Hi Folks,
Just got back from our 10 day trip. Lots to talk about, so I'll get right to it.
First item: The Sapphire.
We've all seen the various threads from posters both registered and otherwise with some very negative comments about the condition of the Sapphire. I'm sad to report that while we didn't experience all the problems previously reported here, we found much of it to be true. I can't believe how much things have slipped in the last year. We've had week 49 in a building 1 studio since the building first opened, and our unit was a train wreck this year. The smell of mold and mildew was overpowering when we checked in. We started to look for the source of the smell, and finally looked behind the curtain that covers the sliding glass doors to the balcony and a 6' section of dry wall. The "dry" wall was covered with black mold. It was like a frigging horror movie, the reaction to seeing something like that in your room.
After contacting the front desk to ask for help from maintenance, and getting a sigh and a roll of the eyes from probably the most useless staff person I've ever encountered, we headed to the store for lysol and a brush, and scrubbed the damn thing ourselves. We also bought some scent candles and air fresheners, opened the doors and turned the air and fans on high to move some air. We aired out the bedding on the balcony..all I needed was a couch and a 40 ounce beer in a sack, and I would have felt right at home..LOL.
By evening, the room was tolerable, and our sinuses started to open back up.
On to the hot tub. The individual controls for the hot tubs other than for the jets no longer function. They just snapped them off. They plumbed all the tubs into a closed loop, with a central heating/filtration system. The valve to this system was closed on our tub, and the water had been sitting there for some time with no chemicals or cleaning. It basically had become a mosquito pond. I tipped the maintenance guy 20 bucks, and he cleaned it spic and span, as well as replaced the plugs on 3 of our 4 lamps, which had been removed...I've been know to take the extra soap or shampoo, but come on now..plugs? He tried to fix the TV, but to no avail. I had a look after he left, and found that the cable cords were bad, so I took the 1 good one, bypassed the VCR and made a direct connection to the TV. It worked! Now there would be Red Wings hockey on ESPN and CNN to watch the Marines catch up with Saddam. We're making some headway now! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />
I kept waiting for our representative to call or approach us as she does every year to upgrade or buy another week, but every time we saw her, she just nodded and kept going. She knew what kind of shape our unit was in, and didn't want to hear about it I'm sure. The woman we dealt with at the front desk has taken indifference to a new level. More than likely from listening to it from the guests every day. We were assured that we would have the same unit for the whole 10 days, but alas, on Friday we were told we had to move to Building 2. I guess after getting our unit livable, things must have changed. Building 1 had one sqeaking and jolting elevator working the whole 10 days we were there, while Building 2 had both working, the doors would knock you over if they started to close while getting on or off. I wasn't expecting a whack like that, and even being 6'5" and 235 lbs., I still dropped a six pack of Heineken whan it popped me. If you've ever wanted to see a grown man cry... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drinking.gif" alt="" />
Next Item: Beware of the Marigot Waterfront at Night!
Went to our favorite restaurant, La Vie en Rose. Parked right on front of the restaurant. Got our favorite table for 2 on the balcony. Later that evening, a guy with a couple of buckets appeared, and began washing cars. He washed ours, and I put a couple of bucks in my shirt pocket to tip him...I'd rather he didn't wash it, but rather than make a sceen, I figured what the heck. When we got to the car, lo and behold, we now have a flat. Hole in the tire side wall no less. Of course, Car Wash Guy just happened to notice this, and offered to change it for a small fee. I was furious and told him to get the %$&# away from the car and myself, that I had read about this behaviour online, and was wise to the scam. He continued to harass me and my wife to the point that I was ready to demonstrate why you shouldn't pull this kind of thing on folks from Detroit, when the police drove by and gave us all a look. I waved to them, but they just kept on going. I changed the tire and went on our way.
