TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Royal Islander, Divi Little Bay resorts

Hello,

Does anyone care to share their review on either of these 2 resorts? My crew has reservations at both for late May, so I was asked to see what people on here thought of the two resorts. In particular, is noise from the airport much of a problem?

I did read the thread about the A/C at the Royal Islander, but I expect that should be resolved before our visit. Or is that naive?

Thank you for any feedback you may have.

BSer

Noise from the airport? No. There is no place on SXM where it is a problem. Big planes only in the afternoon and not that many overall. A/C has been fixed at RI.

As far as Divi is concerned, the biggest problem with it from my standpoint is that it is further from most of the big draws on SXM. Other people have different views.

I'm a 25 year owner at the RI and have never had a serious complaint. And like the recent problem with the AC, any issues are quickly addressed One night I returned to my unit around 9:00 or so and found a puddle of water coming out from under the refrigerator. I called the front desk, and within 45 minutes a replacement refrigerator was installed - along with an apology that it wasn't brand new. That would have to wait until the morning! And I could cite several similar incidents. One of the best things about the RI is the numer of restaurants, shops, bars etc. within easy walking distance. And you can always rent a car for a day or two next door at the Sonesta. I find using the little vans that the natives use as busses paticularly convenient, and they come by the RI every 10 minutes or so. For a couple of dollars you can get to many (but not all) locations around the island. Sitting by the pool at the RI there is some noise from the airport, but it's pretty much limited to early afternoons when all the major carriers arrive. Personally I don't find it much of a problem, and even after 25 years I still enjoy watching the planes land over Maho beach.

I can only share my opinion of Royal Islander as we are owners there.
Absolutely all positive, great staff, and yes if there ever is a maintenance problem it is taken care of efficiently.
After all there years it is still fun to watch the planes.
Plenty of quality restaurants within walking distance along with a casino, drug store, some shops including a dependable jeweler and adequate grocery store right across the street.
Maybe best close by is the Boat Bar for hanging out with locals and some tourists. Great drinks and food usually above average

Porto Cupecoy and Jordan Village both are within 10 minutes for additional dinning and Mullet beach is walkable if it isn't too hot.

Short trip to the bridge to go to the French side and depending on traffic (off season) only about 15 minutes to Simpson Bay

For convenience you can't beat the location of Royal Islander

I'm at Royal Islander LaTerrasse. It is very nice. The higher floors have nice view of Maho Beach and the landings.

We don’t own at RI but we have stayed there and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The airplane noise was not a problem and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the big ones come and go. Rooms were nice, views were great and the staff couldn’t have been anymore accommodating.
Haven’t stayed at Divi but the beach is nice and it’s a pleasant place to avoid the hubbub the island can offer. Only disadvantage to me would be the driving time to so many of our favorite eateries, many of which are at Maho and Cupecoy.

Anybody who has seen my contributions and posts here will know I am extremely happy at Royal Islander La Terrasse as a private condo owner for six years. A great location to restaurants, beaches, the airport, grocery markets etc.
Both La Plage and La Terrasse have beautiful ocean views and pools.
At La Terrasse there is underground parking as well, which is a true luxury on the island. Many of my guests keep coming back so there must be something to all of this.

Drphilsxm
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We are also owners at Royal Islander...and have been for over thirty years. There is no better on the island. Location between the two choices is hands down in favor of the Islander. A two minute walk to probably at least a dozen great restaurants...Casino right across the street...nightlife right there too...so if you don't want to get in the car, you don't have to!! Watching the planes during the day is also a BLAST. It never gets old!! As far as the a/c, it has already been repaired! Same with the hot water. If you need anything done there, maintenance will take care of it, usually within ten minutes. Also has the friendliest staff on the island. In my opinion, and loads of other people's opinion also, this one is a no brainer. Royal islander all the way.

