TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Just back - quick trip report

Flew in on United from EWR. Got in early, beat other planes and were in and out of the security line in maybe 10 minutes or so and our 1 checked bag pretty much greeted us as we walked in. I think we waited longer for the bus from the plane to fill up than the security line. Timing is everything for sure on this.

We rent from Lesley Bruce at Kennys Car Rental and what can I say...he just makes it so easy! Not 5 minutes from greeting him outside the arrivals to on our way to the resort.

First time during Regatta, which was kinda neat. We have been staying at RI La Plage the last several times after we turned our Towers week back to the resort right before the last big hurricane (talk about good timing!). We love the location and its just a consistently decent place to stay. We beached at Club O the first 2 days and always love being there...great beach, great company, no seaweed this year and a family of wild donkeys running around was a first for us! However, the traffic sucked a little bit of life out of us through Marigot and up the hill and then through Grand Case, and we dared not go via Phillipsburg/Simpson Bay, with same experience on the return in the afternoon. So, we instead spent the rest of the time at Cupecoy with Dany's hospitality plus a happy hour or 2 and could not have been happier doing so. Plenty of beach at the eastern end, again good company and a 5 minute ride just made it so much easier this time around. We'll surely go back to Club O in the future.

We did get a run in early AM in and around the golf course on the back nine (beach side) which worked out fine and thanks again to those who advised this to us a couple of weeks ago.

We had good dining experiences at Bar Code and Fat Tony's in Cupecoy, Roma in Maho, Tortuga at the RI and a couple of meals at Driftwood which is always solid. We also ate at Tap & Still which really hit the spot...especially as ladies night yielded a free drink! See below for why we went there.

We did not have a good experience at Toppers. Hadn't been in years but had a yen for the brisket...bad move...our 7:15p reservation ran late, and in fact we never got serviced any food after waiting, ordering and waiting for 2 hours. Along the way, what I can only assume is an inexperienced hostess came over and said that they were shorthanded due to someone in the kitchen going home sick...red lights flashing everywhere once that was said and we were out of there within minutes. Between the delay and now that, no point staying. Some manager type did apologize but whatever. I do want to say Steve at the bar was a great for the first part of our wait though. Hence why we went to Tap & Still.

Went to the airport yesterday 2 hours early and we were through check in and security in less than 10 minutes or so. Was nice to be in the new facility for sure.

Looking forward to our next trip!

Thanks for the report. Regatta is a really cool time to visit, especially if you are able to get on the water. Glad you lucked out on both ends of your travel journey!

My pleasure. We watched it from Cupecoy Beach and got some great photos! Yes, lucky indeed!

Glad to hear that most went well and the vacation was good .
Best regards till your next trip.

We used Kenny's again - hassle free service with a smile.

Finally, totally agree. our vacations sound pretty familiar in a lot of the aspects. We have stayed at RI for over 30 years now, and can't wait till next Wednesday, when we will be arriving for annual three week homecoming. We usually do spend more time at Orient at LaString for most days...and the commute sometimes takes a bit longer than other days, going through Marigot and Grand Case. As for Toppers, that used to be one of our go to restaurants at least twice per visit, but after the last visit after they moved, we swore ''never again''. Food was thrown at us, and the quality of the Brisket (which i used to crave) was way sub par. The only thing that we may go back there for would be for the gelato...even though its not as good either as The Carousel was. I guess the Rhum business has taken over Topper's priorities. C'est La Vie.

Thanks for your report EdB I just crossed Topper's off my next visit list.

You're not the first person to have a BAD experience at Toppers!! He was never my cup of tea, his brisket was amazing at the old place! As another poster stated. We to made it a go to place at least once/twice a trip! Last time at the old place. Things went really sideways. It was then, that it was OFF the list!! So the new place looks like an ice cream parlor was even more so OFF the list!!! LOL!!! He better hope that his rum is all that!