TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Trip Report Wednesday and Thursday

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday is our anniversary, and we didn't have anything planned, except an evening meal out.

Breakfast was ham slices, eggs and strawberries, along with coffee and my usual mimosa. I used some of the morning to upload some pictures and trip report to TTOL. Somehow our computer AND our SXM phone did some kind of an update and both are now defaulting to Dutch . He got the phone fixed, but Eric can't figure out how to fix Edge, so we have to manually type in addresses on the browser. First world problems..

I spent some time at one of my favorite places on earth, by the pool, reading my book.

After a bit, I was able to get some liquid refreshment from the Cabana Boy!!



I had a lovely time, reading, watching the waves, and the planes.





Until in no time, it's time for a burger on the grill for lunch, which hit the spot.



About that time, some folks showed up in Number 14, which had been empty for a few days. Since they have no car, I suspect they are newbies? It's now Sunday, as I write this, and we still haven't seen them.. Whatever.. After lunch, a little shower chases me inside and I work on trying to finish my book. Life is rough...


For dinner, we headed out to Astra. It is directly across the street from Captain D's, and right next to Skipjacks. It is a HUGE restaurant, by SXM standards. We arrived around 6:45 and there were only a couple of tables occupied, but they were probably about half full by the time we left, around 8:15. I had what they called lamb medallions, but what I would call lamb loin chops.



They were a tad overcooked for my taste, but I had ordered medium, so that was probably my fault. They were quite good.
Eric had yellow fin tuna, which he enjoyed.



For some reason, Astra does not have any desserts listed on their web page and none on their regular menu. It is a separate list, which I managed somehow to take a photo of, EXCEPT for the top item, the amaretto cheesecake, which is what we had.


I tell you, that amaretto cheesecake was the BEST single thing we have had all week, by far. Along with some coffee, it was the BOMB.



It was a huge piece, more than enough for the two of us.


They did serve tap water, which I usually ask for, and normally cannot get here. Service was good and prompt. What appeared to be the owner was walking around, making sure everyone was happy

When the check came was the only bad moment of the night. The menu online and in the restaurant is very clear that they add 15% service charge. Since most of the places in Simpson Bay do it, I can't be too bothered with that, except for the fact that we normally tip more than that. However, the server brought the bill and said "We have added 15% onto the bill. Half of it is for TAX and the other half is a shared gratuity among the servers. If you want to give something to me, you need to add it on the bill. Would you like to do that?" No, and h*ll no. There is no TAX that is supposed to be passed on to the consumer in SXM and even if you're going to claim it's turnover tax, that is not 7.5%. That left a bad taste.

All in all, the meal was very good, but not sure I would return, because of that one thing.


THURSDAY

For breakfast, we enjoyed a ham and cheese omelette. I then sent Eric over to Carrefour for some supplies and I posted some more of my trip report. . The wind was FIERCE and the waves were CRASHING on the shore here, by far the biggest waves of the trip so far.



We watched them splash up OVER Da Boat and pour out through the holes in the hull.

She appears to be totally firmly wedged in there, as the pounding waves did not move her at all.

We had made plans to meet Jazzgal (Linda) for lunch at Da Watering Hole. We were surprised to see very little wave action at either Maho or at Mullet, based on what we had here.



I was excited when I learned, a while ago, that they had built a real restaurant on Mullet, one with a bathroom. The place is set up to deal with heavy winds, I guess, as the chairs are wooden and incredibly heavy. The menus are really heavy cardboard. What I didn't like is that the roof keeps out the rain, but not the sun, as it is basically clear, so it gets really hot in there. For Pat, I noted that the chairs were spaced very nicely, all up and down the beach.




The biggest problem we had with the place was that the service as ABSYMAL. We arrived before Linda, and it took a long time to get our drinks. Other than being fascinated by my camera at one point, the waiter basically ignored us. We tracked down a fellow who I guess was the manager and asked him to find the waiter so we could place our order. He said that he would take it himself. Then at that point, he told us that we couldn't have separate bills, which is what we had already set up, and said he would figure it out at the end. They brought the food eventually, which was extremely blah. It was the sampler appetizer platter, with a side of fries and none of it was particularly good.



