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

Hi All! Looking for comments, suggestions, and opinions on The Royal Palm. We haven't been back since they rebuilt after the hurricane. We loved it there before for so many reasons. TY

What comments are you looking for?

Wondering if it is the same as it was before or perhaps better regarding the rooms, pool, restaurant, beach, etc.

Everything is better. Same with Flamingo it's sister resort. Irma did them both a favor.

I spoke with and visited a long-time owner at Royal Palm, saw the unit and was not that impressed. The owner was actually pretty disgusted with the "upgrades".

One thing that has changed since Irma is that Roxxy has opened up almost next door. If you are standing looking at the ocean, it is to the left of RP. Some people have complained about very loud music from there, late at night, either from Roxxy, or the kind of 'lolos' which are right on Welfare Road, just before the entrance to Royal Palm. Others have stated they didn't hear anything, so not sure about that. For that reason, I would for sure try to avoid the side of the resort closest to Roxxy.

As far as the restaurant, I believe it is still the same folks who owned the restaurant before, which is horrible news for people who stay at RP. Incompetent, horrible food, bad staff. Yuck. They closed the bar which was over top of the entrance, with the view of the bridge, and it is now the sales office, which seriously sucks. That bar wasn't open much, but it was a great place to get a drink, if it was open. As far as the beach, I thought the beach was fine before. It is a man-made beach, so the sand is very coarse, but there are a lot of shade huts out there. Of course, the biggest problem with the beach at RP is the quality of the water in the bay there, due to runoff from boats and from land. That of course hasn't changed. I personally would NEVER get in the water in front of RP. I haven't seen inside of any of the rooms, but they were totally re-done after Irma. Same kind of lame decor which doesn't look anything like the Caribbean, but clean and new anyway. And of course every room still has full ocean view, which is unusual for a timeshare in SXM.

When all is said and done, still probably the best location in Simpson Bay for walking to a bunch of different restaurants.

Yes, I did see pictures before they opened up, and all the appliances, including the fridges were generic white appliances, very low quality appliances. The units I saw before all had stainless steel fridges.

For the time it took and the changes involved, I was not impressed. They reconfigured some (maybe all) units and the owner I visited indicated they actually had less room now.

Yes, same restaurant owners so you know how that will go.

Is there a pool bar where you can get drinks there?

Hi Mia,

Like you, I’ve always enjoyed the RP. I’m staying here now for the first time since the hurricane. Everything is new and improved in my opinion. Had lunch at the pool bar today - sliders were very good. It’s not gourmet but since you’ve stayed here before you already know that. People are very friendly, bar tender made the best mudslide I’ve ever had. Pool is the same with chairs at the bar and there was a server who took care of us on the beach. Of course … so convenient to walk in Simpsons Bay. We asked about the loud music late at night since I’ve read complaints - front desk put us on the right side as you face the ocean - very quiet on the patio at night.

Book it - I think you’ll be pleased.

Thanks…Cathy

Yes. Swim up bar.

Was hoping for “bigger and better” considering how long it took to rebuild. All that said “location location location”. Going to give it a try. Thanks all!

Obviously, it's not going to be bigger, as they could only rebuild within the confines of the original walls. Better is debatable, I think, but if you really liked it before, you'll probably like it just as much now. Please post after your trip.

We stayed at the Royal Palm recently for the first time since pre-Irma. We thought the units were great. I agree with what Carol said above - if you liked it before you will like it now. One weird little quirk - they made the counters (at least in our unit) a little too big, so that we couldn't open our fridge completely.

The pool and the pool bar were great. Staff (everywhere) were super friendly. Didn't eat each much from the restaurant, but did have one breakfast and a couple of lunches and the food was good (not great, but also not bad). Johnny cakes were awesome. Usually, I just walk over to Captains...

On the noise - it can be a nuisance from time to time. I wasn't paying attention to the days of the week (was in vacation mode) but it seemed kind of random and hard to isolate. Overall, on the nights where there was noise, it was more a mild irritant than a real problem.

Good to know noise wasn't too bad.

jon--thanks for the report. With regard to the counter being too large, I have seen that kind of thing at other resorts before. Someone doing the designing has a problem with their rulers!

Yes. Sometimes the left doesn't communicate with the right. You would think that the physical designers would want to know what type of interior furnishings they have to accommodate.