First off I want to thank everyone on this board for all of your helpful discussion prior to my trip to St. Martin. The information that I got here definitely enhanced my first, but certainly not last, trip to the island.<br><br>Ok, now for the trip report…<br><br>The travelers were me, my husband Scott, my 2 year-old son Sage, our friends Heather and Michael and their 2 year-old Cole, and our babysitter Allison. We split the cost of bringing Allison and it was WELL worth it.<br><br>Flights<br>We flew US Airways out of Seattle with stops in Pittsburgh and Philly. I booked the flights through www.bestfares.com $754 roundtrip. Flights were all uneventful and on time both there and back.<br><br>Rental Car<br>We got our rental car through Fortuno, which I found on the web site for the Sea Breeze Hotel. We got a van for $360 for the week. This was considerably less than any other quote I found on the Internet. Picking it up turned out to be a bit slow. We took a taxi to the Sea Breeze ($20) and the guy at the desk said that he would call Fortuno and they would bring the van over. We got into our rooms and waited for an hour or so, then Scott and Michael went down to see if it was there yet. Someone had evidently forgotten that we wanted the van, so one of the guys from the hotel drove them to the Fortuno office (not far), and they picked up the van.<br><br>Drop off went without a hitch. I called Dwayne from Fortuno, and arranged to meet him at the airport. He and a friend were there at 3:45 on the dot and they took the van from us.<br><br>Hotels<br>The Sea Breeze Hotel in the Cay Hill area between Simpson Bay and Phillipsburg. All I can say is that I was fortunate that everyone in our group was very easy going. I booked this hotel over the Internet prior to finding TTOL. I was basically looking for something really cheap ($85 + tax) for Friday night, because we couldn’t check into the The Towers until Saturday (unless we wanted to fork out an additional $300 or so for a single night). The neighborhood was iffy to say the least and there was no hot water, but the rooms were clean and we were basically only there for about 12 hours anyway. <br><br>The Towers at Mullet Bay. This is a great place to stay. Our friends own there and we each had a one-bedroom unit with a fold out couch. It was very clean and generally a comfortable place to hang out. Full kitchen and all the rooms have balconies. We had a view of Mullet Beach and Saba in the distance. Heather and Michael overlooked the pool and Simpson Bay. It’s very close to the Maho district and Cupecoy is just around the corner. The pool was nice with a bar that served burgers and sandwiches.<br><br>The Alizea in French Cul-de-Sac. I always like to save the best for last. Scott and I (and Sage) stayed here for our last two nights on the island. We left The Towers on Saturday and moved to the Alizea for Sat. night and Sun. night. We LOVED this place. We felt comfortable the minute we walked in, mostly due to one of the nicest people we met on the island, Cedric. He is a manager there and is just an all around nice guy, we even got to meet his son Elliot on Sunday. What a cutie! The pool and bar area have a fantastic view of Orient Beach and St. Barths (as did our room). This is a small, very homey feeling hotel. We would definitely like to stay there again on our next trip to the island. <br><br>A quick aside as to how we ended up there. A lady that my husband works with stays there with her husband every year. They actually own a time-share on the island, but like the Alizea so much that they stay there instead. They have even been to one of Contessa’s pahtys there (last year). Robin and Lyle were there during our stay so we met them at Papagayos for drinks one day. They were aware that we were still looking for a place to stay our last two nights. They insisted that we come check out the Alizea and as soon as I walked up the steps, I handed Cedric my credit card and asked if we could pleeeeeze stay there on Sat and Sun. Suffice it to say we’re hooked and I’ve already started trying to talk my mother into going with us next year.<br><br><br>Beaches<br><br>Cupecoy – The first beach we visited and possibly my favorite of the trip. Very laid back, not crowded. There is a small lolo set up there selling drinks and BBQ. Had my top off (first time) within minutes of settling in. Lots of nudes there, but it seems totally normal, and no one looks sideways at you for wearing clothes.