TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin water issues

My daughter and her husband will be staying around orient village in January. Have the water issues improved? When we were there in April we ran out of water 5different times over a 10 day period. It was said to have been the result of construction. That was really a pain in the fanny. Anyone know anything?

We just returned from spending two and a half weeks in orient village with no water issues. Hopefully they have things under control.

Could be a crap shoot. If I was giving advice I would tell them to stay on the Dutch side and visit Orient Village when they want to. I know I'll get flak for saying that but why take the chance with water outages.

I have seen some recent reports of no water, so I really don't think the issues have been resolved. If it were ME, booking a place on the French side right now, I would require an alternate source of water, OR I would make sure I could back out of a booking with no penalty, at any point.

I read somewhere that Saint Martin and Sint Maarten have signed an agreement to share water, so that may help in the future.

I think the problem is also with the method of getting the water to the household's via the underground system. Dutch sharing water won't help that.

Our first day on the island staying in orient village we lost all water at about 6:00am. Locals said it was a water main break and about half the french side was without water. Think it lasted around 4 hours. Our property manager said when they repair one water main break they discover another immediately after they repair it when the water is turned back on. That was on Sunday December 3rd.

Steve--are you still on island? Have you had any problems with water since the first day?

We just booked for May in Orient Village and got a villa with a cistern. All of the places with cisterns advertise that now. There were plenty of options.

OK, good to know. And it is smart advertising for folks to do that.

Very good information for potential bookers .

It's good that they recognize there is a water issue of the French side.

Thanks to everyone for the info. Since they already have a villa booked I will tell them that the first thing to do when they get there is to fill a bucket full of water. Just in case.

We were still in orient village on Dec 3 and did not have any water outages. I know people are concerned about this problem,but people commenting without actual knowledge is a disservice. I will book our spring trip in orient village without worrying about the water.

No Carol, we departed on Saturday December 9th. Sunday the 3rd was the only day we had a problem with lack of water.

Bob we were at a VRBO rental inside the Palm Court hotel on Sunday the 3rd. Met our property manager outside the door at about 8:00am. She immediately called a friend of hers who also lives in Orient Village and she also confirmed the lack of water and had knowledge of the water main break.
Our past trip last year in November we also had water shut off for a couple of days. This information was made available to us in advance from the property manager from the french utility company. It was a scheduled water outage for repairs. She provided us with plenty of water jugs to fill the toilet if needed. The pipes on the french side are in poor condition.

Steve--OK, good, that was your only problem.

Not sure who that is aimed at, but the problems with water on the French side are very well documented. Glad you are not concerned, but I personally would be very concerned with it.

Part of this problem will be resolved soon with the help of the Dutch side .

"Part of this problem will be resolved soon with the help of the Dutch side ."
What are they planning to do to help?

Steve I was not doubting what you said…you were actually there and experienced the problem. I was referring specifically to someone who doesn’t stay in orient but always has an opinion. We were there on Dec 3 and were fortunate that we didn’t have a problem. Our villa was on the opposite side of the restaurants across from the entrance to Alamanda. Sorry I wasn’t clear in the first place.

Probably referring to me but I don't need to stay in Orient to know what has been reported numerous times on both here and other Facebook forums about the frequent water issues there.

No worries Bob. The water issues have never deterred us from staying in Orient Village either.

hi, all!

looking into a last minute stay over the holiday.
we've been to the island a handful of times over the years.

have the option of a stay on either side.
how severe, unpredictable, has the water issue been?

we're bringing along our young kids and the water issue would make for a big dent to the holiday.

terres basse (french side) vs cupecoy (dutch side)

thoughts regarding reliability of water on either side or either part of the island?

thanks in adavance!
cheers

If you're concerned about the water issues then opt for the Dutch side as it's less likely to be a problem on that side.

thanks for that - greatly appreciated.
i think that was going to be the plan.

however, i was hoping someone might chime with a recent anecdote or two.
if anyone cares to share, i would look fwd to it

happy holidays, all.

cheers

Grand Case Beach Club makes its own fresh water--up to 15,000 gallons per day.

oooh, interesting to note! thanks for the insight!!!
cubaman, havana is awesome, btw!

Staying at Sun Caribes in Orient. No water from about 8AM until 11AM today, New Year's Day.

Hopefully that will be your last problem for your trip.