TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Karakter

This may be as close as I get to anything resembling a trip report this year. We tried to go to LTC yesterday, but the swells had taken the entire beach, so we ended up at Karakter. We hadn't been there in a couple of years, as the food had been marginal at best. We were pleasantly surprised, as the menu has been expanded, and we were all quite pleased with our meals. The chairs on the beach, while showing their age, are comfortable and were not jammed close together as was the case in the past. Definitely back on the preferred list.

That’s good news. I’ll give it another try now that El Zafiro has closed. I had stopped going because the chairs were so packed together and the music was so loud.

Was there 2 weeks ago and Its still on our just ok nothing special list. Never had great food but still a nice beach to relax however the same old loud boom , boom , boom music gets a bit old and the 3 or 4 DJ's not our cup of tea. Roxxy nice. but pricey for us , Buccaneer Bar is ok but the beach just so so. The Boon Beach Bar and Restaurant is still our favorite. Just can't beat the fun, friendly Vibe at THE BOON and plenty of room to move around but we still like to mix it up sometimes.

There was no loud music yesterday.

Georgia--thanks for the report. We haven't been there for a couple years either. forever-- I hate loud music also. 3 or 4 DJ's?? Was it Sunday, perchance? Somewhere down there always has very loud music on Sundays.

Are they still doing the valet parking at Karakter?

There was no valet parking when we went. This was Monday.

Parking lot is always a bit chaotic so we park way down the road and walk up. Never seen valet parking not that I would use it. We were there on a weekday , same old techno disco boom boom boom. They are known to advertise three or four DJs and a pretty wild crowd weekend nights loud and very late younger people. We don’t stay long anyhow.

Because of the parking issue , we have stopped going there , way too much hassle but the food was good.

Georgia--that is disappointing, as I was excited when I heard they were doing valet.

I guess I must be an early bird! Usually there by 10am. Never have had parking issues or loud music issues!!! Food issues - yes spotty. Service issues - yes spotty! We eat and order drinks on the beach - when we can catch a beach attendant!!!!

We had a very nice breakfast there in November--one of the best omelettes!!!

The chairs were close near the front, but there was plenty of room elsewhere.
We just stopped for breakfast, on our walk, so I didn't notice too much.
Service was excellent.

We were there today as it is our turn around point for our walk from Maho along Simpson Bay Beach. It has become one of our favorite walks and did it numerous times last March and when we get there we just sit up at the bar for a couple of drinks but have not ate there yet. But from our vantage point we get to see the servers bringing out the orders to the tables and I have to say the food looks pretty good. Maybe this trip we will stay for lunch.

It's HORRIBLE how LOUD the BOOM BOOM music is all EFFEN day and it just doesn't stop! They got some set of balls doing that to all the neighbors!! It kills the whole vibe sitting on my deck at BSV listening to the music of the ocean! There has got to be something that can be done about that!! For that reason I will NEVER go there!! The original owners were so nice, we loved it! NOW? Not a chance!

Nice to hear someone speak up with that opinion because I totally agree. They can't live with just one DJ blasting noise, boom boom boom techno euro crap but now advertising THREE DJs! It's HORRIBLE and they are a huge nuisance to have in the area. We stay up the road and they have the GALL on busy days to close their gates to force their customers to park up the road blocking other homes and condo parking then open their gates once the road if full of their customers! We and others have called the police about the noise and others need to also ,,,,plus customer type bring in a lot of problems very late into the night. At that noise level Daytime is bad enough but after 8pm or 9 pm is just rude and should be illegal but the owner just does not care. ITs not a party for everyone.

Hmm, no loud music when we were there, all good. Best it had been since Jorrit owned it.

We used to love it when Jorrit owned it, but haven't been for many years.