TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Coolers On Orient

I seem to remember last year we were told to move along if we had our own coolers and snacks in front of certain "bars". Can they make you move? We buy their umbrellas and chairs and some refreshments too, but we do like to bring some of our own snacks as well. TY

The only place I know for SURE that they do that is at Coco. For this reason, we will never patronize Coco again, so long as that is their policy. As far as other bars which do not allow you to bring a cooler if you're renting their chairs, there MAY be others on Orient, but I don't know. This year, the status of bars is sort of up in the air, with the 'renovation' of Orient Beach, due to start any time now. So places that didn't crack down on coolers before MAY start to do so now, because there will be many fewer places to eat and drink, until they finish with the work.

On the other hand, PERHAPS if you bring your own chairs, you might be able to set up shop in front of the area under renovation. It is also possible that the places involved may rent chairs still. If so, presumably, since they can't provide any food or drink, they won't mind you bringing your own there. I think no one knows what will happen, until it does.

No problem with coolers at Club O.

Coolers were fine at LaPlaya too. Next door, Bikini charged $5.00 more if you brought a cooler. Guess where we ended up?

Interesting! Was the cost of the chairs the same?

We paid 15.00 for two chairs and umbrella at LaPlaya. Bikini was the same if we didn't have a cooler. $20.00 if we did. I recall last year it was 20.00 at Bikini regardless. Forgot to mention at Yellow Beach on Pinel it was 20.00 and no issues with bringing a cooler for food and drink.

OK thanks.

I have the pleasure of staying at L'Hoste every January, and take a small cooler with me to LaPlaya everyday. Never had a problem, but I am staying right there also. I also go to Le String and Club O every afternoon and buy my beer.

Thanks for the replies. I guess we will just have to go and see what happens. The situation may change from day to day.