TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin I guess I should do a trip report

Could be helpful, could be not
We came here on Thursday. From Hamilton we took the go bus to the Toronto airport. Plane left at 9:30 and we arrived in sxm at 3pm. Big lineup from Air France but we counted a total of 18 stations and we waited in line about 30 min. At the machine it was an easy process: scan the passport and the machine takes your picture. That's it. We were out in 2 min after that. Took a taxi to Atrium resort. Brutal traffic. It took us almost one hour.
We didn't have checked bags. Just carryon and personal bags. And we brought some meat and cheese, all frozen.
Too tired to do anything else but we had dinner at Lee's roadhouse. Wife had the snapper and I had 12oz steak. All good food.

Friday Jan 10
Had breakfast on the apartment, went to the beach then at lunch time we went to le sucriere for some sandwiches and croissants and of course coffee. It was good but not as good as last time. Dinner at the Milsa Brazilian
Not a good experience. Not hungry but not full either.
We went for a walk to Juliette cafe and had a cake and coffee. Very good
More to come tomorrow

Did TSA hassle you bringing cheese and frozen meats in your carry on thinking it was plastic explosives?😉

BTW. Was the snapper whole or filet as they quit their snapper filet years ago to sub syuai.(sp)?

Whole snapper medium size.

We had no issues with our food. I was actually surprised

I've always enjoyed Lee's.

I believe Lee's brought back whole snapper as I went with my local island friend and he had it on the past couple of visits. Many places switched to "swai" for fish and chips or fish fingers. I always ask if I am ordering but usually I go with Mahi, grouper or swordfish.

Thanks for your reports.

Good to know about that snapper.

Saturday Jan 11
Breakfast at reveil matin. I had crepes with Gouda and pear. Wife had eggs Benedict with ham brie and asparagus. Mine was good but eggs Benedict so-so. The Hollandaise sauce was store bought not hand made. Eggs were overcooked. We'll come again but was a little disappointed this time.
Next we went to mullet beach but bag waves so we returned to Kim sha beach.
For lunch we walked to secret seafood restaurant. They had a big Basin full of lobsters but no water in it. They said something wrong with the pump. We changed our minds and walked to little Jerusalem for our favorite shawarma
For dinner we plan to go to Moulin fou. More to continue

No way to get a spot without reservation at Moulin fou. Dining at la Vesta taverna rn. 2 places in maho were very busy: Moulin fou and Jax. The rest of the places were empty.

The beter places are usually busy and reservations are necessary.

I assume you meant Vesna Taverna?

Yes sorry. Wine speaking again

I had ribeye, wife had pasta with shrimp, clams and truffles. Everything was excellent. We will come back.

I took a local island friend there a couple of years ago. He had never been before, and he thought it was one of the best restaurants he had been to.

Seens to be a regular occurrence.🍷😆🥃😉🍸 Don't think those lobsters will last very long without circulating water. Might be a lobster chowder special tomorrow. 😉

Lazy day today. Spend the whole time on the beach. We went to pizza Italy for dinner. Excellent pizza as always. Then we ended up to toppers for some delicious ice cream. Tomorrow is philipsburg day. Only 2 cruse ships in port.

Today we spend the morning at the beach and the afternoon on Philipsburg. We did some shopping then we had late lunch at Shelljen Restaurant & Beach Bar. Wife had oxtail and I had curry goat. Both excellent. Tonight we try Moulin fou again. No reservation

Failed to eat at Moulin fou again. Tried Mr. Chow instead. Fried calamari was overcooked. Ultimate beef and broccoli was ok. The place is too noisy for us. The place was full and we waited about one hour for the food. We will not come back.
Tomorrow Marigot

Sorry to hear that experience. I've not tried Mr Chow yet. Too happy with ROMA new door. Try them.

Day in Marigot. We were pleasantly surprised that Marigot looked much better than in May of last year. Roads are better, more stores open. We had lunch near the fish market. Whole red snapper for my wife and steak for me. Both delicious. Some coffee and pastry at Ferdinand (sp) old saraphina place. All excellent. Took the bus back up to Simpson bay causeway, then walked to Atrium.
Dinner at sale&pepe. Restaurant was full but we had reservation. Yeah baby! Wife had pasta carbonara and I had pasta pescadori (sp). Both excellent. But waiting time was one hour. All in all, a good day today.
Forgot to tell you, yesterday while we were in philipsburg the power went off for couple of hours. Gebe is working hard? Or hardly working!

Gebe had a scheduled maintenance that was posted on their site. Waiting an hour for your food isn't acceptable especially with reservations in my book no matter how good it is.

We went to Sale & Pepe once, a while ago. Not that impressed. Regardless, it seems like the reports on the service are always slow or bad, etc.. Not interested in trying it again.

I think the 'scheduled maintenance was on the WATER, not electric. So, I guess that GEBE has NOT fixed their problems, two outages in three days?

Today was a pretty easy day spending on the beach. Lunch at Juliette cafe. We had fish and chips. Pretty good.
Diner at the palms. We shared a New York steak 12oz and 1/2 kilo ribs (that spells 1lb for the Americans), all excellent.
Tomorrow is the last day here on sxm. Looking forward to go home.

Thanks for your reports. Safe travels.

Agreed. Thanks for all the reports and pictures. Safe travels home.

This morning we had breakfast at zee best. Not the best anymore. While the eggs were good, the pastry were not fresh. And $40 for 2 omelettes, 2 croissants and 2 coffees is a little too much.
We are currently in the airport ready to leave. The upper floor of the airport looks very nice and elegant.

Doesn't sound great. Next time, try out Reveil Matin.

Hope the trip home is without incident.

Carol...you are missing out on one of the best places for a GREAT meal. I would check them out again...i don't think you will be sorry!!!!

Ed--sorry, I will pass. Too many bad service reports.

With our 2 time experience there I have to concur.

Same here. Too many other good options.

We got home safe and sound. We are disappointed of what the island become. Changes in people quantity and quality, not feeling save, too many constructions, too many bad roads, all these make us looking at other options after visiting this island for 31 years. I guess this island is not for us anymore. Too many changes that we don't agree with. And too expensive for what it offers. Anyway this is our opinion and I'm sure not everyone is in agreement. Good luck all.

Sorry to hear of your disappointment in the island. It's definitely not for everyone but still is for us.

Many aspects of changes have been far less than positive, both for the tourist and local residents. We have been going for 34 years but we also have local friends there that we have know since the first visit, which is a big part of what keeps us going but you have to make decisions that are best for you. Good luck.

Very useful