TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Where to Stay??

Hi Everyone,
We typically go to the BVI and have a family trip planned for December to Jost Van Dyke so thought we would venture out for our no kid trip and go to St. Maarten. We are looking for recommendations on where to stay, French or Dutch side, etc. Background on our idea of a kid free vacation...we call them rinse and repeat vacations. Each day we get up, have some breakfast, find our spot on the beach, have cocktails, read/nap/etc., have dinner, repeat the next day. I'm sure we can find something like this on St. Maarten as well.

Thank you for your help,
Becky

I do exactly what you do, and do it on Orient Beach. I prefer the style of the French side, and rarely venture onto the Dutch side. In Orient there are a ton of different places to stay, from rental apartments to cool small European hotels. With amazing food and basic services nearby, you could work it that you never leave the area and never walk more than 10 mins at any one time on your whole vacation.

Others here feel differently, but this really works for us.

Becky,

If you want a great location, IMHO having stayed there only once but loved it, I'd recommend Beachside Villas on Simpson Bay. We have timeshare on SXM so that's where we typically stay although we do switch it up every now and then by adding extra time at different spots. BSV is on the Dutchside on an approximately two mile long walkable beach, has its own pool and pool deck and is a condo complex with complete kitchens and full amenities even including a BBQ grill in each unit if you're so inclined. There's something to be said for renting a place right on the beach and listening to the sounds of the waves crashing and lulling you off to sleep at night over the whirring of the airconditioners.

While we personally prefer the Dutch side of the island, I would also highly recommend the Grand Case Beach Club on the French side. Its about as close as you can get to an AI resort atmosphere without going AI, and trust me, you really don't want to go that route on St. Maarten/St. Martin. It has a lovely new pool, a great little on-site restaurant serving three meals a day, two seperate beach areas and access to all the water sports activities you might enjoy. But at the same time, there's no pressure to be a part of anything. And best of all, you're within an easy walk to all the best restaurants Grand Case has to offer.

The best part of SXM is that you can rent a car and go to a different beach every day and they're ALL different and all great. Awesome beaches everywhere along with incredible dining island wide. If you want some nightlife or enjoy the casinos, this is more apt to be found on Dutch St. Maarten. We're not much into the nightlife but we do enjoy an hour at the casinos every now and then.

We personally enjoy Mullet Beach along with Rosie's ribs for lunch, and think it's about the best the island has to offer for our tastes but again, all the beaches are different and spending days exploring the different options is one of the highlights of the island. You can enjoy a self-catered day on Mullet if the ribs don't appeal or you can spend a delightful day at Dreams Beach in Nettle Baie or at the Restaurant at Anse Marcel where they will cater to your every whim if you're of a mind to appreciate that type of a day for a change of pace. And beyond that you can wander the length of all it's different venues for dining along with its different areas of dress (or undress if that's up your alley....) and opportunities for socializing.

Good choice for a change of pace vacation and island and I hope you come to enjoy it as so many of us do. So much to see and do and experience...... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

We all have our favorites. As Pat stated Beachside Villas is great but having been to Jost Van Dyke & St John's (Maho Camps, Concordia) our "breakfast, beach, walk, lunch, nap, beach again," then dinner in a great French restaurant is a stay at Grand Case Beach Club in Grand Case, a once French fishing village, now with a multitude of small intimate restaurants all with great food.

Almost every year we go to Ste Martin but alternate with places in built up, resort areas and renting a car to drive around island for different eateries, with a do nothing but relax, eat, beach , sleep no car rental stay at GCBC.

PS great photos on Grand Case Beach Club web site and also web site for Beachside Villas.

Pat's post reminded me that GCBC has free water sports for registered guests. I forgot I guess because we always say we'll utilize this freebee but somehow never do.

Wherever you chose to stay, try to make it to GCBC for sunset happy hour at their Sunset Cafe, an open air restaurant overlooking the island of Anguilla. Great location for beautiful sunsets.