TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Long, belated trip report: February 2019 (with notes from September 2018)

I wanted to drop in and provide a trip report as a thank you, even though I'm not much of a poster. I've lurked TTOL since planning my first trip to SXM in 2013 and have found the boards very helpful. And perhaps I'm an oddball since I love the French side but am not into Club O or nudity (but love that it's available if I might one day feel like it), so take my report with a grain of salt if need be.
My friends and I meet up at a tropical location annually, and St. Martin has become our default favorite choice, although we do try to mix it up every few years (fortunately we had already picked Martinique for our February 2018 trip before Irma hit). Orient Bay has become our favorite since the villas have private pools and accommodations to our liking that are both affordable and walkable to the beach, grocery and restaurants. I also came back with my husband in September 2018 for our anniversary, and although I didn't do a trip report for that one, I will add some notes from that trip as well.

Flights and rental car: AA via CLT was uneventful, but we were bummed that our flight got changed to a later one. Hopefully it will be restored, though it doesn't appear to be the case for 2020. I would have asked for a refund to fly Delta instead (which we used in September and prefer when possible), but had already arranged to meet one friend in Charlotte the night before. The airport Hampton Inn was convenient, although a fire alarm started our day much earlier than we had anticipated. And during the evacuation we ran into a few other groups who were also heading to SXM on our flight.
Upon arrival, Lesley from Kenny's car rental was out there waiting, glad to see he was among a crowd. Lots of improvement in the airport from September to February. Except for much longer lines to clear immigration, but I prefer to view that as a positive, since it means more people are coming back. Even so, my friends had their luggage and were already heading out to the parking lot as I was coming to get them upon taking care of paperwork and getting the key. I had wanted to rent from Kenny's for some time. September was the first trip he had cars available, and I've learned to get a reservation in asap. Life's too short to wait for shuttle vans and experience the cf at the rental car agencies.

Villa: We've rented various units in Villa Mangareva in the past, and this is our first time in Villa Soualiga section. This villa has become our favorite since the lovely garden has an optimal sun/shade ratio for enjoying the deck and pool mid-day. But we'd gladly go back to any of our past villas (except for one which was a bit dirty).

Breakfast: We enjoy pastries and coffee by the pool in the morning. Even though the bakery at Yellow sub is open, the selection isn't what it was pre-Irma. Good Morning Cafe had our favorite almond and chocolate almond croissants. We also enjoyed the pastries from the bakery by Super U that we picked up for our first morning.

Groceries: Super U is our favorite and one of our first stops on the island, fortunately there was a 1:1 dollar/euro for cash rate. I do not recall that in September. We also took advantage of the new Le Petit Casino to pick up baguettes and supplement the rest of our trip. Ocean Star was the only in-town-option in September, and we made a point to stop there again as well. In September I also checked out the new Leader Price in Hope Estates and found the selection surprisingly disappointing.

Wine: Sancerre was very trendy and tasty: a much better value, especially at Super U, than what I could find back in the states. By the glass at the Place du Village restaurants it was essentially the same price as the other whites, but the quality seemed so much better. I'm not a wine expert by any means, but I'm glad I ventured from the comfort of my usual Pinot Grigio or Rose.

Beach: Of course Bikini was the only option in September aside from the chairs in the former club O section, and it was fine (we had never gone pre-Irma), though a bit overpriced. The person who checked us into our villa also had advised us to not go to Bikini since there were allegedly management issues. Both Kontiki and Kakao were great. We went back to Kontiki a 2nd time since the water was a bit less rough on that part of the beach. The food and service were good at both (although I'm a bit biased towards Kontiki's fries). But we still miss LaPlaya and Aloha.

Dining: Cote Plage is still my favorite in Place du Village. The first night was a bit of a letdown (I don't recall so much Italian influence on the menu in the past?), but the second time was as great as I remembered. I was crushed that I couldn't eat there in September since it was closed to host Macron's visit. Their seafood tartare (Wahoo in the past, Tuna this year) is what makes me come back for more.
For the first time we discovered La Voile Blanche, and Yvette's, and both have been added to our must visit list. I don't know how we missed La Voile Blanche, but we did have to make an effort to (finally) find Yvettes in Orleans.
Sao Asian Factory was also enjoyable, but we're not sure if we like it better than when it was Antoine's.
Le Piment was also good as always.
Yellow sub was better than I remember, regarding both food and service.
There appeared to be a new restaurant opening in March (I've already forgotten the name) on the corner by Cote Plage (where BO and the greek restaurant used to be) that looked interesting, I'd love to hear if anyone has tried it.
My friends love Le Taitu and Sky's the limit, and we went to both. They're fine. But if venturing to Mt Vernon, I much prefer Sol e Luna's prix fixe lunch (where I dined with my husband for our anniversary and it was lovely) and I would love to try a nice restaurant at Grand Case, but I'll just have do that when I go back again with my husband. Someday.
I also tried and liked BO pizza in September but we didn't have enough meals left to try it in February. It's a great option if you want to stay in, but walking to the village in the evening for dinner and drinks is something we really enjoy. I'm embarrassed by how long it took me to realize that BO stood for Baie Orientale as opposed to just someone's name.
Other adventures:
We went to Marigot and marina royale, the new Sarafina's was closing as we arrived. I just discovered Marina Royale for the first time in September and we tried Be Kool. Not crazy about the name but the food, atmosphere, and service was nice. And it was nice to see how the shops and restaurants were coming back in that section. More importantly, our favorite store, Pygmees, was re-opened nearby and better than ever.
It was great to see that Tuesdays in Grand Case were back. The main street looked so depressing when I was there in September. Blue Martini looked like a fun place to hang, it was packed when we went by. Love bar used to be a favorite, it was sad to see it still in disrepair.
We ventured into Phillpsburg one day and did Chesterfields (it was OK) for lunch and drinks and people watching at Blue Bitch (fun!), but as glad as we are that the Dutch side keeps the dollars flowing with 1:1 euro/dollar cash exchange rates, it's just not our thing.
We also discovered the MaDouDou rum shop, and saw that Anse Marcel was again showing signs of life.
We were going to try Pinel, but poolside gravity was stronger than sand gravity that day.

Bottom line? Some favorites are back, and we also discovered new favorites in the process. We're counting the days until we can return again.

Nice report. Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us! Villas on Orient are so relaxing it is sometimes hard to leave.

Thanks for the report.

Thanks for the nice report. Sounds very relaxing.

Great trip report, thanks for posting!! Getting me excited for my first ever trip to SXM.

Thanks for the report. You indicated that you weren't much of a poster, but this was really good! You should do it more often. You and your friends have done a lot since 2013, and that's nice to see. Nothing wrong for many people who choose one favorite location on St. Martin and stay there for the entire duration of their visit, but there's so much to explore and new adventures to take every time you visit. My wife and I vow to visit two new beaches and eat at two different restaurants every time come to SXM. Only 26 beaches remaining!

Thanks for all the positive feedback, I know how much I've appreciated reading other reports. And SammyM, your plan is similar to what we try to do: Hit our favorites, but also make sure we try a few new things. It's why we keep coming back and no other island has yet to measure up to Saint Martin/Sint Maarten, although we do try to keep an open mind.

Love to read reports, Thank you.