TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin The Sapphire

Over the years much has been said about the The Sapphire.....It was awful, poorly managed. deteriorating etc...I have not seen anything new about it and its new owners and their ability to bring it back to what it was many years ago....Has anyone stayed there recently ? Any update would be appreciated,,,

We stayed there for six weeks in January-February this year. We are going back again for eight weeks in January 2025. We loved the place, the room we had was great, the pool is nice and well kept up. They bought some new chairs and umbrellas while we were there. They also bought new Gym equipment too. Happy hour there twice a day is great, $3.00 mixed drinks. The service was good for any issues that we had. We really liked the staff there. The location is close to Jordan village for all the restaurants and grocery stores. Easy walking to Mullet Bay and Cupecoy beach and Porto Cupecoy. Some areas are a little tired from Irma but they have done quite a bit of maintenance since then to repair things. They also have generators on site. The underground secure parking is great too.

Thanks so much for your imput........The place has so much potential and it is great to see that they are finally getting it back to where it was years ago

I recently met a couple who shortened their stay their recently and rented a condo in the Rainbow Beach Club next door.

They complained about the size of the condo, the mold, lousy service and high rates.

Be careful.

Not our experience, we had a two BR. fifteen hundred square foot condo and the people we met there loved the place. The rates were low, no mold and the service was great.

I agree with CaribbeanCanadians. We stayed there last November in a two bedroom unit as well. The rooms need a bit of updating, that being said it was clean, no mold. They also have daily house cleaning which is nice. We found the staff friendly and helpful. The pool area and bar are nice, the restaurant has a limited menu and the food was good. They have a Managers Cocktail party once a week if you’re interesting in going. Management has been working hard to rebuild The Resort. We have rebooked to stay this November and February because of our experience. Not sure if the couple who complained to Jeff rented from the Sapphire itself or from a private owner, surprised their experience was so bad. Hopefully the unit will be repaired before it’s rented again. I’m sure there are a few people on this forum who have experienced renting units that haven’t been up to par, I know we have. We have also stayed several times at The Rainbow Beach Club. The rooms are very nice, the kitchen is more like your home. The decks are narrow to get around if your in the Tower Building plus the Tower Building has had ongoing water issues with the water going on and off. A few owners have installed water tanks in their units for when the water does go off. They do not have a bar or a restaurant, they do have 3 pools, one of them we didn’t use as we didn’t like the location of it.. We have found their staff friendly as well. Not sure if I helped you out or not. All the best in what you choose.

" Not sure if the couple who complained to Jeff rented from the Sapphire itself or from a private owner"
That shouldn't matter. Units should be ready to go no matter how it was occupied.

Not sure about Sapphire buy I know a whole owner at Royal Palm who owns another wholly owned unit there as well that they rent out themselves and housekeeping does NOT take care of their units unless the renter contracts to do so with Royal Palm and then it comes with a fee.

What I meant SXMScubaman is if it was rented via The Sapphire I’m surprised that they wouldn’t have offered them a different unit, if rented via Owner themselves it’s a different situation. We’ve rented through VRBO for years on the Island and have had some not so great experiences. I’m sure we’re not the only ones, it happens. Our experience was great hence why we rebooked at The Sapphire.

I still see no difference in the reasoning. If the owner showed up that unit should've been ready and in good repair to begin with.

I agree with Arbor88. Our experience was great too, so that's why we booked for two months.