TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin When construction begins (in June?) @ Orient Beach

...I hope this will be THE forum to go to for all things Orient !

And here's hoping they're finished by October...

Talking to someone on the beach yesterday and they said they are getting ready to begin tearing the places down on June 15th. Seems the date has changed since I read the stories about the demolition. Saw Cheryl in the water a few days ago and she is disgusted. Doesn't even want to talk about it. She hadn't seen the renderings of the proposed places and I told her to access this site to see what they look like. Seems island time is seeping into the equation.

Aren't we always THE forum to go to?? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> There should be several people on island while it's going on, so hopefully we should be fairly up to date with what's going on.

We'll be there June 3rd to 15th. I'm assuming it shouldn't cause any problems for club orient beach. We just won't be able to walk down for lunch. However, if it's delayed maybe we will!!!!!

IF the date of June 15 for the beginning is correct, it won't affect your trip at all. But regardless, should not affect Club O beach at all, except that it will probably be busier, once the construction actually starts, from people who would normally rent chairs in the affected section. And parking at the office may be really crowded also.

Was on Orient, Thursday and talked to the owner of the String Bar, he went to the meeting on Wed. and the Fr. Gov. told them they do not have all the permits needed, it does not look as if they can start on time, he is hoping they put it off til next year.

That's quite confusing, as it sounded like it was the government that was doing it to begin with.....

I can only say what he told me,

I stated before the government leases 2 parcels of land that have a dividing line by Kon Tiki ( notice the gate at the rear of Kon Tiki) the persons with the land lease then subleases to the persons who built the restaurants/bars. It is highly probable that the person with the land lease is doing this project.

SXM??? Wendell

Wendell--I am pretty sure you are incorrect. This project, according to what has been in the paper, is being done by the Collectivite'.

Which does raise the question as to how there could not be government approval for a project being done by the government.

I do know the collective built the 2 buildings for the vendors behind the restaurants that burned.

And I do know that the government leased the 2 land parcels on a long term lease. But things change. Bikini was an example of this land lease and sublease as there was a question of who to send the rent to.
Maybe the land lease wasn't so long.
SXM??? Wendell

Bikini is further down the beach and isn't involved in this situation.

The French government is notorious for its infighting. A project undertaken by one part of the government will still need approval from others and that can take time and, quite often, exchanges of political capital. Would not surprise me at all if that were the case.

Happens in the USA too. There are road construction and project delays because of the EPA and other government agencies.

All conjecture, but were I a betting man, this is the horse I'd put my money on.

That does make sense.

It's June 2 to 13th for us. I'm just concerned about how well stocked, staffed and maintained these places will be knowing an involuntary wrecking ball is on the way. It seems logical that the overall spirit and incentive to excel may be understandably diminished, as evidenced already in another post by Cheryl's (of Andy & Cheryl's Beach Bar) apparent disgust.

You are very correct there, as it will be very difficult for them to keep well stocked close to the end, considering they will have to either throw away or sell or give away all the food.

Does anyone know if there is protection for the people displaced and losing income?

I heard that the French side has a good unemployment type system. There were servers and people from Kontiki that I spoke with during their closure and remodel, who were receiving benefits. Will these owners be covered by anything like that I wonder? Do they pay into some type of social system?

So difficult for them to keep going with uncertainty. That last day they will need to be ready to pack out and go.

In talking with the owner of String, he said, they will be out of work until, they finish, (no pay),Also he hopes, they will give him enough time to get all his equipment out and into storage.

Will be there end of July where do you suggest to rent chairs? I usually go to Three Bros.

We were there from April 21 until May 2. We asked Cheryl about it and she said she didn't know so she didn't want to talk about. George who works there was concerned that he would be out of work beginning in June but wasn't sure. We asked at Aloha. Nathalie has done a fantastic job along with her crew of revamping the worst hit restaurant on Orient. She has poured lots of money into the refurbishment and is concerned that it is all for nothing. I do agree with an earlier poster who mentioned the gate on the back road behind Kontiki. It does separate the Haves from those who don't know what they are going to Have. They did say 8 restaurants would be re installed which would mean Cheryl and Andy's, Brothers, Chez Leandra, Ethnic, Orange Fever, Sun Beach, Le String and Aloha. What the new rents would be certainly would be the clincher if the restaurant were to go forward

What a MESS!! Maybe it's being wrecked mid-June & maybe not?? So much is indefinite!! I am so sad for these restaurant operators, especially Cheryl, as she is our favorite!!! If the demolition & reconstruction is late starting, it undoubtedly will be late reopening, which would not be in time for the fall tourist season & maybe not even in time for the major winter tourist season...wouldn't blame any of the operators should they throw in the towel & not reopening! Postponing for a couple years would be better than leaving the operators in limbo....maybe postpone it to the "twelfth of never"....

Sounds like the whole thing is certainly still up in the air. Time will tell. Very curious to see what transpires over the next two months or so. If they don't start til early 2016, that would be good, since we'll be there in October this year, and if we go again next year in 2016, hopefully they would be all finished.

And yes, this is THE forum !!!

That would be a major FUBAR if they don't start until high season next year. I 'assume' they will get started with the project fairly timely. As far as finishing, who knows??

We will be there from June 6-20 and will update the situation. You'll probably hear me cussing all the way from Orient. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> I, too, was thinking of Nathalie and all the hard work they recently put into getting Aloha back on its feet. They've done a great job and I feel so bad for them if it's all for naught.

All the new units are suppose to be basically the same prefab units, they will be moved back from the beach to give more room for chairs, and they are suppose to make a larger parking lot in the back

Actually, I think the purpose of keeping the buildings further back off the beach is more to a) protect them better from storms and b) to have less erosion of the sand. As far as more chairs, not at all sure they need MORE chairs. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Crazy.gif" alt="" /> In fact, I would hope that part of this reorganization would provide a stricter limit on the number of chairs.

If they do that could increase the price of chairs. The old supply and demand equation.

What will happen with prices in general there, no one knows at this point.