I haven’t stayed at Royal Island so can’t offer a comparison but we own at Divi and have stayed there for more than 25 years. We love the great beaches with plenty of chairs and umbrellas, the nice pools and roomy units. We have stayed in almost every building and like that we can request either a view of Great Bay or Little Bay. We like several restaurants in Philipsburg that are a short drive and the trip to the Simpson Bay Area takes us about 10 minutes. I know some like being in the heart of Simpson Bay or Maho, but we love the quiet and privacy of Divi.

We used to go to Divi and found the food terrible. Maintenance was so-so and we were harrassed constantly while there to buy into their timeshare.

The duplex units facing Point Blanche where the cruise ships dock, we thought to be the best; one and two bedroom apartments. The hotel rooms are small and not all have refridgerators. You can request one at a charge.

While it's a nice beach you are a little isolated and need a car. On the other hand Royal Islander, while I've never seen inside, is close to lots of restaurants within walking distance, and a casino.

We own at Divi. We love the resort but as RonDon said, the restaurants are basically terrible. We just don't eat there.
I HAVE seen some people on Facebook Groups suggesting that the food is good. But when we were there in December it was not.
I don't find the drive to restaurants in Simpson Bay or Maho difficult at all.

The beach at Divi is excellent.

I also own at Divi and agree with the comments above. It has my favorite beach on the Dutch side: long sand stretch, calm water. When staying there, I don't eat there. Driving someplace for dinner is not an issue for me as I drive elsewhere when I stay in Simpson Bay also. Three pools, one of which is arguably the best on the island. All that said, I likely am going to sell my three weeks because the older I get, the less I want to drive at night up the hill. But it's a great resort with lots to offer.

Jazzgal,
When we were there in December, we were interested to see what they had done about food. They HAVE improved service somewhat.
Alas, the food was every bit as disappointing as it has been in the past. With the exception of Mixx. It's the new place above the new Oceans rooms. That food was pretty good though expensive.

As a frequent Divi guest I’ll second the comments already made. Great beach. Good accommodations. Food and beverage is generally a disaster. As someone who has done by Divi and Royal Islander I’ll say that they’re hard to compare. I think they cater to different market segments. If you want quiet, an awesome beach, and are willing to travel to eat or self-cater, then Divi is your place. If you want to be walkable to many restaurants and a more vibrant nightlife, then Royal Islander. If beach is high on your list of importance take note that Maho Beach sometimes “disappears” with the waves and sometimes is overrun by cruise passengers.

The food at Gizmos was really disappointing !

One year, I don't remember which one, we came into Divi and were thoroughly surprised. The Sea Breeze had a whole new menu with interesting things like Bao buns and peanut satay. And it was REALLY REALLY GOOD! We were amazed.
The food at Gizmo's had seemed to have gotten a bit of an upgrade as well.
We returned the following year and all that was gone....along with the former food and beverage director.

We did manage to talk to the incoming food and beverage director that year. They said they were having trouble sourcing stuff. Which makes some sense. (Note: I said SOME sense). But if places like Skipjacks and Pineapple Pete's can serve decent food, why the heck can't the restaurants at Divi?

They have re-done a lot of the restaurants. They have "Slice" now where you can get pizza. Remarkably bad pizza. But it isn't open reasonable hours (any by reasonable I mean from say 11:30 am to say 8 pm).

I really do not know why the food is so damned bad,

Every night, they have "entertainment" at Gizmo's which consists of loud music. If they want people to stay at the resort, why not improve the damned food???

Gee, how do you really feel??

We really enjoy staying at Divi but agree about the food. There still seem to be a fair amount of people doing the all inclusive, which means the resort doesn't have much incentive to improve quality—they have enough of a captive audience. I think it is likely people coming on package deals to stay in the new Oceans building.

The food has been bad since before AI was offered.
Every year, I do a trip advisor report. And every year I say that if Divi wants to be a 5* resort, they need to improve the food. It falls on deaf ears.

All good info, thank you.

The responses suggest a couple more questions:

Are there any good to decent restaurants nearby, maybe even to walk to, or is it better to just go to the French side?