<br><br>Orient – We didn’t get to enjoy Orient too much because we were in a rush to meet friends at Papagayos. We were there on Sunday and it seemed pretty crowded. We also walked the length the morning before we left, and that was great, very peaceful in the morning. Any amenity you could possibly want can be found on this beach. Lots of food, activities, etc.<br><br>Le Galion- If you have young children, this place is perfect. No surf to speak of and they can walk out a long ways and still be in water up to their bellies. Couple of restaurant/bars there.<br><br>Baie Longue/Long Beach – In the running for my favorite. It was almost deserted, probably because there are NO amenities here. You can walk down to the far end to La Semana and they will cheerfully charge you $5 for a small glass of Coke (you don’t even get a whole can) and $13 for a sandwich. The surf was big and there are rocks out in the water (at least where I tried to swim). However, if you bring your own supplies, this is a fabulous place to sit and watch the surf or take a long walk.<br><br>Baie Rouge – Great place. There are two restaurants on the beach and we liked them both. Fairly big surf here and it got pretty crowded in the afternoon.<br><br>Friar’s Bay – Great beach for the kids, not too much surf and if you eat at Friar’s Bay Beach Club you get to use their chairs for free. Not too crowded either.<br><br>Restaurants/Bars<br>The Greenhouse (Phillipsburg)– Great selection of dishes. We had several appetizers that were all good. We all had Mahi in one form or another and it was REALLY good. The best guavaberry colada that I had on the island. Oh, and the hostess here is one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.<br><br>Sunset Beach Bar (airport) – Great party atmosphere, great drinks. We went several times to watch the planes land. Took our tops off and got free drinks!<br><br>The Boathouse (Simpson Bay) – Loved the crabcakes and the seafood kabob. Get the rice with your meal, it is FABULOUS.<br><br>Le St. Germain (Marigot) – Yes they do have REALLY good crepes, but the service was slow. Really slow. They weren’t busy, I think there were maybe 4 or 5 other tables of diners and at least 2 other waitresses. Slow service is not normally something that I get heartburn over, but when you’re eating a meal with a couple of toddlers that are obviously getting restless, I’d think that the wait staff would want to get you the hell out of there! This is the main reason that we had so little time to spend on Orient. We decided to stop in for crepes on our way over, and an hour and a half later we were finally on our way. Even so, the crepes were great.<br><br>Papagayos (Orient Beach/Club O) – We only had drinks here, but the atmosphere is great, and if you’ve never sat in a restaurant with a bunch of nude people, its worth the trip!<br><br>Spartaca (Simpson Bay) – Okay we didn’t actually eat here because WE COULDN’T FIND IT! I read about it in something that I printed off the Internet and I had a map. I called, made reservations and left the map in the room. No big deal, I thought, we’ll just ask someone. We asked at 4 different places including the information booth by The Boathouse and no one had a clue where this place was! We finally gave up after 45 minutes worth of searching.<br><br>Antione’s or Antonio’s (Phillipsburg) – Sorry I can’t remember which name is right. What I do know is that if they have the Puff with scallops on special, you HAVE to get it. All 4 of us pretty much agreed that this was the single BEST thing that we ate on the island. It was scallops baked inside a puff pastry with some kind of sweet buttery sauce. OH MY!!!! It was heavenly. Everything else we had was great too.<br><br>Hot Tomatoes (Simpson Bay) - Best pizza I’ve had in years, and I consider myself something of a pizza connoisseur. Try the Prickly Pear Piggie Pie, YUM! They also have really good appetizers and good BBC’s (Bailey Banana Colada’s). This was the only restaurant that we actually went to more than once.<br><br>La Vie en Rose (Marigot) – Had a really good sandwich here on the day we went shopping in Marigot. Nice atmosphere, sitting on the sidewalk watching the people go by.<br><br>Mamma Mias (Maho district) – Purported to have really good pizza, but Hot Tomatoes’ was better. However the gnocchi was really good, and the little appetizer that they bring out when you’re seated is divine! It was little pieces of bread with some kind of garlic/diced tomato mixture spread on it. I could have eaten myself sick on this stuff.