TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin First 4 days

Had to get up at a god awful hour to be picked up 2:30am to fly out of Boston Jet Blue .. stopped in JFK and arrived in sxm 30 mins earlier than planned. We are two couples traveling together. Made it through the airport with luggage in about 30 minutes.. no issues at all. AAA waiting for us at airport to grab our cars and off we were to El Zifro for 3 nights. We really enjoyed our stay there right on the beach, our room very comfortable, clean , they give you a complimentary I phone to use while there and you have a complimentary drink when you arrive. The restaurant .. have to say the service was very good, everyone very friendly. We had some good and some not that great meals there. The breakfast was great , they serve a nice fresh orange grapefruit juice. Lunch .. we tried the coconut shrimp and I would not recommend. … missing turtle pier coconut shrimp. Tried their crab cakes.. ey would not order again. My husband had the chicken wings and fries and it was very good but it was just wings and fries.. The salad with chicken was nothing special so we would eat breakfast there and move else where for Lunch and dinner. Thursday night we went to Yacht club to see a friend and then we went to Pizza Italy. Very nice people there owner telling us about Olive Oils and which to buy and not buy .. we got marquarita pizzas which were very thin crust and I loved it. We asked to try his Bolegnaise sauce and he gladly brought out a bowl with bread to try and it was very very good... we will be going back dinner there. Last night we went to Toppers … wow everything was delish no complaints here .. the service was great we went around 6pm .. the waitress had a very nice personality and of course had us trying all the rums.. I had the coconut shrimp there and it was very good ..I also had a ceasar with chicken which was very good and had chicken to take back. My husband had the brisket .. sooo good and the other couple had the lamb chops and a rib eye which they said was wonderful. After that we went to Lagoonies for a night cap.. seems like a fun place, limited menu .
Observations the island looks great .. the golf course .. we saw at least 4 foursomes playing .. everything is green ..
Today Saturday we moved from El Zafiro to our villa we are staying in for a week. Beautiful place..
sorry about any spelling errors.

Sounds like your off to a great start.

Stayed @ elZafiro last year for a week. Staying a week next week. Love the view, room, comp breakfast, and phone. Had my SXM Lovers Get Together there last February. They set out some awesome snacks.

PattyM......no need to be missing Turtle Pier coconut Shrimp. Right after the Simpson Bay Bridge is a newer restaurant called "Nowhere Special." It is owned by Al Wathey's daughter, Lillian, who owned Turtle Pier. In fact, Al himself is there most nights....and....the clincher.....the main chef at Nowhere Special IS THE SAME CHEF that worked for so many years at Turtle Pier!!! Voila....you no longer have to miss the great food....It is BACK!!!!!

To the OP. If you also had the champagne lobster, at Turtle Pier. you can do it again at Nowhere Special!

Thanks for the report. I personally have never been impressed with the food at El Zafiro. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

awesome we saw the sign No where special we will definitely stop in .. also love the view at El Zafiro.. the people there are very nice and the rooms are very comfortable.. we would probably stay there again love having the beach at your doorstep.. They have an observation deck also to watch the plans and they will be expanding next door they told us. To those out there that might be afraid of the noise from the planes..it was not an issue basically they stop landing 8pm and don't start until 7am but those are smaller planes and don't make the loud noise . We were concerned but we loved being able to see them and the noise was not an issue at all.