TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Orient Village Social Distancing

Has anyone eaten dinner in Orient Village recently that could comment on social distancing between outdoor tables? Are people generally spread out, or is distancing relaxed since everyone feels safer outside?

I didn't see any social distancing was enforced. Other than the waiters/waitresses, no guest wore masks. I always had dinners at around 7pm, so it wasn't crowded.

Thank you. I guess we'll just have to see how things look when we arrive. We'll most likely be eating early, too, so hopefully there will be room to spread out.

We ate dinner at several restaurants in Orient Village this past March, but that was well before COVID-19 was in gear. Places like Le Piment and Yellow Submarine are some of my favorite places to dine on the island, but eight months ago people were packed into these places both inside and out. At Le Piment, a lovely couple from Michigan was seated so close to us at an outside table it was almost like we were a party of four. Although outside dining shouldn't present too much of a risk if proper spacing is followed, if this same arrangement of tables presently exists I would strongly suggest looking for places with more space, or bring take out back to your room or condo. That's what I would do.

Sammy--respectfully, what was happening in March 2020 is not really that instructive as to what the situation is now, with regard to social distancing, anywhere on the planet..

I totally agree, Carol. Just trying to make the point that some outdoor dining establishments have patrons spaced far too close together both here in the states and on St. Martin. What visitors should do is look things over, and decide for themselves if this is a place worth taking the risk or not.

We're here now. I have no experience with Orient village, but I do know that tables are limited to six persons on the French side. On the few occasions when we've been a party of eight, we've been seated at two tables of four. Our two tables have been close to each other, but not that close to unrelated parties. I also know that the first violation of the protocols on the French side results in a €750 fine, and the second violation shuts you down.

Things are more relaxed on the Dutch side, but we've never felt too close to people who are not a part of our group.

We were in Orient Village for dinner several times in late November. La Piment, Le Telegraphe and L’Atelier (twice) were all comfortably separated for small groups. We also went early (6pm) so we could pretty much pick our table which I was always upwind and on the edge. When we were there between the 6-7pm hour most of the restaurants were only at 25% capacity or less. Some of the restaurants had no patrons. The last evening we were there was Thanksgiving when we had dinner at L’Atelier a little later (6:30pm) and we were finishing up around 8:30pm. That was the first night that most of the restaurants were probably 50% full or better. I don’t know whether to attribute the bigger crowd that day to more people being on the island or the slightly later time.

My recommendation is the earlier you go the better. You’ll be able to pick your table and have fewer other patrons around you.

Thank you. Going earlier sounds like a good plan. Hopefully we'll be able to try it out soon.

Just wondering, how many restaurants in Orient Village are surviving?

Looking forward to getting back to Orient Beach! Le Piment and L’Atelier are our two favorites.

How about restaurants in Grand Case?