<br><br>Il Nettuno (Grand Case) – This place had it all, great atmosphere (right on the water), great food, great service. We loved it. Crab cakes for an appetizer, veal special for the main, and the hard chocolate mouse for dessert. Yummy! Mateo on guitar for some entertainment after the meal. Quite enjoyable.<br><br>Ms. B’s (Dawn Beach) – Best chicken and ribs I’ve ever had. Frozen lemonade hit the spot! <br><br>Talk of the Town (Grand Case) – Great place for a cheap, good meal! Get the rice and beans for one of your sides and don’t forget the Johnny cakes! Thanks to Kathy and Scott for clueing us in on this place.<br><br>Friar’s Bay Beach Club (Friar’s Bay) – Get the bacon cheeseburger! These were huge and delicious! Free chairs and umbrellas when you eat there.<br><br>Boo Boo Jams (Orient Beach) – Live music on Sundays, but its really LOUD. The Creole platter was good, as was the spicy chicken and there are a couple of slides and swings for the kids to play on.<br><br>French Bakery (Simpson Bay across from Hot Tomatoes) – Get the almond chocolate croissant. I ate numerous ch. croissants from various bakeries on the island and this was without a doubt my favorite. We also stopped here for desserts a couple of times.<br><br>As you can tell, I was pretty happy with all of the food that we had on the island. I don’t think we had a bad meal the entire time. The one thing that bothered me was that most restaurants on the Dutch side added a 15% service charge to your check. Most of the time the service warranted a 15% tip anyway, but the BIG problem that I had with it was that when I would ask the wait staff if the tip was included (which I could see for myself from the bill), they would respond by saying that the service charge wasn’t for THEM specifically, it was shared by everyone. So basically even with the service charge they were expecting you to tip them on top of that. I typically just wrote ‘included’ on the tip space of the credit card, but the whole thing was confusing and frustrating to me. <br><br>Various Activities<br><br>Rhino Riders (Simpson Bay) – This was a blast! We had a fairly calm day so the Rhino’s didn’t buck too hard, but I can imagine that it is quite a wild ride when the seas are rough. The snorkeling at Creole Rock wasn’t too great (compared to other places I’ve snorkeled), but just riding out there on the Rhino Riders is fun, and seeing Margot and Grand Case from the ocean side is neat. We also rode by all the huge yachts in Simpson Bay on our way back.<br><br>Loterie Farms (near Grand Case) – This is a really nice hike and the grounds are beautiful. There is a restaurant and bar, too. We took the guided tour ($25 pp) which I did not mind paying because you can see all the work they are doing, trying to improve the place. Evelyn was our guide and she was fairly knowledgeable about the history and ecology of the area. The top 1/3 of the hike is fairly steep so I’d say you would want to be in good shape to do it comfortably. You get a great view of Anguilla and beyond at the top.<br><br>TTOL Party on Feb 25th (Mary’s Boon) – ummmm wellll… we had already started partying before we made it to the TTOL party, then Dicky handed me something deadly in a coconut. So I definitely remember meeting him, and I talked to Deepti for awhile. I’m fairly certain that I met someone from Canada, but it all gets a little fuzzy after that. We didn’t end up going to dinner with everyone, because we were looking to do some dancing (we went to Le Pub). Anyway I was glad to meet a few of you and I’m sure I enjoyed it at the time, I just don’t remember it very well!<br><br>One other TTOL meeting. Some of you may have seen my post that if you ran into 2 couples with 2 toddlers on the beach, it was probably me. Well sure enough, on Cupecoy on our 2nd day on the island, someone walks up to me and says, ‘Are you Ameless?’ It was Looney and he saw the boys and figured it had to be me. What a great resource this is!!!<br><br><br>Well that ended up being a little long, but I got so much help from this board that I wanted to make sure I returned the favor. I should have my pictures up on my web page in the next couple of days, and I will post the link to them for those of you that are interested. <br><br>Thanks again to those of you that helped me out before my trip!<br><br>