Do buses come by that can take you to the French side?

Thanks all.

BSer--If you're talking about Divi, no good restaurants within walking distance. Some good restaurants in P'burg.

Not Divi. You’d need to take a taxi or rent a car.

Several good restaurants in Maho a stone's throw from the Royal Islander, and the little busses would easily get you down to Simpson Bay from Maho where there are many more good restaurants. .

I rarely eat at the resort I am staying at so Divi on that not an issue for me. If you wish to go to town or go over to Orient during your trip Divi is a better location. It has nice rooms with a nice beach right on site, but it is certainly a location you need a car. First place on island we ever stayed was at Divi. Divi is a quieter place, and watching the cruise ships and activity in the bay there is entertaining.

We however prefer to be closer to the Cupecoy area down to Simpson Bay, it is where we tend to like to eat and spend time in the evenings and then prefer not to have to drive up and over the hill towards town/Divi. RI La Plage is nice, old and slightly updated but it is I guess you could say "classic" design especially the bathrooms. If you are on the road side it can get noisy, but the advantage is it is close to a lot of places to eat and drink, a lot more activity in the area including watching jets which is still something to see after 20 years of visits.

For MJ and I, we would pick Royal Islander. Very different experiences between the two options so depends upon what you like.

OK I am noticing that I should have specified my last two questions were about Divi. Our group has two couples at RI but we are at Divi.

If you are a 'group', it's kind of odd for you to be in those two different locations, as they are nowhere near each other.

Carol,
I don't know. I mean, the island is what? 42 square miles? Where I am from, everything is pretty near each other in that kind of space.

I stand by the statement. If people are a group, I would think they would want to stay in the same resort, or at least one pretty close by.

Three couples are going sailing and staying a few days on St. Maarten afterwards. Two had points at RI and one at Divi.

The Cafe at Belair was very good and they had theme nights. It's a short walk along the beach from Divi. Haven't been there is a couple of years though so not sure if it too has gone downhill.

Big thing for us at Divi is turning in and out of it. Always feels like a death defying maneuver. Especially after a night doing other things.

We've stayed at both, funny thing Divi was our very first trip. I said to my wife when we were discussing where to stay. I said (Stupid me) "OH I don't want to stay anywhere near the airport!" Little that I didn't know, how much fun I was missing out on watching the planes come in and out! As far as noise goes, there are heavier days than others, mostly from 1pm to 4pm-ish! It really is a "Happening" to watch! We stayed at "R I" back on 2016. Even back then, everything worked great! NOW?? It's a brand new hotel after Irma ripped her to shreds!! Stay at "R I" The location IMHO is far better. You won't need a car!!! If you don't want too!!

Same thing for us in that our first stay was Little Bay; however it was Little Bay Beach and Racquet Club, not Divi then. Loved it even though it seemed isolated. Back then when I was young I used to walk to back street where there was a little grocery store. Now that hill back would be a killer!

When the property was sold and Divi took over we stayed several times. But, like you I love the plane watching at BSV.

Just had a friend arrive at Royal Islander today 4/21/24. He said the A/C is not fixed and no hot water. The front desk has not been honest with what they are telling guests. He also heard the issues (A/C & hot water) were repaired but broke again on Wednesday 4/17/24.
Both he and myself are long time owners and have enjoyed going to RI for many years. I have seen a number of posts from people who experienced the A/C outage, and they weren't satisfied with the way this has been handled. Several owners have chimed in on other boards having positive posts about the resort, but they have no idea what people what these guest are currently experiencing.
It is only fair to have guest relations contact owners prior to arriving on the island to give us a status update on repairs. This is especially important for elderly travelers with respiratory issues, as I'm sure they may want to cancel their trip until these issues are resolved.

I for sure would not put up with that BS. Hope it gets resolved for your friend.

It was posted here that the a/c was fixed and then broke again. However, I didn't realize that the hot water situation was still going on. For sure, I would be out of there!! No way I stay where there is no a/c and no hot water!!