TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Update on Royal Palm fees

Here at RP for two weeks on II exchange...just got email of first weeks bill...I can confirm Todd’s experience...no $25 daily activities fee for exchanges, only $50 weekly Sxm tourist tax....current management and staff couldn’t be friendlier and more helpful and glad to see us....dave

Perfect...thanks

Must be because of change of ownership. Just got email from Diamond stating there is a 25.00 resort fee for renters and RCI or II trades. Right foot out of step with left. No surprise there.

Part from email I received this morning.
"Non-Smoking Resort- Prior to checking in:The Antillean Florin is the legal currency on the Dutch side of the island although the USD $ and the Euro € are widely accepted. The Euro € is the legal currency on the French side of the island although the USD $ is widely accepted. There is a St. Maarten government required Timeshare Usage Tax ($50.00 per occupied unit, per week, i.e., an eight day stay up to two weeks will be $100.00) that applies to all reservations. Hotel guests are exempt of this fee; however, a rental room tax (20% of the rental rate) is required for all rental reservations. No pet policy is strictly enforced. Please be aware that all reservations that have an alternate guest checking in should make prior arrangements with the resort.- When checking in:
- The minimum age for checking in is 21. Picture identification and major credit card is required. A incidental deposit of $200 will be required at check-in. Please note that there is a $30 cash departure fee, payable at the airport; however, most commercial airlines include this fee in the price of your airline ticket. Please consult with the airline to determine if the $30 departure fee is included or not. This fee is subject to change without prior notice.
- Hotel Guests and Exchange Reservations: At time of check-in, a valid government-issued photo identification is required that must match the guest name under which the reservation was made. A credit card for a $300 security deposit and a daily $24.95 plus tax resort fee will also be required (cash is not an acceptable form of deposit). Resort Fee includes Wi-Fi, beach chairs, seasonal activities, billiards table, pool, business center computer/internet and boarding pass printing.
- Owner Weeks and Member Points Booking: At time of check-in, a valid government-issued photo identification is required that must match the guest name under which the reservation was made. A credit card will also be required as a security deposit (cash is not an acceptable form of deposit). Resort fees* will be waived when staying on your owner week or member point reservations.
- A resort fee of $24.95 plus tax per night will be added to the reservation if the owner or member of THE Club® is checking in on a rental reservation."

The $30 departure fee is way old. It is currently $39 per person and included in the price of most tickets. I just checked AA and Delta to confirm the amount.

Sint Maarten - Airport Departure Tax (SXM) (FH) $39.00 USD (From the Delta site)

AIRPORT DEPARTURE TAX (SINT MAARTEN) $39.00 USD (Fromthe AA site)

Too bad Flamingo and Royal Palm can't have accurate information. It would make me question if any of the other information is accurate as well.

JD--I was so surprised it mentioned the departure fee, although I didn't realize it had gone up, as you never even see it anymore, just pay it as part of your ticket. It's been a LONG time since one had to actually pay a departure fee separately.

Scubaman--change in ownership? Is it no longer Diamond? If I knew that, I forgot it.

Hilton is now the management/ownership company.

HILTON BUYS DIAMOND REORTS

If you check for a ticket and click on the "price and tax information", it does show up there. Last I really looked it was $36 a couple of years ago but it is $39 now.

Wow, it's tough getting old and not remembering things!

Carol. join the club.

Comes with a lifetime membership. 😁👍

Sooooo...we are back at square one. Recent visitors say no resort fee and free wifi....info from the resort says the opposite

Imagine that, confusing and conflicting information from a timeshare. Good luck, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I still feel it's probably miscommunication in the transition of ownership. Time will tell. 🤞

I stayed here last Wednesday and Thursday nights. Booked via Hotels.com. I believe I paid in total about 250 per night. Can't recall seeing a Resort fee or anything. They did extort a $50 fee for extending my checkout time by two hours. Not sure why they felt the need to fleece me, it's not like they rooms was needed by another customer. The place was less than 1/2 full. The bar was open but the restaurant on site was closed. All in all a nice place. Don't think I would do a week there though.

Wow, that seems like a pretty stiff price per night. When you say you wouldn't do a week there, do you mean, at that price, or in general?