Bobcat,

Thanks for your posted link. I read the article you cited at the time of the settlement but appreciate you posting it for those who might have been interested.

For newbies to the island, those who discovered St. Martin after the final clean-up of the debris left in the storms wake, none of this would mean much but to those who had stayed there in its earlier days, this really was an incredibly nice property.

There were many configurations of buildings ranging upward from as few as two units per building and which could be used as single bedroom units or one or two bedroom villas, but to the best of my recollection, none of the buildings were more than two stories high, all with different views and configurations inside the units. They were laid out abutting the golf course from the oceans edge at Building 90, the most prestigious of all the units and the one that frequently housed Dutch royalty when they visited the island, and along all the roadways that travel through the area up to the hillside area that is now pretty much blocked from visitors.

The resort had little minibuses that travelled the roads all day and much of the night taking you anywhere on the property you wanted to go with drivers who loved to tell stories of their island.

There were two huge pools and countless eateries from a NY style deli to a very formal restaurant called The Gourmet and in between, there was an ice cream parlor and even a steakhouse, The Frigate, that featured the island's only salad bar at the time, this being our favorite among all the hotel options.

Along with what was once was a beautiful and extremely well maintained golf course, the resort featured its own popular casino and countless high end clothing boutiques as well as a disco and several smaller shops that sold everything from the NY papers to a Spritzer and Fuhrmans (sp?) that sold very expensive high-end jewelry.

Our first trip in 1973 we stayed in a single bedroom, the smallest available rental there, and in later trips we generally stayed in a two bedroom two bath villa style unit where we could cook ( or not!) and really enjoy our little slice of island living.

If you wanted to buy a tee shirt or book a parasailing trip, or even a trip to another near island, it was all there without ever having to leave the property. Nothing like it since and I doubt there will be in the future so I'm doubly glad we were privileged to have enjoyed the property in its hay days. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />