Hi everyone. We just returned from two weeks in our favorite 2nd home. We have been going to St. Maarten since 1984, with our first stay at Mullet Bay. How the island has changed since then!! In the past, we have spent most days sitting by the pool or beach of the Royal Islander. This year we traveled to more beaches than ever, and enjoyed our trip immensely. Below is a recap of the trip.

FLIGHTS
American Airlines direct flight from JFK, New York. Smooth flight going down. Coming back, the plane sat on the runway in St. Maarten for 40 mins waiting to take off. Not even one announcement as to what caused the delay or how long it would be before we took off. And the seats were very cramped. I definitely missed flying Jet Blue!!

ROYAL ISLANDER LA PLAGE / MAHO area
The resort was well-maintained as always, and the flowers on the property were magnificent. We had a small beach for the first 2 days, and then virtually almost NO BEACH for the rest of our trip. The waves only came up over the pink fence one or two days though, unlike last year, where it happened daily.

Internet access was much improved for us in Room 1209. I was even able to use our laptop on our balcony, as well as by the pool pretty consistently. However, other friends were still having issues getting online. Apparently, the location of your room still makes a difference. A few times we had issues where we got a message that read “too many users on now—try again later” or something to that effect. They are still charging $50 per week or $60 per month to use their wireless network.

We still have access to the gym on the 3rd floor of the Maho Hotel. However, the gym still shows signs of age and a lack of maintenance. The same two treadmills that were out of order last year are still inoperable now! The Good Life Spa has moved into the La Terasse ground floor space that had briefly housed a lovely spa. There is still some sort of spa now in the old Good Life Spa space by the gym. Someone told me that the two spas actually swapped locations. I didn’t use either this year, so I can’t vouch for services, etc.

The tennis courts have been resurfaced, and I am told they are beautiful. Unfortunately, I decided not to bring my racket this year, as last year the courts were becoming unplayable with cracks, and I expected them to be worse this year. Oh well. Something to look forward to next year!

Overall, we love our little home away from home, and wouldn’t dream of staying anywhere other than the Royal Islander La Plage. The landscaping is breathtaking, and there are always workers raking, cleaning, pruning, and generally maintaining the property. The location can’t be beat, with the Casino Royale across the street, and many GREAT restaurants, bars, and clubs within walking distance.

RESTAURANTS and BARS
We mostly have breakfast and lunch in our room, but look forward to our dinners out. Here is a recap of all of the restaurants we visited:

La Belle Epoque (Marigot – Marina Port La Royale)– always the best escargot on the island, and great pizza; Location moved down past Le Chanteclair on the far side of the marina. Slightly breezier than old locale; Inside is much larger and nicer; love the atmosphere and people watching here overall

Pizza Pasta (Maho) – Great pizza, pasta bolognese, and veal parm as always; very tiny restaurant, so need a reservation

Uncle Harry’s (past airport heading to Simpson Bay) – very disappointing this year; new owners -- a family with 3 young kids are now running the restaurant; our waitress was the 14 year old daughter; had to wait 40 mins for a drink cuz the owner (father) was also the bartender; my daughter and I ordered two 2 lb lobsters. Shortly after taking our order, the girl came back and told us that the smallest lobster they have is 4 lbs. We said, ok we will take one 4 lb lobster and share it. About 15 minutes later, the mother (owner) came and said that actually the smallest she had was about 5 lbs. At $28.50 per pound, this was getting very expensive!! The food was decent, but the service was extremely slow, and the lobster was tougher than I like, maybe because it was such a large one. We asked the owner what happened to Harry. He told us that “Harry’s son drowned in the bathtub while he was on the phone with his mother about a year ago.” Very sad, assuming this is true. He also said that after that, Harry started drinking. I don’t mean to start any bad rumors here—just passing on exactly what I was told by the new owner. I am glad to hear that several of you have seen Harry around and that he seems ok; anyway, probably off our list now. Several people have told us they like Skipjacks at $19.99 per pound for lobster. So I guess we will have to try that next year.

