TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Las Arenas Simpson Bay Any Feedback?

We are considering staying at a 1 bedroom condo at Las Arenas in Simpson Bay. Does anyone have any experience there or know someone that does? The VRBO and Trip Advisor reviews are all very good. The only concern we have is that the unit is very lightly booked Jan/Feb/Mar 2016. I would think if it is a very desirable location, it would be booked solid??? Any positive or negative feedback would be greatly appreciated regarding the unit and/or Simpson Bay area. We currently have an apartment on the beach booked in Grand Case, but we were looking to get a little closer to downtown. Thanks in advance.

While I have never personally stayed at the property in question, I have stayed next door many times.

The area is pretty quiet and residential. The beach is usually nice there but all SXM beaches can change. You can walk to many places during the day but I would suggest driving at night. You get a lot of beach walkers in that area but it is not an area that is heavily used either.

The property you are asking about is somewhat new (less than 10 years old?) and has a small pool and nice courtyard area. The only negative I have witnessed is sometimes kids that are not staying on the property will use the pool.

I think a lot of the units are either long-term leases or privately owned so there might not be a lot of rental business there.

If you like a quieter area with what is usually a nice beach this should work well for you.

Sent you a pm - click on the flashing yellow flag next to your name! This April will be out 6th year staying there, love it! The beach is long and beautiful, not crowded at all!
Very clean, well-maintained, good security.
(we haven't seen other kids in the pool, but maybe while we're away at Orient or Baie Rouge?)

For our beach walk we usually park on the street where it is located and the building looks pretty nice to me. You will have zero issues with the view as it will be unobstructed right out to Saba (assuming the unit is beach facing).

Love to walk that beach.... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

got it thx! sent you one back.

Forgot it's a white flashing envelope, not a yellow flag! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

Other people have addressed the location issue. As JD said, you probably shouldn't walk from there at night, but otherwise it's a nice location. I've never stayed there myself but did look at several units online there at one point. The complex is very nice, and high end, and has secure parking. There could be several different reasons why this particular unit is not booked, could be a long term winter rental crapped out on them, or most people want a 2 BR, and the unit is relatively expensive, versus the 2 BR units.

We stayed at Heaven at Las Arenas. We liked the condo very much - it was definitely an upscale unit. If that is the unit you are considering renting please PM me and I can give you comments on that specific unit. Regarding the property in general, it was well maintained and secure. The views from the unit we stayed at were gorgeous. The only complaints we had were the parking and the pool area. The parking spots are assigned but very tight. One of us would generally have to get out of the car and we would have to fold in the mirrors to get into the spot and we had a Corolla. The pool area only had five lounge chairs and no umbrellas and is not very big. We only had a problem two days - once when one group of renters had friends over and monopolized all the chaises and another when there were loud children with no supervision. The pool was basically unusable those days. Because the pool area is small there is no place to move to if the other guests are not behaving courteously. We found we like staying in the Cupecoy area better so we found a great place at the Cliff that we will be returning to again this year.

Thanks for the information. I sent you a PM with a couple other questions. Thx!