TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Villa / Marios

As I do every morning, I get up before 6:00 AM, put a pot of coffee on and answer my work emails.
While concentrating at the computer, I feel a nudge at my elbow.
Surprised I didn't spill my coffee as a large friendly Akita had entered the gated villa
we got him water and scrambled up some eggs as he was hungry but called our concierge to have security pick him up
Low and behold, about the same time this morning he returns, I assume they didn't find his home.
My friend who is staying with us takes in pets in need, so he is welcome but we know he needs to return home as he is a wonderful dog someone cares for.
Our house keeper should be in around 10:00 AM and may know where he belongs

This is our first time renting a villa and it is incredible, I hope our friends will want to return as we need to fill at least two bedrooms
Not sure it comes with the villa, but we have seen Saba clearly everyday and rainbows as well
Today we have Brain from touch of hands coming for massages and a private chef (Franc formerly of Le Pressoir) preparing a four course lobster dinner for us
As I do catering back home, the cost for tonight is less than $100 pp (including chef) which is very reasonable considering there are only 4 of us
I have purchased some caviar (cocktail period) from Bacchus along with the upgraded adult beverages, champagne, white burgundy, sauterne

Yes it is just under 30 minutes to Grand Case or Orient Village and the travel has been unusually light
There have been check points every night just exiting Marigot at the bottom of the big hill and also at the circle in Mount Hope heading towards Orient
We have not been stopped and I assume they are checking for illegal vehicles
While I dislike traveling through Sandy Ground, it has been fine with the crazy scooters
Absolutely no worries going through
There are definitely less scooters on the road at night

Dinner was at Mario's new restaurant at the cliffs in Porto Cupecoy
A much smaller spot with little atmosphere
Our server / bartender has been with Mario 26 years and said it was time for both of them to "slow down"
Service was attentive as expected

along with the normal menu there were some interesting additions
my lovely wife started with daily addition of a seafood combination ($24), Mahi ceviche, tuna tataki, shrimp tempura and a mini crab cake with a nice red cabbage creole coleslaw , this could almost be an entree
I started off with the foie gras trio ($24.00), it tasted as good as it looked, foie gras terrine, sauteed and incredible duck tacos with shaved "foie gras snow", this as was entree size
a half bottle of sauterne ($24.00) paired nicely with my first course along with my dessert

one of my wife's Mario favorites is his scallops over risotto which was substituted with eggplant raviolis, as always, delicious and we enjoyed the remainder for the next day lunch
My special was a large red snapper filet served pigeon peas and garnished with fried plantains, an extremely large portion. I could barely eat half
For those of you who consider the price, it was like getting two portions
I would say that this meal has been one of our favorites so far and fairly priced considering the quality and quantity of food
I could not resist the profiteroles with coffee ice cream for desert despite being full

I would not hesitate to recommend Mario's at the cliffs

we thanked Mario on the way out and mentioned how wonderful the meal was and our thoughts on portion size which he said they are not big

Thanks for the continuing reports. Staying at a villa is truly a lovely experience, so different than a hotel room, for sure! Sounds like you have a lovely day on tap today, with massages and then a private chef coming in. If you still have time for it, Dino Jagtiani also does private chef work. I do hope someone finds where that dog belongs soon. Please keep us updated on that. Glad you enjoyed your meal at Marios.

Maho kid,

Sounds like a lovely dining experience and I’m so very glad it worked out for you.

Glad you enjoyed Mario's. We too had a good experience.

Thanks for the good report in general and do enjoy the rest of your vacation.

Thank you for your reports! I would love to see pics of your lobster dinner with the private chef.

If your friends can’t go again, can we be your friends? I completely agree renting a Villa is the way to go if you can do it. We’ll be heading back in January to our favorite Villa in Orient Village.

Will certainly be reviewing and taking pictures unless we drink too much which I doubt since food is more important than alcohol to us