TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Locations please

For those of you that are way more familiar with the island than me,,,can you give me some landmarks as to where the Baker's suites are located. It says Billey Folley Road, and wondering if it is right across from Atrium. Also, the Simpson Bay Suites? I am assuming they are a little further up the hill on Billey Folley road.
Directly across from Buccaneer Beach Bar on Billey Folley Rd, is a variety store, how close would either of these places be to that for instance?

Thanks so much
Meg

Its just to the left of the Chinese Grocery Store across the street from the Atrium .

SBR is up the hill a bit from BBB. Bakers Suites are across Billy Folly road and down towards Burger King from the Atrium
George

They are both pretty much across from The Atrium and The Atrium parking garage/deck. Not all reviews have been positive.

ok, thanks, from the pics it looks ok...hard to tell though,,,,does the same comment apply to the Simpson Bay Suites, further up Billey Folley.
Another option for just a few nights was the Commodore Suites,,,,,we just need a few days prior to our week, or just following. We are staying at Sol Y Mar above greenhouse, thus wanting something close.

Thanks again
Meg

A friend who stayed at both was not impressed and would likely not stay there again. Perhaps he will check in. I looked at Commodore Suites earlier this year but ended up at Atrium. I would think the noise and parking with Market Garden might be an issue there, although the pictures looked decent.

Simpson Bay Suites is actually closer to the main road and NOT farther up Billy Folly Road. You would pass this property prior to The Atrium or Baker's Suites as you head towards BBB and Greenhouse. I think you are possibly thinking of Simpson Bay Resort, which is farther up the hill and totally different.

All of the choices are very close to the villa.

Have you tried The Atrium? Friends found a room there on Travelocity for less than renting directly from The Atrium. They rented for 3 nights from what I recall.

If you do a Google search for Simpson Bay Suites, you should see a map, click on that and then blow it up and you can see the location of these properties.

These are a little way of.
You could also look at Azure Hotel & Art Studio.
Marys Boon.
Or Turquoise Shell Inn

All in the Simpson Bay Area.

As suggested by Rural Carrier you can check it out on the map.

Marys and Azure are beachfront.
I'm not sure if you can access the beach from Turquoise Shell Inn.

You can access the beach from Turquoise Shell but you have to cross the road behind the property to get to the beach.

In April we booked the Atrium for four days through Expedia for like $80 a night, and was really pleased with them. The great part was the walking distance to a lot of great food!

stayed at Simpson bay suites a couple of times. Place needs some maintenance and up dating. It is located across the street from the back of Burger King, Parking is in the front or back.



Baker Suites was basically new when I stayed there. The closet had a broken shelf when I arrived but didn't see till the second day. I reported it to the front desk. they tried to say I did it. We went around and around about that. Wasn't any daily maid service. After 6PM nobody to contact in the office if you need towels or something. Parking is on each side of the building. It is across the street from the walkin entrance of the Green House. Also rented a car the same time I did the hotel booking. Now I prefer an older rental car with some dents BUT when the rental car was brought to the office on check in the first thing that went through my mind was" that better not be my rental car" That car was beat and I mean beat, driver lean back was at 45 degrees to the back seat and couldn't be re adjusted, cracked windshield, body had BIG dents. They was really upset that I wouldn't take the car. It was just a bad experience with the car and room from them

Wendell

SXMWendell
That does sound bad.

Had a bad experience at Dollar once.
Pointed out a dent to the guy on collecting.
Took all the insurance options.
Wanted to charge us 1200 on return for dent.
I was pissed, ended up arguing with manager.
Didn't charge it.
But it still sullied my vacation.

I always take all the insurance offered.
Because I say in the event something happens want to just be able to walk away.
With some of the credit card coverage you have to pay up front and then are reimbursed so I've been told, not sure.

I stayed at Baker's Suites for one night in June prior to checking in to my timeshare. While the main room (studio) had A/C, the bathroom did not. I propped the bathroom door open with a chair, and then the temp was tolerable. Also, I don't travel lightly. I parked in front of the property, and it's a slight incline. I really had trouble getting my suitcases out of the car trunk. The room was clean, but there was no view, which was OK for one night. Don't know if I would stay there again.

Linda--that's kind of weird, regarding the bathroom and a/c. I guess there was no vent for the a/c in the bathroom? Or there was a room type a/c unit in the main part of the unit and it didn't cool the bathroom?

thanks to all....I have also looked at the Atrium,,,it is looking ok...I didn't know they booked less than a week, as we only need probs 3-4 nights...will continue to look at that.
I am sure in January, we will not get room for 80 a night, but that is totally understandable. Sounds like Baker's suites and also Simpson Bay Suites might be risky, ?? lol,,,,I really appreciate the input. This site forum has and continues to be a great source of information from those of you that know SXM way better than me. This will be our 8th trip,,,so we are getting there, lol,,,still lots to learn.

Yes, the Atrium definitely rents for even a night, as I have rented a room there for one night. It just depends on availability. I would definitely take the Atrium over the other two you mention. The Atrium is on the beach (although you may well not have an ocean view) and does have a pool, things the other two do not.

Thanks Carol,,,pretty familiar with the Atrium, although did not know you could rent for such a short term...that interesting. It is a lot more expensive, but I guess you get what you pay for. I am going to check again and see what their availability is like.

Check out Expedia for SXM. I just rented a room for 1/31 on road behind LaVista. Expedia had many listings.

The Atrium is primarily a points resort and as such will rent all days of the week and for any number of days. A big advantage of points resorts over weeks only resorts.

Carol , Beachside Villas do not have A/C in the bathroom either. They usually have a small fan in there on the vanity to help cool it down.

Well, yes, that's true. We keep the windows closed in the bathroom and door open to the bedroom, so it's not bad in there, to me, when the a/c is on in the master. I'm not exactly sure why they bothered at this point, but I hear that Beachside is replacing the louvered windows in the master bathroom with a regular casement window, so I guess maybe the bathroom will stay somewhat cooler because of that?

Interesting they are doing that since it no longer opens into the previous atrium area. I heard they were making more renovations to the villas. Do you know what they are doing?

The Atrium also have week owners too not just points only.

Yes, that's what I thought, no idea why they bothered with that window. The other changes I have heard are also fairly minor, but more esthetic, like going to some type of solid surface countertops in the kitchen and eventually the bathrooms. Frankly, I think those will make it easier for the maids to clean, as those tile countertops are a b*tch to keep clean and grouted. It will look nicer, but probably not much difference to those of us who have been there before. I hear only a couple of units have been done as of now. To me, not really a big deal, one way or another.

Thanks Carol. They definitely will be easier to clean and should look much nicer too.

I actually was somewhat surprised that they didn't replace the kitchen countertops after Irma and/or when they closed in the Atrium and put the bar in by the kitchen. (...which, to ME, I would like to see bar stools there...)