TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Beach Side Villas Payment Question

My daughter and son-in-law are in the process of booking a stay at BSV. They have been told that credit cards are not accepted and were requested to send a personal check to a Michigan address.

Is this standard payment procedure for BSV? My daughter is a little nervous about it.

Thanks in advance for the response.

The owners Drew and Tracy is where the payments get sent . I actually thought it was WI and not MI, however I may be mistaken.
But yes, we sent them checks for down payment and final payments.

Their website says cash payments only??????

We have been sending checks for years without a problem.

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated.

Cash? No. They only accept checks. Michigan is where Drew and Tracey, the owners, live.

Macsam,

As so many others have said, there is absolutely no problem with sending the Mascarin’s a personal check, or checks, as the case may be, for your BSV reservation. They are honorable business people but besides that, they are very nice people who go out of their way to accommodate their clients to the best of their ability.

You’re gonna’ love it there!

No need to be nervous
It's standard , been paying with them that way for years. Very honest owners

Yes, I was wrong. Went back to the original e-mail and see it was MI. I misremembered

I can’t imagine a hotel or any business in this day that will not take a credit card. Zero recourse if your not happy. To me odd but I’m fairly sure your ok since BSV have been there for years. Just seems like a hassle and no airline miles. 😂

True that, but a forum favorite. I would love to have a business in the Caribbean and be paid cash in the US.

I'll join the chorus to say that there is no need to worry at all. I've been staying at BSV since 1997 and have always followed this procedure. Drew and Tracy and their entire family are truly honorable people. As Pat said, they go out of their way to always accommodate their guests. Keep in mind, these are their privately owned villas that they rent out. I think of it more like that, than a "business running a resort". Therefore, they do not accept credit cards. At any rate, you will love it there and staying at what a lot of us call paradise.

Some will take a credit card but they will then add on a 3%-5% fee for doing so. Some smaller family owned places (BSV and Horny Toad) have a very loyal follwoing and this is how they do business and somewhat keep the rates within reason.

foreversxm--you are under a big misapprehension. There are MANY businesses that don't accept credit cards, period. Including many of them on SXM. I would say a decent percentage of private villas don't accept credit cards, and some of them for that exact reason that you state--people make up things that they are dissatisfied with, so that they can dispute the charge.

The bottom line is the OP’s daughter should not be apprehensive. It’s their way of doing business. It was our first stay there and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Private villa we rent is cash or money order only. No problems with it.

We just booked for March 2020 and I also was surprised at the check only method of payment. Does create some problems being in Canada and not having a US funds bank account, but solved it by getting a bank draft and sending it by registered mail requiring a signature. I didn't have any problems with trusting the owners of BSV but was concerned with my Canadian mail system interfacing with the USPS but it all worked out. SXM, here we come!!

If they took CC they would have to charge the bank fee. The Mascarin's starting with mom and dad Telly and Yolanda have been conducting business this way for years. It works.

Our daughter mailed the check about 10 days ago. To date, she hasn't received a response to her email to the Mascarin's asking for confirmation of payment receipt and check-in instructions.

What will she have to do upon arrival tomorrow at BSV?

Did she get the gate code in a previous email? If so, just go there and then head to the office. If not, she should try to call the Michigan number and get it. If she doesn't get a response, she will just need to go to the property and wait for someone to open the gate, then go to the office. I honestly don't know how often they change the gate code, but we haven't been there this year YET, so don't know it.

Thanks Carol.

The check was mailed on 7/13, but it hasn't cleared yet. The previous BSV email stated that check-in instructions would be provided upon receipt of payment. It did not include a gate code.

My daughter has called the number on the BSV website and sent emails with no response. What is the Michigan number?

The Michigan number is the one on the website. She should call that number again and leave a specific voicemail, if she hasn't done that already.

I just sent you a PM regarding BSV. You should see a flashing envelope in the upper right hand corner of your screen next to your log-in name.

Good luck with all this. I know I’d be beside myself but at least you must know, the Mascarin’s are extremely honorable and this WILL resolve itself.

I'm not sure what phone number you are using but Tracy usually is great about responding to emails! Like others have said, no worries on the check payment! Nice thing is your hotel is paid for up front! Nice not to come home to a hotel bill!! We've been going since 2007. While I don't always get the gate code prior to our trip (or I somehow miss it) there is usually someone around when you arrive.

I mailed them a check and it took 3 weeks for them to receive it! As soon as they received it, Tracy sent me confirmation. I always send payment in lots of time as the mail seems to be literally "snail mail" there.

Elizabeth,

I suspect this was a last minute reservation thus perhaps the problem in receiving it well ahead of the due/departure date. Perhaps the suggestion should be made to use UPS or FedEx next day services in these cases, but now we know if we decide to do a last minute trip.

I recently mailed a letter to a Texas business and it took twenty-two days to get there from our local CT post office. I couldn’t believe it took so long but it did. Thank heavens it wasn’t anything urgent.

In any event, in a PM I received last evening, macsam said everything worked out and the problem was resolved. The travelers should be firmly ensconced in their BSV unit by now. LUCKY THEM!!!

Glad everything worked out.

Mascam, please do come back and tell us how your daughter and SIL are doing! And how much they love BSV. Glad to hear via Pat that everything worked out.

Maybe I'm confusing it with my pet sitting service, but don't the Mascarin's / BSV also allow bank to bank transfers? I could've sworn I had done that and not mailed a check.

Beachkitten, they do allow bank to bank transactions. I know with us and online banking, the first payment sent out from the bank in the form of a hard check, every transaction afterwards is a bank to bank transfer of the funds to the same party.

Thanks Foxy... I'm not as senile a I thought.