TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin el Zafiro---hidden gem

first time at this lovely place. Ed and Nicole are such sweet caring owners! the beach is perfect! the food is excellent! a must see!!!

Glad you liked it. It has certainly become a favorite spot for many and so very convenient with easy access and no bridges to cross from our part of the island. We have enjoyed their salad plates for lunch many times and see more EZ days in our future. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

absolutely! love the steak salad!

Their veggie burger and sweet potato fries are the best! My mouth is watering just thinking about it!!

That's nice to hear! We're planning a trip there and would like to hear from anyone who stayed in their hotel.
Thanks...

We've beached and eaten there and that since before they were officially open, but judging by what we've seen of their progress and efforts, the hotel should be very nice. I know there's a couple, (BlackMercedes maybe?) on this site who stay there regularly and I'm sure they'll jump in here. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

What about security?

How secure do things seem? Door thickness. deadbolts etc.
Night guard?

We stay at BSV. I appreciate the night beach guard.

We really love El Zafiro. We can't say enough about it!

The posters are talking about the restaurant, which I personally was not impressed with. People love the beach there, which I already have, staying at Beachside. For the hotel, check out prices online. Unless they have reduced their prices recently, they are too high, for what it is.

I agree.

We were booked at El Zafiro, then I began to feel it was too high. Changed to Summit...then rethought and booked BSV!! Best choice.

Though I do like the food at El Zafiro now. They've improved. Hubby like the griot. I liked the salads and a hamburger. Steak tips are great.

For the hotel there, they charge service charge and an inflated tax on top of their rates, for a much smaller place than Beachside, with no cooking facilities. For the restaurant, we were not impressed in June, not at all.

Our one experience was breakfast and it was a disaster. I know others have had good experiences but for us both food and service were subpar. Pancake was raw inside after waiting 30 minutes. Redo wasn't much better.

My feeling is that, like most every other restaurant on the island, they have a hard time keeping staff, particularly a cook. We went there in June this year. They were open in the restaurant until something like 10 pm, even though they basically had almost no business after dark. That would be a very long day for a chef, since they are open for breakfast, and according to the bartender, there was just one person working as a chef. We wanted something light one day and so decided to try it. Although I have never met her, so I don't know for sure, I think our server was Nicole, as our printed ticket said Nicole. She was nice enough, no issues there. Eric ordered a Caesar salad with I think it was chicken. The salad was pleasant enough in taste but under no stretch of reality was the dressing Caesar. It almost tasted like a combination of a bottled ranch and something else. I ordered chicken fingers, which came with fries, a good amount of them, unlike a previous report of just a couple fries on the plate. The chicken fingers tasted ok, no complaint there, but the trouble was that they were served with NO dipping sauce of any nature. I asked the waitress for some and she said she could get me ketchup. Uhmn, no. I asked about honey mustard and she said no. I thought to myself "you can't make honey mustard sauce? Let me walk a hundred feet down the beach to my unit at Beachside Villas, and get my honey and my mustard out of the fridge and show you how to make it".. I have since concluded that there wasn't a chef even on duty that day, just someone who knew how to flip a burger.

So my conclusion is that they have a hard time keeping staff and that explains the sometimes wildly different views of the place. Sometimes the food may be good and the service good and sometimes not. But because the location is so unusual for the Dutch side, that even when it's not so good, that people put up with it because of the beautiful location and the fact that it's not crowded.

For the most part, each time we've been there, we've had good food and reasonable service but I think we might have been the ones who commented about our friend's very expensive burger that came with six fries. I tend to be more of a salad person when lunching on the island and I've never been disappointed and our breakfasts there were also good but how can breakfast be a problem? And at the same time there are many friends whose opinions I totally respect who have been disappointed there.

It's too bad with regard to the lackadaisical food service attitude because the setting of this beach along with what I perceive to be the inate hospitality of the owners makes this a good choice for us.

But your points are totally valid, Carol, in that it's an out of the way spot and doesn't have a huge turn-over of guests and it becomes a long day for both the cooks and the service staff, and these two things alone can make the hiring and holding on to good staff a difficulty. Sometimes a good business person has to decide their priorities and stick with them and if a busy restaurant is one of them they may have to pay more to the staff to get really good people or.....plan B - cut the hours and develop a better over-all reputation which in turn should bring them more patrons to cover these expenses. Or.....plan C - perhaps cut the number of offerings and concentrate on making them the best available anywhere on the beach? (I'd personally suggest the latter....) That's what Rosie did on Mullet and her business flourishes, year in and year out.

We're not what most here would call 'foodies' and we tend to often times turn a blind eye to service indiscretions that aren't really vitally important to enjoying our meal, and as such we have enjoyed all the times we've eaten there and will continue to enjoy the setting, which is the major draw for us.

