We discovered Orient Beach off the Dawn Princess in the late 90's. My wife and I had both previously lived in Europe so it wasn't unusual for her to go topless when sunbathing. Anyway, we had lunch on Orient Beach at a sleepy restaurant in our swimsuits and she ate lunch topless. That made a strong impression on me and we returned the next year staying for half a week at Club O and also half a week on St Barths at Eden Rock. While St Barths was very pretty, we found the people at Club O much more friendly and we were hooked on St Martin. We stayed at Le Meridian for many years before discovering Alamanda. We loved the beach scene at Club O and happy hour at the Perch. Willie's Cadillac (Margarita with Grand Marnier) was our favorite. We always rented a car and drove all over the island eating dinner at countless restaurants over 20 years. Favorites over the years were Mario's when in Sandy Ground, La Vie en Rose in Marigot, Le Cottage in Grand Case and eventually several in Orient Village. Sadly, we have not been back post Irma.
Our first visit was December 1996. We were new t/s owners and wanted to check our how trading worked "let's see where we can go!". A week in Martinique and one in Sint Maarten were the result. Driving through the Mullet property in the dark was truly frightening -as in "what have I gotten us into?!" until we arrived at the Towers and breathed a sigh of relief.
Long story short, fell in love with SXM, purchased at OBBR (pre-construction) and have never looked back. In the early years we would spend one week there and one week on another island. Now? It's SXM all the way!
Neil, with such a good run, sorry you left!! We loved the original SSBB!!! Many a great times there and Peg Legs! Not forgetting the fun times on Halloween at BBB, thee best burger on the island!
1979 soon to be hubby went to a travel agent because I said I'd like to go to Fiji . He told her Fuji. When he returned I was livid. Back we went together and she suggest a charter package to SXM.
Have never been to Fiji or Fuji but ever year we return to SXM.
In 2007, my wife and I went on a fourteen day caribbean cruise and fell in love with St. Maarten. We walked the boardwalk in Philipsburg and ended up at the Villas on great bay, perfect location. We rented there for three years before purchasing one in 2011.
We purchased a time share here in the states in 1998. Our first trade was to SXM for Christmas week of 2000. We have been there nearly every year since. Several of the properties we traded into no longer exist.
1994 Carnival eastern Caribbean cruise, enjoyed Mullet Beach. Stayed at Maho next trip in, then in Aruba bought a Divi timeshare. Alternated between St. Maarten and Aruba for many years. Just got back from Sint Maarten. Love the people there. The best...
In 1995 we were suppose to go to Puerto Vallarta with friends. The friends backed out, so since my husband and I had already planned our vacations from work for that February, we decided to try an island in the Caribbean instead, and at that time Travel Charter was doing direct trips from Detroit to various islands, and we chose St. Maarten because of the two cultures. We had narrowed our resort choices down to Dawn Beach or Divi, and luckily we chose Divi, as Dawn Beach was destroyed later that year by Hurricane Luis, and never rebuilt. Unfortunately Luis also severely damaged Divi Little Bay Resort that Fall, and were closed during 1996. But we were back there in 1997, and most years since then, except after the 2017 Hurricane Irma in 2017, and Covid. Travel Charter went out of business quite a few years ago, and since then we have layovers and super high prices from Detroit to SXM, but we still manage to go.
Last edited by KitKat; 07/02/202301:06 PM. Reason: addition
Our first visit to SXM was on a Cruise in 1987 and we all went to Mullet Bay Beach for the day. We went back to SXM on vacation the following year, fell in love with the Island and have been visiting regularly ever since.
florida /bahamas ---didnt ''cut it ''---------so gave St.Martin a shot ------twenty or so years ago----owned at oyster bay and Royal Islander ----after Irma ---aruba-------still prefer sxm --but better half is sold on aruba------to my dismay-----but in the interst of domestic tranquilty------
My mother used to get a cooking magazine called Cuisine I believe. One issue had an article about St. Martin. This was in the early ‘80’s. The article mentioned the great beaches and places like Le Galion Hotel and restaurantes like Le Vie en Rose in Marigot. Anyway it caught my attention and I went by myself in the early ‘80’s - maybe 82 or 83. I stayed at the Hollander House. I rented a car and toured the island. Orient Beach just had Club O and that was it. The last night I sat on my balcony at the Hollander and drank a six of Heineken and smoked my first cigar (Cuban). The next day I was green around the gills on the trip home. That was my first and last cigar. I didn’t get back until the mid 90’s after Lewis (or was it Louis). We have been back many times since. We’ve been lucky to have a friend that owns down there and have stayed in his place many times as well as a number of hotels.
