TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin The First Three Days

We've been to St. Martin 25 times and only once or twice submitted a trip report. So to make up for that, I'll try to write a (too) long one this year. We are here for 10 days. Here's what's happened the first three days.

Day 1, Monday: Departure
Left home at zero dark 30 for a 7:50 Jet Blue flight from JFK. Very busy time at the airport. Yet despite questionable line management by TSA, arrival at the gate didn’t take too long. Let the gate on time but had a very long taxi to take-off. Captain assured us we’d arrive on time. And we almost did. A brief, but poorly-timed cloudburst forced the plane ahead of us to go around due to poor visibility and put us in a similar pattern. Fortunately we were the only flight arriving (the go-around must have been by a private aircraft) so it wasn’t long at all before we found the smiling Leslie Bruce waiting for us with our car and a few pix of his grandchild.

We arrived at the Grand Case Beach Cub way ahead of check-in time but our room was ready so we checked in and went for lunch at the temporarily relocated Sunset Café. Major renovation underway at GCBC – a new bar and lounge area around the pool. It should be nice when done. Occupancy at GCBC is very low, almost like have the resort to ourselves. Late in the afternoon we headed to Super U for cheese and smoked meat and bread for an-in-room supper. The most exciting event of the days was a power failure affecting a lot of the French side starting about 8 pm and lasting until 11:30. A generator took care of exterior lights after about 20 minutes but rooms remained dark. Power back on about 11:30, jolting us awake as the lights came on as did the television we had been watching before the blackout.

Day 2, Tuesday: Grand Case
After breakfast in the room and a reunion with one of the housekeeping staff we headed out on foot to see what’s open in Grand Case. The short answer is “not much.” Some of our favorite restaurants are closed for vacation, like La Villa and Bistronome and Le Cottage, LePressoir and Ocean 82. But there are enough still open to keep us fed for our 10-day stay. We did encounter Carl Philips, whose nice little restaurant (Le Ti Coin Creole) is at the end of Grand Case Boulevard at the airport road. He has just finished rebuilding and has reopened. We’ll be going there tomorrow. Lunch was French Burgers at Orange Fever. Always very good. Some traces of seaweed on Orient but not much. It was the night of the “guest mixer” at GCBC without many guests to mix. There two other couples and us who showed up to mingle and partake of complimentary drinks and snacks. And mixing was limited by the fact that 3 of the 4 other guests spoke limited English and out French is even more (e.g. completely) limited. But everyone tried to communicate and we’ll at least recognize each other around the resort. Then it was back to the room to wait for and then watch the Harris-Trump debate.
Day 3, Wednesday: Phillipsburg
The resort offers a shopping trip to Phillipsburg on Wednesdays, sponsored by Joe’s Jewelry. We think it’s the best way to get there since there are no parking issues. A stroll along the boardwalk, Front Street and Back street is always interesting even though we weren’t really looking to buy anything. And it seemed very hot. We took refuge at Juggies for a milk less milk shake and a good helping of BS. We’re been there on previous trips but this was the first time Juggie was in residence. Nice sunset tonight, then off to Carl’s place. We shared a plate of fish fritters, then I had sautéed shrimp and the wife had a red snapper fillet. Both Creole style and both very good. Wife wanted desert, even though there is none on the menu set. But Carl volunteered to whip something up. He made a delicious (so I’m told) Crème Brule. And we had a very nice conversation with Carl. Hope we can holdout until high season. We were the only customers.

Thanks for the report. Sounds like a quiet time at GCBC. Enjoy!

Welcome back Folks and do enjoy your vacation.

So happy to hear Carl has reopened. It's always been our "go-to" for first night dinner before Irma, as we stay at GCBC too. I know he and his brother Kenneth have been working very hard to rebuild. His restaurant certainly is a hidden gem, but I wish more people would go to it.

Thanks for your report. Is the pool open yet?

We were there 2 years ago in September, but never again, although being at GCBC made it bearable. One night, they said there were only 9 guests at the hotel, and the restaurant decided to do an impromptu 3 day shutdown for sanitizing. Some of the town's restaurants, most notably Bistrot Caraibbes, that were scheduled to be open for business, shut down for lack of business. Dew points in the low 80s!

I'm hoping Carl will be serving his evening bush tea when we get there in a month. Oh, does he have goat stew (not curry) on the menu?

The pool is closed for the moment. I think I saw goat stew on the menu last night

September 1 seems to be the start of restaurant closings.
Many of our favorites on that list.

I would definitely try to get a reservation at Les Galets in Les Jardins in Orient (only open fri-sunday) (doing a special meal on Saturday with live entertainment)
one of best meals in three weeks

also for lunch just south of Grand Case basketball courts, Cool Heure, a simple menu, very reasonably priced

Bacchus in Hope Estate does a fancy lunch with a great wine store attached

for great beef, L' Atlier recently reopened from vacation in Orient

Bon appetite

Thanks for the tips. Cool Heure was already on the list. We will check out Oriet Village.

Enjoy, sounds like a great trip so far. Cool Heure is very good, especially for the price.

Marigot has some nice lunch options as well like Be Kool and La Petite Auberge.

Glad to hear Carl has reopened. Last March we stopped to chat and he projected to be opening soon. Did he say if he'll also do lunch?

He said he is thinking about offering lunch, maybe even breakfast

Where is Carl’s? Also will the Sunset Cafe return to its old location when the reno is done? Always liked the view.

Yes, Sunset Cafe will go back to its old location when work is done. Carl's is where at the beginning of the road leading to GCBC.

Did Carl keep the name of the restaurant, Le Ti Coin Creole? I wouldn't want anyone to miss it, looking for a place called Carl's.

He'sn keeping the name but there's no sign yet.

Yes. I think there is a local restaurant in Philipsburg called Carls. That’s the one I was thinking of.