Bajatsu (Maho) – considered a “steak restaurant”, but we love the escargot, grilled shrimp skewer, plantains, sweet potato fries, etc.; Came here for New Year Eve with a group of 12. The service was the best we have ever had on New Years Eve. However, the duck I ordered was fatty and disappointing—I should have stuck with the shrimp. Still a great restaurant.

Taloula Mango’s (Phillipsburg on the boardwalk) – lunch on the beach; best ribs we had this trip; if you sit on the beach chairs in front of the restaurant, your “beach boy” will bring you a menu and deliver your food; NOTE: this is also called The Blue Bitch

Pineapple Pete’s (Simpson Bay) – went twice – excellent food, and owner, Pierre, really takes pride in his food and service; very attentive wait staff; Tuesdays, there is a great classic rock band there (Ronnie Santana is the guitarist), and my husband got to sit in with the band to play the drums both Tuesdays we were on island; great time if you like live music-- and I highly recommend the food as well—the escargot, onion soup, and crab stuffed grouper are awesome!!

Le Croissanterie (Marigot) – went for breakfast; excellent crepes and freshest croissants; friendly efficient service

Zee Best (Simpson Bay) – went for breakfast; excellent omelets and crepes; croissants were not as fresh and flaky as Le Croissanterie

Bamboo Bernies (Maho) – EXCELLENT food and ambience; Technically a “Japanese” Restaurant, but none of us eat Sushi and we love it here; shared a lot of different appetizers, like dumplings, spring rolls, etc, and one was better than the next; my salmon was delicious, as was the pork fried rice; appetizers come out quickly, but then there is a long wait between the appetizers and entrees.

Spiga (Grand Case) – The last two years we didn’t go to Grand Case at all, so it was nice to be back; Excellent pumpkin ravioli and beef ravioli; great food and service overall; spent some time talking to the owner who is the daughter of the original owner of Da Livio, which used to be in Phillipsburg. Lovely lady. She said her father is still around, and that he had just had dinner in her restaurant on New Years Eve (he ate a veal chop, which was always one of our favorites at Da Livio!!)

Buccaneer Beach Bar (Simpson Bay) – excellent hamburger, teriyaki chicken sandwich, and pizza; fast friendly service; went on a Friday night when they had the fireball on the beach

Friar’s Beach Café (Friars Bay) –best hamburger I had this trip—came with delicious large portion of crunchy French fries

Rosie’s (Mullet Bay Beach) – good ribs, but small portion, and Toloula Mangos were much better

Paris Bistro (Maho) – hadn’t been here in a few years; excellent escargot and profiteroles; friendly waitress

Sky Bar (Maho) -- Very cool new bar in Maho area; it is actually up on the roof almost above Bajatsu. It has a sandy floor and private cabanas and great views. They also have hookah pipes. Unfortunately, the two times we went up there, it started to rain, and we never got to stay for a drink. But I think this place will be a hit. Very interesting original concept in my opinion. Probably had a good crowd on New Years Eve.



BEACHES

Orient Beach -- Palm Beach – slightly windy day, but decided to stay; had lunch at our chairs; excellent chicken sandwich and salad; If you eat lunch in the restaurant (not just drinks), they will give you free lounge chairs for the day.

Great Bay Beach (Phillipsburg)-- Those who want to shop, shop, and the rest of us hang out on beach chairs in front of Taloula Mangos. We order lunch and beers from there and spend a very relaxing day on the beach. The new boardwalk has made it such a pleasant destination now.

Mullet Bay Beach – spent a lovely day here; calm water with decent snorkeling on the left side by the rocks; had lunch at Rosie’s

Friar’s Bay -- This was our first time here—we will be back! Extremely calm water; can take out kayaks here; beautiful cove; had no problem parking; great lunch at the Friar’s Beach Café; enjoyed our day immensely; looked like there could have been decent snorkeling, but was too lazy

Karakter (Simpson Bay by Mary’s Boon)– This was our first time here—great friendly place; thanks to all who recommended it; the chairs and umbrella are free if you buy a drink; surf was a little rough, but not as rough as Maho; lunch was fantastic—I had the grilled shrimp skewer and hubby had the chicken skewer in a peanut sauce. He said he’d come back just for lunch!