We decided to forget about this, and went back for more escargot at La Vie en Rose on Wednesday night. Again, a guy washing cars appears, but this one looks different. I told the owner about our trouble the previous Saturday night, and he also thought this was a different guy. He washed the car again, and then moved onto another car, so we thought, OK...maybe we can relax. Wrong. He stepped back toward our car, and we actually saw him draw back and jab the tire. Flat number 2. Good thing I went back to Thrifty and got the spare fixed. This time I chased him down the street, but I ran out of gas down around L'Arawak and he got away. I filed a complaint with the Gendarmaries, got a load of French attitude and went on our way. Stopped at the little bar along the street in front of L'Arawak after my little jog and got ignored till he ran out of French speaking customers to serve. Only then was I grudgingly given a brew by the guy I'll call "The Beer Nazi".
Add to this grief cloudy, windy and rainy weather for the first 4 or 5 days courtesy of T.S. Odette, and I was pretty surley by now. But alas, like the golfer who has a terrible round going but chips in from the bunker on 18 for birdie, the sun came out and my mood brightened considerably.
Item 3: Dirty Tricks
We had just had a wonderful breakfast at Zee Best in Marigot, when we were approached by an Atrium time sales guy. "Here..take a chance!" he says, and gives us 2 scratch off type tickets. Mine comes up " 7 7 7 " like a slot machine. "Wow!" he says, "you've won the grand prize!" With 777, you've won either the $500.00 US, or the $900.00 digital camera! Of course, I'm very skeptical. My wife says, what the heck..what if it's for real? OK..we agree to go to the Atrium, and listen to their shtick, and oh,yeah...no Grand Prize either. The folks at the Atrium tell us that it doesn't matter what 3 symbols you get on your scratch off ticket. Why, I asked, do your hawkers say this? "We don't condone this type of thing." We end up with a coupon good for 2 days of high pressure time sales pitches at Fort Liquordale or Vegas. Thus, the Atrium time share sales people get my <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif" alt="" /> "Turd of the Week" <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif" alt="" /> award. "Car Wash Guy" and "The Beer Nazi" gave them a good run though. At least Car Wash Guy was a proper villain. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> You'll find lots of girls and guys on scooters offering you the same scratch offs for the Atrium, and all giving the same pitch about you just won the "Big'n"...but of course they all came up with the exact same pitch on their own.
Item 4: Good Stuff
US Airways from DTW to SXM through Charlotte flawless both ways. Got exit row seats going and coming.
Great meals at La Vie en Rose, Mezzanotte across from the runway... Nice entertainment here. 2 guys from the medical college playing guitar could sing about anything you could name or hum. Lots of fun, great food, huge portions at a very fair price. Mario's Bistro was great as always. Wasn't open till the last few days before we left. I think they might be taking the week before high season off. Ate lots of ribs at Pedro's..my wife loves the tuna salad there as well. The guys cooked great ribs at Cupecoy too. Laguna was OK..nothing special here. Decent meal for the price. Greenhouse was quite good, Ric's had good burgers and the Red Wings on the big screen.
Item 5: Beaches
Orient was windy and rainy till about Wednesday, but we made the best of it. Water right up to Kon Tiki. Actually, just about the same as it was last year.
Cupecoy was it's charming self. Probably the thing we love most about the island. Enough sand at the far end for about 60 or 70 of us. Nice beach just past the big rock, many there as well. Water was very clear this year! The cliffs block the wind, and it was very hot. Made up for the bad weather earlier in the week. Tide pools had formed in the rocks between the sand and the water, and we all layed in these calm pools 15 or 20 at a time and drank beer and told SXM stories. The sun would warm them quickly, and then a wave would wash in and cool them back down...it was just awesome.
All in all, it got off to a rough start. I certainly hope the management at the Sapphire get it together soon. By the way, the unit they moved us to wasn't much better. It was 1st floor, Building 2, right in front of the pool. There were no tables or chairs on the balcony, and the hot tub here also was in a sorry state. The room was well worn, but mostly functional. Lots of angry, disappointed, complaining people at the Sapphire this year. I sure hope they get the message.
Richard
