduces the walk by only 100 yards but those last 100 yards are very steep to walk back up to the villa. It saves the challenging walk up the mountain but the stairs still need to be negotiated.

3. We drive out of the gated community, down the mountain to the small parking lot just off the highway where many longtime HB visitors park. It’s a fairly flat walk to HB around the mountain through the abandoned resort. There are gorgeous views of Grand Case beach. It’s roughly about a 650 yard walk also with a nice breeze. This route requires the same amount of fitness level as the walk from Friars to Happy.

The first screenshot explains 1 & 2 and the second screenshot explains #3.

Thanks Ollie, there are some old steps behind the pool, very overgrown. Started to make that trek and soon realized that’s not going to happen. Will have to try option 1 to friars path. We just used #3, not a bad hike although in August can be warm. Enjoy your stay!

Thanks Carol and Ollie.......well take the car....if we ever have the dough for a private villa . How safe is the car parked down at the bottom?

Oh, and again, nice pool and view.

I'll let Ollie address the question of leaving the car there.

Yes, it was very nice. I have a lot of work to do on a trip report. Soon come.

The car was very safe. It’s still within the gated community. (Option 2) I parked it close to the community mailbox. It only saved about 100 yards of walking but that last 100 yards is very steep.

The other parking lot just off the road seems safe. (Option 3) Many HB visitors park there. There’s only room for about 8 cars but it’s never full.