TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Why no Reports from Orient Beach?

Given the fact the Orient is agruably the most important single spot on St. Martin I am very surprised that there has been next to no news on condition / status.

Any ideas?

First of all, it is NOT the single most important spot on the island.

There have been lots of reports, basically a lot of damage. Beach appears to be decent but not a lot of places to stay or eat at the present time. Extensive damage up and down the beach.

I agree with you on all counts.

With specific regard to Orient Beach, there is government to deal with and apparently a lot of specifics with regard to rebuilding.

Says one who knew it before it was developed to what most recent visitors know it to be, some of us really don’t care if it takes forever. Count me with that group. But at the same time, I understand what so many are missing and I think the factors for lack of rapid redevelopment all seem to be based upon dollars. I’m sure it will come back eventually. Patience, Pilgrims..... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

gotaluvit,
I will give you a report in 60 days!
I did see on a facebook post there was a volunteer group doing some cleanup today.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next month or so. I have to imagine there will be some kind of chair rental and drinks from cooler setups to make some money from the tourist. There will be cruise ship traffic and there are definitely people staying in some of the available rentals on the East Bay.

It appears there are significant issues with regard to rebuilding on Orient, with the government. I guess that's why we don't hear much from Orient. Hopefully there will be more news soon.

See you there. We chat with you every year with our friends from west virginia.

Looking forward to it. Should be interesting vacation , hoping we can help out our island families in some way.

Yes we can

Been there twice this past week. The beach is beautiful and empty. The surrounding area has been cleaned of debris but is otherwise untouched. I think it will be some time IF EVER before anyone is allowed to build there again.

Although I'm not certain of it, as I understand, the 'Five Stars' have an AOT and they are exempt from the not building close to the water line, so I THINK they should be able to rebuild.

That may be true. At the present time the only things open, and only on weekend I think, are the little thing we are calling the Perch and not on the beach but almost is Alamanda Kitchen.

Also le petit bistro.

I heard la petite bistro was open in the village and also that the rest of the restaurants in the village won't open until July....from a friend who worked at Kakao. The owner of La Rhumerie moved back to France and is not returning.

L'Epicurien is open from "9h to 15h and 17h30 until there is no one left! From Monday to Saturday and by reservation on Sundays."

A big organized clean up of Orient beach tomorrow starting at Papagayo at 8am and moving down the length of the beach.

Rdv à partir de 8h pour nettoyer la plage d'Orient Bay, en commençant par le Sud (côté Club Orient / Papagayo) et en remontant autant que possible.
Même organisation que d'habitude;
Prévoir gants, baskets, casquettes, de l'eau et des sacs poubelles. Si possible, également des sécateurs ou couteaux pour enlever ce qui est pris dans les végétaux. Sorry it is in French but volunteers are needed...

It is a start! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/titanic.gif" alt="" />

Appointment from 8 am to clean the Orient Bay beach, starting from the South (Club Orient / Papagayo side) and going up as far as possible.
Same organization as usual; Provide gloves, sneakers, caps, water and trash bags. If possible, also pruning shears or knives to remove what is caught in the plants.

Someone reported talking to christelle at le piment & she said opening March?

OP asked about Orient Beach, so I did not include the village.

As i was getting out of Club O i saw you and Bill pulling in there could not say hi yesterday it was too risky on the road turn

Yes, Le Piment is scheduled to open in March, according to their FB page. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

I'm glad you said arguably. It's the most important to us, as that's where we stay, spend most of our time, and eat most of our meals.
Of course, others feel differently.

I will probably start going to Orient now, until it builds back up again. Have made maybe 4-5 visits to Orient in the past 10 years out of maybe 20-25 trips. It changed way too much for my liking

OK, I give what is more important to the people on this board? Orient is maybe what, 80% of the traffic to the French side?

Club O posted today that they have started chair rentals in addition to the Perch light being open.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

They've been renting for several weeks already. Not many takers, but they are available. Only on weekends far as we can tell.

May get busier once cruises start returning.

Hope so for the folks trying to make a living. For us, we're enjoying the solitude and will disappear once the crowds return.

This Sxmdronechristophe Facebook page has some amazing images of Orient Beach.
Check out this one especially... Amazing Aerial of Club Orient Posted 11-28-2017 and this...
Amazing aerial view of Club O from the water

Not sure why the photos say "Yesterday near Marigot, Guadeloupe" when they depict Orient Beach, St. Martin.

Wow...There's a lot more of Club O and the Village left than I thought there was.

I too am surprised how many structures are still there at all. I was of the impression that all were gone except the concrete block bldgs.

I dont know what is salvageable, but it looks far better than first pics immediately afterward. Plus the grass and so forth must be growing up thru the sand.

Id rent one of those chalets with a rollaway right now.

And not wanting to offend, but the length of the beach looks alot better than with all the bars and operations.

Id The structures more limited to a bar and walk up grill back where the parking lots were with maybe 1 to 2 rows max of chairs and umbrellas and leave more of the strand natural.

Nature was encroaching anyway........time to reset

Again, only an opinion, not looking for a squabble <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

Agreed, there are a lot more buildings there than I thought..

Another thing I notice from those pics is how clear of debris the area looks and how green the foliage is.

Correct. After most initial reports indicated most everything was "gone", I was surprised at how much was still standing.

From that far in the air the buildings appear to be fine, but I recall seeing other photo sets taken from the ground level after Irma showing many of the surviving concrete structures moved slightly off their foundations, out of kilter, with cracked walls, foundations undermined etc. In these pictures they all have their doors opened wide to circulate air through them to dry them out.

I'm not sure if that means they are salvageable and will be redone, or maybe it's just being done prevent mold growth or something along those lines while the decision to demolish them is being considered or planned?

I am sure an up close and personal view would show much more damage. My point was, like with many other places on the island, the initial reports of a place being totally "gone" were inaccurate.

I agree with your statement because to me gone means no longer there. I think most people were using gone to signify severely damaged. When I look at the numerous pictures from many different blogs, I see that many buildings need major repair but when you look at the harbor before and after you see the vessels are gone afterward.

Yes, there were reports that Beachside Villas was 'gone'. Incorrect. They are actually open now with a few units, expect to have all units available by around March 1. Mary's Boon was reportedly 'gone'. Incorrect. Mary's Boon is open already with almost all their units, less a couple of units that were in fact destroyed. I haven't seen any other pictures of Club Orient recently, so I assume that the aerial pictures are deceptive, as far as how it actually looks and the actual condition of the individual units. And I don't remember the layout well enough, but I think the beachfront units are just 'gone', so that much is correct.

The best I can tell from the drone images and other images I have seen show Club O's Beach Chalets to all appear to be standing, all of the Garden Chalets appear to be standing, about four of the nine Waterfront Chalets appear to be still standing, only two of the 15 Mini-Suite buildings are standing and all 17 the Studio buildings are indeed gone. Edited to add that all of the Mini-Suite Deluxe buildings appear to be standing.