TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin New Structure next to Karacter

Anyone know anything about the new structure next to Karacter? Looks like another beach bar. Wondering about room for parking? Also, as of today, seaweed is mounting on Simpson Beach! Ugh!

Karakter VIP lounge

Good that they are getting ready for the November gang arrival

Totally ridiculous how the gov lets a business build without concern for enough parking, safety , health concerns. I wonder if a permit was even given? Can't image someone in gov can't see the obvious problems there. They don't even have enough parking or bathrooms for the business they have so it just gonna be a bigger nightmare. I have seen people get in fights and cars get dented because of crowding and towed over parking. I stopped going to Karacter a long time ago. Same issue at the other end of the beach at El Zippo. Just a money grab and no concern for anyone.

I'm told all permits in place. We have not been in several years.

El Zippo?? I assume that is a typo? I would love to go to one of the Friday night concerts again at Karakter, but we don't because of parking concerns.

Didn't they start another structure several years ago and had to remove it due to either lack of permits or something to do with the Nature Foundation?

I am pretty certain they would only build with legitimate permits in place. I remember when Jorritt had to tear out a deck extension because he hadn’t pulled the appropriate permits and had infringed on the beach beyond the high water point.

Yes, and had to tear it down.

We were there that day and it wasn’t pretty.

Where this is being built was a foundation to a building that I think was destroyed in 1995! Before you get to the bathrooms I think.

It was a small foundation for a house that’s been greatly expanded now, not another commercial building that requires a lot more parking that a single family home. That’s the point. Just another SXM pay to play. Just ridiculous the lack of thought or concern.

Nobody goes there anymore because it is too crowded.

Ah! Remember when it first opened and was so serene. Haven't been since heard how bad parking has become.

I have never had an issue parking. But I don’t go in Sunday’s

😊 Yogi Berra .

What I don't get, is that they had them tear down there other structure only to let them build this another thing that IMHO will end up half way out in Simpson bay beach and will be another dangerous eye sore!!!! If any of my fellow TTOL'ers remember LaPlaya's free standing bar and observation dinning deck??? Irma took her somewhere, that no one knows where that landed. That was built with pure concrete too!!

Sorry, Todd, I still go there on weekdays and don't experience parking issues.

We tend to get to the beach early so I also have not had parking issues, and for no particular reason we did not go to Karakter last year.

We were fans of this place from its earliest days but the Last time we went we were turned off by the closeness of the chair set-ups coupled with the volume level of the music. This was a few years ago and hopefully it’s gotten better but if not, oh well..........

IMO its become a total jungle. From the road that is next to impossible and dangerous to get down on a busy day to the over crowding of the chairs and music way to loud. The night time crowd has really become a bunch of undesirables. We went there in Jan and left after an hour. The quickest way to go out of business to me is to not listening to your customers the lack of safe parking without hassle getting there has become to much to even bother going. Cant even image why they would want to add to that parking mess and over crowding by building more.

Agree with the jungle, parking, too close chairs. We went last year to sit and eat up near the bus, but did not stay for chairs or anything.

Mary's Boon or El Zafiro is a nicer option and way to spend the day IMO.

We were there only one time and a long time ago.

Hey Pat, you'll be pleased to know that when we were there (several times during the first 2 weeks of December) the chairs were NOT crowded (unlike what El Zafiro has become). Plus, the new chairs are much more comfortable than the old ones ever were. And the music, while not as good as Jorritt's playlist, brought back those fond memories. We had also stopped going to Karakter a few years ago because the music was just not to our taste and way too loud.

Never a parking issue for us (but we arrive by 10ish). I'm sure that by January that could easily change, but for the "November folk" like you, it should be fine.

Le Ann, that's good to hear! We haven't been to Karakter for a few years because the chairs were so close together, and the food wasn't as good as it was during Jorrit's tenure. We'll have to give it a try this year.

LeAnn,

Good to know and I thank you for the heads up.

We’ll be on island mid April and will maybe give it another go. We never had parking issues because like you, we are usually early birds To the beach, and we learned a long time ago when there’s any possibility of parking issues, back into your parking spot if possible so you can drive out, usually w/o any issues.

Last year we had the same issues as several posts here but, this year the first part of our trip we are staying at Mary's Boon so, there
is no need to go to another beach bar on the same beach as the "Boon".

If I were staying at Mary's Boon, might not need to go to the BEACH, but I sure as heck would walk over to Karakter for evening entertainment one night.