TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin We been away too long

We were pretty regular visitors to SXM and orient beach, we loved the club O beach and culture we found there. We made so many friends, people were open and friendly, truly I felt that we had found our tribe.. our last trip was before the hurricane and heartbreak of seeing the island and club O destroyed, then as the recovery was taking hold the pandemic ruined all travel..

So now we are planning to return to orient beach this Nov and we were wondering what we will find.. the club O beach had a beautiful Woodstock Vib (69 not 99) .. the club O security watched over things..

Any advice on where to stay and would like to hear if the culture at the club O site has changed?

Thanks everyone in advance

It is different now, because of Club O being gone. No Papagayo's, no evening meals on the beach, no security guards per se, although Cedric and his crew do rent chairs and try to keep things under control on the beach itself. Off the beach in the ruins of Club O, I understand some shenanigans go on from time to time, but I haven't seen them. The Perch has a much smaller menu than Papagayo, but the food there is good. Overall, other than those very significant changes, the vibe is much the same, because it is mostly the same people who inhabit the beach.

As far as places to stay, it depends on if you want a c/o vibe or not. There are many, many townhouses for rent, right in the Orient Village area, with easy walking distance to the restaurants. And there are a number of private villas in the area also. Adam et Eve is right there along the main drag in Orient. I personally haven't seen it, so no recommendation there one way or another. We stayed at Club Fantastico once, several years ago. I don't know what their current policies are about PDA's etc. The place is nice, and has lovely views, good location, but it's kind of pricy. We recently toured Kazanu, which is in Oyster Pond. They currently have 5 rooms (looking to expand to 7), and a c/o pool area. If you're looking for something more on a budget end their three rooms downstairs are a good deal. Upstairs, the La Vu unit is absolutely STUNNING and has everything you could want, including dishwasher, full sized fridge with icemaker, washer, lovely living room and master bedroom, and a huge outside porch with a table and outside couch, with a lovely view over the ocean. It is quite a bit more, but is comparable to many private villas I have seen. La Vu at Kazanu

Here's the view from the La Vu unit.

This is a bit dated now (12/2019) but I tried to give a comparison of the CO places in Orient. All personal opinions for what they are worth! Link

Chuck--thanks for that review. I sort of remembered it, but was too lazy to go look for it.

This is as close as you are going to get, walking distance to the former Club Orient beach at Alamander hotel. It's not C/O but it just reopened and it's beautiful! Here is the FB link with the phone number for information. https://www.facebook.com/alamandaresort/about

We enjoyed a CO trip at Villa Coconut. We spent our mornings at Club O beach (two minute drive from the villa) and returned to the villa in the afternoon to enjoy the pool sans clothing. Here is a LINK.

A couple of things to consider with Club Fantastico are that included in the price is a really nice breakfast every morning and an open bar. If you eat breakfast and drink much of anything, that price becomes very reasonable. Also, for those that used to be Club Orient regulars, chances are good that you will run into some old friends.