I stayed at Esmeralda all of November. Loved it. L'Astrolabe was open. To summarize overall, while Coco's is completely gone, Esmeralda Resort itself is just like before Irma.

Regarding construction, there were three villas still having some roof work done, but it wasn't disruptive in the least and is likely done by now. Overall, Esmeralda and La PLantation across the street were by far the furthest along with recovery results. Construction was far more of an issue at other places closer to the village and up on the hill where damages were FAR worse. Lots of places within Orient haven't yet even started rebuilding.

Pools at Esmeralda are the same as always, which is to say that they're not clothing optional, but most visitors know that it's acceptable if done discretely. The generalization is that if it's ok with your villa mates, then it's not a problem. Privacy of the pool is also a factor.

A ton has been written here and on the Facebook SXM groups about the current status of the beach and beach bars that you can research.