It all depends on your priorities, I guess.. We have always stayed in Orient, because: 1-we like the French village feel of the place 2- We appreciate the beach "freedom", as you put it, on Orient 3-we like being able to walk to the beach/morning bakery/evening restaurants. Both Grand Case and Orient offer restaurant options ranging from casual (ribs, burgers...) to 2-hour, 5-course, continental meals... Grand Case, having more restaurants, offers more variety. BTW, we think you can pretty much walk anywhere in Orient village any time of the day, with little risk... OK, the beach gets real quiet late at night and you might not want to walk it at all hours but otherwise... Anyway, that's our 2 cents. As Carol said Terres basses doesn't seem to provide much in the way of walkable anything, so from there, I think you could plan to drive to everything. But, as Carol said, if you really decide you are most comfortable on the dutch side, then Terres Basses might be a good option. Whatever you decide, you'll have a great time - just try to visit different areas so as to get a feel for what is best for you.