I really want Ed and Nicole to be successful here as they are such pleasant people and they are following their dreams which so many of us hesitate in doing. I sincerely hope they can work out all the wrinkles and make this the incredible venture I know it can be. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

To me, to be open for dinner at that location is folly.

Agreed but I'm guessing they were trying to find a way to maximize their bottom line without a huge increase in their overhead and hoped the addition of a dinner seating might have done the trick. Well, that and the fact so many of their hotel guests would probably expect it. Just a guess.... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

For dinner, they would have to offer more choices than lunch, I would think, which would mean they would have to keep a lot more product on hand, which could lead to a lot of waste. I don't know whether their guests would expect it or not. They only have 4 rooms or so?

It is a peaceful location, easy to get to for many, decent bathrooms, at this time not crowded. Those points there have a significant value. We have enjoyed out stops there, food not off the charts at least as of last December but it was not bad either and did not feel the cost was too high especially considering the first sentence.

I would think that would be a nice relaxing place for dinner as well.

I see potential and improvement every time I have been there.
Cheers,
Todd

Been going there off and on since they opened. We love the beach area as it's never crowded and lounges are spread out and comfortable. The beach is not always swim-able though as it can get pretty rough. Employees are always very pleasant as is the owner. We, however, have never had a decent meal yet and find it quite pricey for the quantity and quality we have received. We keep trying, but it just has not happened. It has been a few months since we've been back.

Exactly, Todd, and on all counts, IMHO.

It's been set up in such a way that you're not breathing down the necks of your neighbors and it still offers all the amenities I want for a nice beach day. I agree with Elaine in that the water can be rough in that corner and not always swimmable but our meal experiences have been very different from hers, thank goodness

But as far as I'm concerned, they could offer dawgs, burgers, a couple of cold sandwiches and a salad plate choice or two and it would be fine for most of us lacking great expectations in Beach fare. (That last would be me. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />) It's definitely not a FBBC, a Dreams or an Anse Marcel but that said, its got a full bar, a clean working bathroom, parking and it's on a beach.
Works for me! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

Ditto

We ate 1breakfast and 2 lunches there in February. Each time our bill included items that we did not order. Service charge is based on the total bill. They removed the extra charge with no problem but did not adjust the service charge. Three times in a row looked like it was intentional to me. And the food and service were mediocre at best. Too bad, because the location is lovely.

We too have tried going there a few times but end of leaving due to lack of service. Have tried sitting at the bar, the tables and in a lounger and have always had less than stellar service.

Bottom line for me: great beach, lounges are spread out, food only ok. Food that we had was not great. We also had some issues with added service charges if using credit card.

Yes, the fees, energy up charge, and taxes on top of the rate really turned us off.

I still shake my head that they charged $2 to substitute rice for a baked potato! I mean, come on...they have both!!

We stayed at el Zafiro in November, 2016, February, 2017 and June, 2017. The rooms are CLEAN, and the furnishings are beautiful. We always found our hotel services to be perfect. Anything you need or want will be taken care of! We never cook so a larger room was not necessary. We love the restaurant and especially the bar! Just saying. We always venture out daily because we know the island as well as the town we live in. So we do have meals all over the island. As far as the prices...we are certainly not wealthy, but we feel the prices are reasonable and we never hesitate when we make our reservations. We LOVE being at that very peaceful and beautiful location and Ed and Nicole are wonderful hosts. We agree with Pat. We hope their dreams are successful!! Wish we were going tomorrow!!!

We prefer Karakter for the beach and food but love the big bar at Zafiro and the people are great.

el Zafiro has been having beach parties on Sundays. There are 3 more left I think. I agree. The big bar is fabulous. Spacious and comfortable. Like their beach..no one is jammed in like sardines! Can't wait to return in November!

Beach parties?? With music??

Yes. They have a dj. During the day. Looks like fun. Dreaming of being there! haha

What's a beach party without music?! And I believe the parties are daytime, right?

I can't say from firsthand experience but I doubt it's offering obnoxiously loud music. Nicole indicated it was their intention to be a 'good neighbor' when last we spoke with her. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

We have heard the stories about the daytime parties at Karakter and how LOUD the music is there. I sincerely hope they are not having loud music at El Zafiro.

It didn't seem that loud from the videos. He was facing the water I think.

I've been there on a weekend when they had a little girl's (tween?) birthday party. The area in the back near the fence was used, and tables and chairs set up under the palms. They were away from the main area of the beach, and the dining area. Parents party on one side, kids arranged in a circle a bit away from the adults.
They had music, but as we were down near the water....we only heard it faintly. The waves and wind drowned out any sound.