Luis was a long time ago and i wasn't exactly sure on the hotel, since it was pre-Luis, whether there was a different hotel with a similar name. Always good to have friends!
1987 cruise ship the Celebration. Not a big cruise fan,but fell in love with the island.Went back stayed at Esmeralda the first year they were open.Got a promo deal from a friend for $80 a night!.been back several times.You were actually our neighbors on one trip or two.Spent my 50th birthday on island,hence the xx50 handle! I will be 72 next month. Wife ,and I have the same birthday too!!! Been really fun enjoying your forums here. Thank you. KP
The time was January 1991. We had just been to the playoff game at the Meadowlands between the Giants and Bears, and went to a restaurant afterwards. While waiting for our friends to arrive, we sat at the bar and started chatting with the barmaid. She had just returned from St. Martin, as she also sold timeshare and had spent a week visiting the resort - it was the Pelican at the time. We were interested, but my husband said he did not want to attend a sales pitch. So she agreed to come to our home and did her presentation there! We signed up for a trial week, and had a unit up the hill. We eventually bought at the bottom of the hill, which later became the Flamingo. And the rest is wonderful history. It's been our vacation go-to ever since.
First time was November 1991. We went because my brother-in-law's timeshare in Aruba was unavailable, and our travel agent suggested SXM instead. We rented a small unit in Guana Bay and decided to try to visit as many of the 37 beaches that the map we found listed. Once we found Orient Beach, we stopped moving around. My husband & I fell in love! We've been back every year at least once a year, many times more than that. In our early years, we explored the surrounding islands and did boat tours, snorkeling trips, etc. Later trips, we were content to stay on the beach and then visit a fabulous French restaurant for dinner. We've stayed at many places on Orient Beach, but finally settled into just ClubO (thanks Jim Ruos for almost all of those reservations). We've met life-long friends in SXM; a few of which we vacation with in other places than SXM. We miss those days at ClubO - from early morning croissant runs, long lunches with friends at our units, and then dancing at Papagayo at night. This will be the first November (besides the hurricane years) that we'll not be going to St. Martin. We still love it, but too many of our good friends have stopped going for various reasons, but mainly because ClubO is no longer there. We will be back, but not as frequently. It breaks my heart that we aren't going this year.
That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante, that's all I want, La Vie Dansante (JB)
agree most heartily with Kathleen-----so many indelible memories of Club O---from the great employees--damn good food ---dancing up to the wee hours----special place --special time -----a nod to Green Cay villas too-------except for the clouds of mosquitoes that chose me as their pin cushion-
1977...there were about 440 of us from New England Life at a "Leaders" meeting at the old MBBR (Mullet Bay). I was from corporate, helping to run the event and reporting on it for their field magazine, which I edited. We returned the next year on our own & never looked back.
As I remember it, that was an odd beach. I think we only went once due to the lack of services. Plus it was a bear getting up the hill to the units there (I think they were strangely shaped - maybe octagonal?). We haven't been back there since that first year.
That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante, that's all I want, La Vie Dansante (JB)
Did they survive the hurricanes? We were never drawn to return there - bad beach, bad hill, and not-so-great accommodation. We rented from a woman in NJ. Were these individually owned?
That's why I wander and follow La Vie Dansante, that's all I want, La Vie Dansante (JB)
Kathleen--If you're talking about Geo Villas, I don't know if they survived Irma or not. When we stayed there, it was pre Irma. At that time, it was a timeshare, or at least some of it was.
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