I found SXM on a nautical chart -- sailed in for the 1st time in 1976 in the dark and anchored in Simpson bay. left at 1st light for St Barth's - same chart.
Been back many times since - both sides - have enjoyed Marigot more than Phillipsburg and the find the food and provisioning more my style on the French Side. I have always felt the dry and dusty terrain of the island to be less attractive than the bigger, more lush islands. But it has a fine boating community and some excellent vessel services. Usually rent a car for a day or two to travel around and sightsee between errands. It certainly has become quite developed and much busier in my 40+ years of stopping there and my visits are less frequent the last 10 years. There are still some good prices to be had on French wines by the case and although the grocery variety has increased the prices are not as attractive anymore. We used to stock up on the Dutch cheeses for instance. The overwhelming mega-yacht traffic has dramatically changed the boating sector direction and the hurricanes have proved the Lagoon is not the safe haven it once was thought to be. The airports are convenient for crew travel to both the US and Europe.
after reading the previous replies I admit I had no idea it was such a popular timeshare destination but that does explain a lot of the change I have seen.