TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Quick notes:

....Orient Village and beach look great. Came back very nicely. Lots of seaweed towards the former Club Orient area but very minimal from middle to the other end

....these two weeks have had more rain and wind I have experienced here over 20+ years...decent now

....road to Orient from Phillipsburg (towards and near Yvettes) has been closed for a while...detour isn't a big deal

,,,I just think the area from Maho village to Porto Cupecoy is depressing. I remember that shopping area (Maho) and it was a decent place. Now the brick sidewalks and walls are in disrepair and many businesses are toast. Past the golf course the casino area is a destroyed mess and many destroyed buildings as you approach Porto Cupecoy which is fine. Other parts of the ISland are in disrepair but they ALWAYS were in disrepair....Maho et al look decent before.....and this is 2+ years post

....I think the Carrefour in Cole Bay is superb (mentioned before)...here is a look at one of their fresh fish areas:

....and a friend we met on the walk to Happy Bay (and 50 of his relatives) :

I think yours is not a fair assesment. Maho the sidewalk on the hotelside is fully repaired and all stores and restaurants are open. Cheri's Cafe' side is a different story although most of the shops bar and restaurants are open with the exception of Cheri's Cafe' and Pizza Pasta. Mullet Bay Golf is in the best and greenest shape it has ever been since 1995. Cupecoy with the exception of Starz Casino, Ocean Club andcthe stores at stores at Blue Mall, never a hit that place for shopping anyways, all is up and running with plenty of restaurants open between Jordan Village and Porto Cupecoy.

Yup...golf course is in great shape because of the rain, The sidewalk on the Cheries side is , as mentioned, Is in visible disrepair from the street view and many shops on that side are empty (that was my view as I drove through). My impression is just that..MY impression . You may see things differently but I remember them as they were and driving through there just made me sad BECAUSE of what they were..this area is not owned by poor locals.and should be a tourist attraction..AND the fact two + years has passed

Wow - I don't remember seeing ANY empty stores other than Cheri's. I wonder if there have been closures since I was there in December.

Boucharda.....have to agree. However, Porto Cupecoy has come on very strong, albeit obviously not as badly damaged due to Irma as other areas. But considering such a tourist area with all the hotels and accommodations in Maho, much is still lacking, but we also don't know the full story as in are the owners still waiting for insurance payouts hence empty stores or are the owners charging far too much in rent, etc, etc. Regardless, brick and mortar retail stores have been on the wane for some time now and its all restaurants, coffee bars etc yet someone could do very well there with a fairly decent upscale fashion/gift store with good quality merchandise as opposed to the usual. I also remember what it used to be. Mind you, don't we all.....I was hoping to post some video taken in December in Maho but this site doesn't accept video recordings. See if I can find a free place to store them and post a link here. Had one years ago and forgotten who or where it was. Age!!!

There were at least 6 empty stores on the Cherie's side.

Some don't open until evening or later afternoon and merely "look" empty, such as Hole in the Wall.

JN jewelers moved down a few spaces and re-did their store. They keep late hours for the after dinner crowd, and all those who stay in the area and walk around...so don't open as early in the day either.

Fact is we had a Cat 5+ hurricane. You cannot expect everything to be up and running as also personal or public financial issues might have ae
Arisen that could have delayed any reconstruction. Yes I do rember better times in 1980.

We didn't drive to the Porto Cupecoy area this year, so can't comment on that. But we did spend an evening at Moulin Fou two weeks ago and thought that Maho had made great progress compared to our visit in 2019. The parking garage is open again, there were lights on in the hotel rooms, and the dancers from the casino did their preview show in the street. Moulin Fou was very busy, especially with a very large group, and we actually were disappointed with our service, a first for that restaurant. (The food was good though.) There were people eating at the restaurants or enjoying music at Hole in the Wall. We also noticed how many more stores were open this year. Yes, the empty Cheri's space does look a little dreary, but overall I was pleased to see how much better it all looked.

I'm always surprised at how quickly people seem to forget the amount of damage incurred, the challenges of getting workers and materials to an island, etc. I was in southern Mississippi several years after a big hurricane hit there, and even in the US, repairs hadn't been completed years later!

Thanks for the report.

Looking forward to shopping at carrefour in Cole bay. Wasn't ready to open when I was there this last May.