We went for our SB Beach walk yesterday and did most of the beach. We went from just west of Horny Toad the cliff rocks at the end ..total 7845 steps and fell great. Just a few observations along the way. Mary's Boon had a decent amount of patrons in the chairs and they looked like they were cozy. Karacter's was almost empty and it looked much different than the last time we walked by (last year). It looked kinda run down with just a couple of picnic tables in the sand and a very battered cement wall. Didn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling New establishment next door with off beach cabana's...not busy Saw Air France and Delta land ...always impressive. Passed maybe two people on the beach all the way to BSV which wasn't active at all. Maybe two units were obviously occupied and no humans seen Beach at BSV has some severe erosion with water to wall at the west end...I will try to post a pic taken mid-BSV to show how severe the erosion is...
The "new establishment" next to Karakter is actually a part of Karakter. Karakter certainly isn't what it was when Jorrit owned it.
Realistically, Jorritt ran an extremely well managed beach venue which I personally don’t think anyone else has come close to duplicating in that location since he left. Close folks, but no cigar, IMO anyway. But in fairness, everyone has their own idea as to what makes for a great spot, don’t they?
Respectfully,
pat
"Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them."
I don’t really understand the need or logic of those cabanas at Karakters. Certainly a bit of an eye sore. From what I understand the land they are trying to buy already had a building permit from years so years ago plus probably some good old boy Dutch privilege going on $$$&. It has gone way down slow service and so so food for the money but So many issues there since the beginning. Lack of parking snd then recently they started having these rave crazy music kind of parties late at night. We just stayed next-door at Marys Boone for a week and if you’ll notice Marys Boon Beach Bar and restaurant has taken at least half of their business and now The Boon seems to be the “it” fun place to be and busy every day.. Mainly because they have good food at reasonable prices and really great service and they even give you a free Beach chair and umbrella. Plus on weekends I noticed they have these comfy chair cushions that they bring out for free also. Used to be a lot of beach bar options on the island but now it’s kind of lacking and we really enjoy Simpson Bay beach. Hopefully we will go back in April.
[quote=foreversxmThe Boon seems to be the “it” fun place to be and busy every day.. Mainly because they have good food at reasonable prices and really great service [/quote]
Your experience there certainly differs from ours in November. We were on the beach at Karakter one day, and their kitchen was closed, so we walked up to Mary's Boon for lunch. The service was surly and unfriendly, and the food was terrible. Overall a bad experience, and one that makes me pretty sure I won't go back.
Funny thing. We have stayed at the Boon and truly enjoyed their food, particularly back in the day. Maybe five or six years ago we would do the Boonies for a day thing and really enjoyed their lunches, particularly the salad plates. A year or two ago we went for dinner and it was one of the two worse meals I’ve ever had on the island. Poor service, long waits for food and terrible dinners We were shocked because we’d only had positive experiences to that point. I’m of the personal mindset any restaurant can have a bad night so we will probably return again but there are so many great places that it most likely won’t be real soon.
Respectfully,
pat
"Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them."
That’s really odd to hear. We’ve been eating there for at least the past 10 years never had any problems like yours and at least lately for busy. Everyone has their own experiences , I will the breakfast staff tends to be more island time and local attitudes but still a great breakfast. IMO.
