Background:This was our 9th trip to St. Martin since 2004. We have previously stayed at Esmeralda (X4), Club O and
Green Cay Villas (X3). This was our first time staying at Villa Dolce Vita:
http://www.st-martin-vacation.com/Villas/Villa-DolceVita.htmlFlights:Flew American Airlines. Fifteenth time on American to the Caribbean, since 2003. Had enough points for first/business class both ways. Food was good, service was great. Even if I had to pay for it, I probably would.
People often bash American, but I guess that we have been lucky. In all of our trips, they lost one bag (we always check bags), one time. They found it and it delivered to Esmeralda (on the French side) by early morning of our 2nd day on the island. Otherwise, only minor schedule changes, moving flight times + or – 30 minutes. Never had a serious problem with them. Note: Invested in two pair of Bose Quiet Comfort Headphones a few years ago. They really do work! Cancels out the noise, reduces pressure on ears, great for listening to your iPod. Highly recommend them!
Trip Down:Tried something different this trip. Flew down to Miami (from Tampa) on Friday afternoon, June 1st.
Had dinner at Top of the Port Restaurant (
http://www.miahotel.com/top-of-the-port-restaurant.htm), which is a long-standing favorite place for dining and killing time between flights while at MIA. This trip, we also booked a room at the hotel, which like the restaurant, is located inside the airport terminal. I booked one of their large, deluxe rooms, but it was rather disappointing. Rooms were vintage 1950s. Not a modern retro-look. Rather, as if the rooms had not changed since the 50s. Low, acoustic tile ceilings, no closet at all. No iron, no ironing board. In the corridor leading to our room was a large trash can, catching the dripping water coming through the ceiling. The hotel is convenient, but over priced and very dated. I doubt that we will stay there again.
Car Rental:Used Michael, with Unity Car Rental for the ninth straight time. Why? Fantastic service, every time, always!
Good communication, good prices, good employees. What more could you ask for? Rented a Hyundai Tucson this time. Didn’t have the power of my 5.7 liter Toyota Tundra, but much better than some of the other small cars that we have tried. Check out Unity Car Rental:
http://www.unitycars.com/Villa Dolce Vita: http://www.st-martin-vacation.com/Villas/Villa-DolceVita.htmlThree years ago, we started staying at Green Cay Villas. The first two years were great. Last year, our villa was not clean and was in poor repair. Very disappointing. This led us to search for another villa, and eventually to Villa Dolce Vita. The villa is owned by a French doctor. He was very responsive and always answered our e-mails promptly. Martin, the local property manager was waiting for us to arrive, on Saturday, June 2nd. and greeted us warmly. His English is a bit broken, but he was able to communicate all that was important for us to know. He gave us a tour, explained how to operate the safe, the electric security/storm sliders, air conditioners (bedrooms only), entertainment system, phones, internet modem, etc. He also provided us with remotes to open both the driveway gate and the electric gate at the top entrance to Orient. Martin told us that Anne Marie; our housekeeper had Sundays off, but would come by on Monday morning. Before leaving, Martin provided us with his cell phone number and invited us to call, for any reason. The villa was spotlessly clean, the property had beautiful, lush landscaping, and the views were spectacular! We were both thrilled. To see some of our pics, go here and scroll down to the Villa Dolce Vita sign:
https://picasaweb.google.com/flfreedomfighter/StMartin#.Or, for an iPod video tour of the villa, go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7TPUXKn3CA&feature=youtu.be Overall, we were extremely pleased with Villa Dolce Vita. We will likely stay there for the foreseeable future.
If you are interested in staying there, you should know that we did have a few minor issues. There were a few discrepancies, between what was advertised on the website and what we received. The website says that the villa comes with “daily maid service (2 hrs) Mon – Sat”. We had maid service twice. Monday and Thursday. Not a big issue, except…, the website also says that the villa comes with a dishwasher. True enough, but our housekeeper, Anne Marie, made it very clear that the dishwasher was for her use only! The combination of no daily maid service, and no use of the dishwasher, left my lovely wife the job of hand washing dishes each day.
Also, the website advertises a gas BBQ grill. We had none. I e-mailed the owner about this issue, and he had Martin deliver a charcoal grill for our use, the next morning. Martin included some charcoal, charcoal lighter and matches with the grill. It seems that the gas grill broke shortly before our arrival. I will make sure that we have a clear understanding with the owner regarding these issues before we make a reservation for next year.
All in all, Villa Dolce Vita is a fabulous place to stay. Up high on the hill, we had a constant breeze, nearly zero mosquitoes, and a view that we never grew tired of.
Weather:Maybe the best in our 9 trips. No rain. Nice, stiff breeze, but not so windy as to get sandblasted. Seaweed was not a problem on Orient Beach, during the 8 days of our stay.
Food:Enjoyed breakfast each morning at our villa, watching the sun rise. Awesome!
Used our charcoal grill and cooked at the villa 3 nights for dinner.
Spiga: It’s a tradition. We always eat here our first night on the island. Always good, always enjoyable.
Skip Jacks: Our first time trying this restaurant. Delicious fish! We’ll be back.
Ti Bouchon: Last two trips, best meal on the island! Momo (the owner), is a very entertaining host. Add this restaurant to your “must do” list.
