Husband and I just returned from 4 days in Grand Case. First time back since April 2017. I was happy to see that the village is mostly recovered from the hurricane.
Traveled down from Pittsburgh via Atlanta using Delta miles. Flights went smoothly. Immigration in SXM went quickly, but took nearly an hour to get our bag. Quick taxi ride to Le Petit Hotel in Grand Case.
Hotel - Le Petit Hotel lives up to all I’ve read about it. Location is perfect, staff is terrific, impeccably clean, right on the ocean. Breakfast was delivered to our room each morning. Enjoying coffee and croissants on our balcony overlooking the ocean was the best! We walked to restaurant row for lunch and dinner daily. Usually walked along the beach at lunchtime, but took the scary road for our walk to dinner. After dinner each night, we used the shuttle service provided by LePetit.
Dining - The restaurants were excellent. Lunches at Rainbow, Java, and Frenchy’s were nice. Dinners at Ocean 82, Le Cottage, Bistro Caribe and L’Auberge Gourmande we’re amazing. I couldn’t pick a favorite!
Beach - Grand Case beach is beautiful! So uncrowded and swimmable. There wasn’t a trace of sargassum during our stay.
Return to reality - We were supposed to leave SXM on American Airlines at 2:26 pm for our flight to Pittsburgh via Miami. The night before our departure, we received an email from AA saying that, due to bad weather forecasted for Miami the next day, we should consider rerouting. As our layover in Miami was only an hour and 27 minutes, I thought it would be best to change flights in case there was a weather delay. I called AA at midnight to get rebooked on a 4:30 pm flight to Pittsburgh via Charlotte (at $1,500 pp up front!!). But, Yay…two extra hours in paradise. We had time for mimosas and brunch on Rainbow’s rooftop before leaving Grand Case. Flight from Charlotte to Pittsburgh was delayed. Arrived home at 2am. Back to reality 😕.
All in all, a really nice vacation and celebration of my husband’s 73rd birthday. I just wanted to report here to thank all of you who answered my questions and gave me great recommendations to make my trip such a success. Thanks!
PS. If I can figure out how to attach photos, I will do so later
Actually, the (outrageous) $1,595 pp one way is the fee that I initially paid for the Miami route. When reconsidering whether to reroute thru Charlotte, I checked the AA website for fares. The Charlotte route was listed as $890 pp. I asked if I would be refunded the difference for this less-desirable route, but was told NO. Anyway, we decided to go thru Charlotte to avoid being stuck in Miami overnight in case our SXM flight was delayed due to weather.
Thanks, Carole. I’m going to try attaching photos…not sure it will work. Yes, the trip was short. We didn’t pack in much activity besides swimming, walking and reading. But we sure packed on the pounds 😀.
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