I do not ever do frozen drinks, but I ordered a strawberry margarita, for some reason. It was OK, but it was $9. Seems kinda high??




They had a POS hand held device, which apparently they can't figure out how to use, as he wanted to charge us for a ceviche, I think, which I didn't even remember them having on the menu. They tried to charge Linda for a drink that she originally ordered, and then the waiter said they didn't have. It was just a clusterf*ck all the way around. It was good seeing Linda again, but I will not be back anytime soon.


For dinner, we enjoyed a kind of tradition for us here, garlic shrimp, baked camembert, fruit and baguette.



Thus endeth another successful day.

Belated Happy Anniversary .

That is the opposite experience we had at Da Watering Hole. Good friendly service and good food too. Also we had separate checks. Go figure. Happy Anniversary you two.

Thanks for the news re the chairs at Da Watering Hole. I had heard pretty much what you said about the food and service but I was looking forward to another opinion. Can you pay to rent their chairs but eat at Rosie’s?

Those lamb chops looked lovely. We haven’t tried Astra but will certainly have to add it to the list for next trip.

Once again, hoping your anniversary was a lovely day.

Reading under the gazebo is a nice spot for me also but since we are all the way at the other end I typically go down to the pool later in the day for a dip and to socialize before returning to shower and change for dinner. This past trip we were in 13 so it was very easy to go to the pool deck which I did often throughout the day when we were onsite.

I wasn't impressed with Da Watering hole food nor service either. There wasn't a lot of the menu that appealed to me and what I saw come out of the kitchen did no impress me. They were slammed the day we went so service was not that great. I'd probably go back at the end of the day for a cocktail. Chairs on their beachfront were crammed together back in March.

Pat. The chairs in front of Da Watering Hole is a separate vendor and not connected. Yes you can rent chairs there and eat/drink somewhere else or bring your own.

Thanks Lesley!

Scubaman--perhaps we ordered the wrong thing, should have ordered a burger, but what we had was not good, and neither was Linda's food. I do not think I have ever had as bad a service anywhere on SXM as we did there.

Louise--that's why we request this end, to be by the pool.

Pat -- I actually think the chairs toward the other end of Mullet were also spaced fairly far apart. We didn't use chairs, so don't know where their chairs stopped. We had heard good stuff about Da Watering Hole, so expected a lot better. Back to Rosie's for me!!!!!

Thanks for the anniversary wishes!

We were at Da Watering Hole twice in April and thought the food and service were fine. We did know our waiter so that probably helped (Hos who used to be the singing bartender at Toppers). I thought the food was comparable to Rosie's but to be honest, neither place is all that great and yes....I've had Rosie's ribs multiple times. It's beach bar food so I know what to expect.

Maybe we would have enjoyed the food more if we had had a burger or ribs or something, but the service was just abysmal and the prices high, for what you got, which with regard to the food, was not good.

We never had good service at TWH , even before it changed it's name.
We would wait for ever, so for less money we continue to go to Rosie's.

The bathroom is the only thing that is better.

Happy belated Anniversary!!!!

Terri--we NEVER went to Daleos. Thanks for the anniversary wishes!

Looks good and happy anniversary.

Had ribs one time and burger another. Both were good.

JD--thanks

Happy Anniversary and safe travels. Remember that us retired folks get to stay on island longer....

Thanks. Yeah, I actually am fine with going home tomorrow. I miss my puppies!!

Yeah - dog lovers - my daughter is one - I understand.

Happy Anniversary!!! Thank you for all the updates. I love your pictures.

Thanks Wingman! Hope you are able to get here soon..

fun fact: according to one of Rosie's chair boys, Daleos' was owned by 2 brothers, Dale and Leo (or something like that)....they still own/run Da Watering Hole, one brother the restaurant the other the chair rentals

We ate often at the old Daleo's restaurant. It was a very basic menu, like burgers and hot dogs, and we thought the food and service were fine for a laid back beach bar. (We're not fans of Rosie's style of ribs so preferred Daleo’s.). It sounds like they've tried to expand the choices and prices and aren't able to deliver.