Kim Sha Beach (Simpson Bay by Buccaneer Beach Bar) – sat on this beach for a little while as hubby and daughter went out on a wave runner – extremely calm, clear water; no snorkeling spot here though

Maho Beach – this is our home beach; first two days we had a beach in front of our building. After that the rocks were exposed at the base of the steps. Very rough surf except for the first few days



FUN AND ADVENTURE

Dive Safari (Simpson Bay)– our daughter scuba dives with them every year; 2 dives got canceled due to rough seas, but she got to go out once and enjoyed it; we highly recommend the staff here

Aquamania (Simpson Bay) – rented a wave runner for a half hour—water was a little rough, but still fun

Loterie Farm Fly Zone (Pic Paradise) – always a great thrill for the adventure seekers; this is not your average zipline. There are a series of 15 or 18 sections up in the tree tops. Only about 5 or 6 are actual ziplines. The rest are more like an obstacle course in the sky, with tightropes and moving step platforms, etc. Having been on ziplines in Costa Rica, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, etc, I feel that this is the best one! However, you have to be somewhat athletic and in good health to attempt this. My husband has a bad back, and would never be able to contort himself to go under some of the cables as required. I have done this with my daughter several times, and we both love it!; they have added a new pool with cabanas, but you have to pay extra to use it; if you pay for chairs, they will give you a 20% discount on the Zipline, but that does not work the other way; in other words, we did the zipline, but still would have had to pay full price to use the pool

Carousel (Simpson Bay) – Apparently this has been here for 2 years, but we just discovered it this trip, and never heard anyone talk about it; this is an actual carousel ride which was built over the water on Simpson Bay. In the front is another round building which sells many flavors of gelato—you can taste all you like; there is also a small store that sells carousel themed items – my daughter bought a beautiful snow globe containing a carousel horse; great gelato ice cream


NEW YEARS EVE
Dinner at Bajatzu in Maho with group of 12
Fireworks at Maho – very lackluster compared to prior years, in my opinion

STAR SIGHTINGS
Juliana Marguilies – on airplane in First Class on Amer Airlines from NY; very pale perfect complexion
Maxim and Val Schmerkovsky from Dancing w/ the Stars– in Casino Royale almost every night; then I spotted Val at Coco on Orient Beach
Ted Danson – friends saw him at Marina Port Royale
Shaquille O'neill was spotted somewhere on the island


OBSERVATIONS
Weather was beautiful our entire trip, with just some spotty rain showers—no rained out days as we had last year

There were a fair number of mosquitos around (although surprisingly NONE at Loterie Farm); people had told us that we had just missed 2 weeks of rain, so that probably brought them out

Marigot Marina has more security/police than ever, but still inconsistent; the last night of our trip, there were no guards in the parking lot, but the prior 2 times we visited (day and night), there were 3-5 guards at the entrance; overall, the marina Port Royale is much quieter than in the past; while eating dinner on the marina, few people walk by, whereas it used to be hopping in the evenings

Many stores out of business, including Hermes in Marigot; Lipstick has moved across the street to a smaller space which they apparently owned; only one store in La Terasse in Maho is open now

Was great to see the abandoned buildings razed in Mullet Bay, but now there is orange fencing up along the road. Wonder how long we will have to live with that eyesore now! They didn’t seem to be doing any work in that area for the 2 weeks we were on island

The traffic for us was not too bad. We almost always went thru the lowlands from Maho to avoid the bridge and cruise ship traffic.

Sorry this is so long, but I know I always pick up one or two new restaurants or things to do from these trip reports, even after all these years of visiting the island. Overall, we had another fantastic trip. That’s about all I can remember. Post any questions here, or feel free to e-mail me privately. Already counting down to next year!!!!