Village Pizza: Had read about their “loaded baked potato pizza” on TTOL. Had to try it. Very good.
L’Astrolabe: Another first for us. Food paled in comparison with other establishments. Poor service. Water ran dry. Would have had a second glass of wine, if I could have flagged down a server. Oh well. Now we know.
Palm Beach: We had excellent lunches here twice during our trip. Probably the best place to eat on Orient Beach. Free chairs and umbrella with lunch.
Coco Beach: Had lunch here three times. My wife loves, craves and can’t get enough of their ultra-thin-crust, tomato, mozzarella and basil pizza. She says it is the best in the world. I can’t argue with her. It is exceptionable!
Andy and Cheryl’s: Had lunch here two or three times. Good food, good service. Cheryl is a doll. Andy? Well, he is Andy!
Toppers: Another tradition. Always our last meal on the island. We stop here on the way to the airport. Back-in to a parking place up front, across from the bar, near the high-top tables. You will be sitting 15 feet from your car, with a full, unobstructed view. Relax. Order Shrimp Ka-bobs. Have a drink. Rehash your time in paradise.
Back to America/Global Entry/Trusted Traveler Program:Ahhhh…, this is what I hate about our government!
First, a little background info. I have had a valid concealed weapons permit in my home state of Florida since they first came out with them. I own a legally registered machine gun. I own a class III, legally registered, pistol gripped, short barreled shotgun. What does this mean? It means that I have been checked out by Florida Dept of Law Enforcement, FBI, BATF and who knows how many other governmental agencies. But, I didn’t stop there. Recently, my wife and I submitted to background checks, drove to Miami for face-to-face interviews, were photographed, and had all fingers on both hands fingerprinted in order to become members of the “Trusted Traveler” and “Global Entry” programs. Benefits of membership allegedly include expedited security screenings, as in, no removing belts, shoes, laptops or baggies w/liquids or jells. Other alleged benefits include, swiping your passport a kiosk, rather than waiting in immigration lines. Now, for the reality. There is NO expedited security screening at Tampa, Miami or in St. Martin, except the priority access that comes with 1st. class tickets. There is NO expedited security screening anywhere in the US for international flights (now they tell me). So for all the time, money and effort we put forth, the sole advantage of becoming “trusted travelers” and “global entry members” is that we get to swipe our passports at a kiosk, rather than waiting in the immigration line. So, here is the drill. You find the kiosk, swipe your passport, look into the camera and place fingers from both hands on the scanners. The machine takes your picture, reads your fingerprints, confirms your identity, spits out a receipt and you are on your merry way to baggage claim (or home, or gate for connecting flight). Well…, it worked perfect for my wife. Me? I’ll let you read the text of an on-line complaint that I filed with US Boarder Protection:
First, you must know that I have taken at least 16 international trips during the past 8 - 10 years, and NEVER had any problems. Next, you must know that both I and my wife, Debbie, recently were accepted into both your Trusted Traveler Program and your Global Entry Program. Yesterday, June 10th, 2012, we were reentering the US after a flight from St Martin. For the 1st time, we proceeded to use the Global Entry kiosks provided. My wife had no problem. My kiosk printed a receipt with a big, black X on it. I proceeded to the front of the line at immigration as directed by one of your officers. As the immigration officer studied his computer screen, I asked him if it showed the problem that caused me to get a receipt with an X on it. He said no, but that I would need to follow him to another room. He took me to what I will call a detention room, filled with 50 or more persons who were also being denied immediate entry into the US. I was told to take a seat & wait for my name to be called. I asked another of your officers (a lady who was getting luggage claim check numbers from those of us detained) what was going on & why was I stuck here in this room. She replied, "I have no idea. I'm just collecting baggage numbers". During this time my wife was waiting for me at the baggage claim area, having no idea why I was being delayed or when, or if, I would show up. After another hour or so, my name was called, and one of your officers told me to follow him down to baggage claim, stating that they would probably need to x-ray or search all of my luggage. I told him that I was a member of the Trusted Traveler and Global Entry programs and asked again why I was being subjected to all this nonsense. He told me, "I can't answer that".
At baggage claim, we found my wife with all of our baggage already loaded on a cart. He led us both to another room near baggage claim and told us to take a seat and wait some more. Finally, another officer came in to talk to us. He said that somebody else with my name and date of birth was wanted and because of that, I/we were delayed, and I was detained for about two hours! YOU PEOPLE took my photo AND fingerprints from BOTH hands at the interview for Trusted Traveler/Global Entry. In spite of you having this info in your database, YOU CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHO I AM??????????? YOU DETAIN ME WITHOUT REASON, WITHOUT EXPLAINATION???? WHY??? ARE YOU COMPLETE IDIOTS?? I WANT THIS RESOLVED, NOW!!
Please tell me, WHAT FREAKING GOOD IS YOUR TRUSTED TRAVELER/GLOBAL ENTRY PROGRAM? IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN DO?
Summary:Awesome vacation! Villa Dolce Vita rocks. Beautiful weather, great food, very relaxing.
Trusted Traveler/Global Entry: Even with your photo and fingerprints of 8 fingers, they won’t be able to identify you. Don’t waste your time, money and effort!
