TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Day 3 & 4 La Playa Hotel

Thank you all for the advice on the BIAFIN. will look for some at the Pharmacy in Marigot tomorrow when we go to the market.
Sad news, reading that La Piment is closed for two months. Maybe next time.

Day 3 ended up being a pool day. we stayed under the cabana and played games, read and generally stayed out of the sun, There are some really large Iguanas on the property. one bigger than a adult Cat. we came across it at the pool ,it looked us over and then scurried off under the shrubbery,

We had dinner that night at La Favela. My wife had a Lobster,i had a Tuna steak, Both were quite delicious. We teased my daughter and said she should try the BBQ Octopus. She surprised us both and ordered it. It came out and you could clearly see it Was a tentacle of an Octopus, She tried it and said it was very tender and extremely delicious. My wife let her try some Lobster to see if she liked it more., Nope. she stated her Octopus was 10 times better than the lobster,Wife wife tried a piece of Octopus- she too agreed it was way better. At this point i could not help but try a piece myself. my daughter reluctantly agreed to share a piece with me- she did not want any of my fish.

Let me tell you, we are from the South and BBQ is a part of our lives. I tasted the BBQ Octopus and i to agreed that it was fantastic- tender,& moist with that great grilled BBQ flavor we know and love, This was a piece of meat that could proudly stand in with the regular meats at any BBQ restaurant in the deep south,

If this secret got out the South would be buying all the Octopus to be found. i could already see Farm raised Octopus on the menu ,We all decided when we visited La Favela again we would get the BBQ Octopus.

Dessert was the customary Chocolate Lava cake for the ladies and 2 scoops of Coconut ice cream for me, Really wonder why Coconut Ice cream is not found in the grocery stores back home?

Day 4
We made it a beach day-heavy Sunscreen and shirts. Worked out great. Stayed on the beach and played in the water, read in the shade.Until noon. the my daughter and i went up the beach toward the South end and stopped just shy of Pedros. Le String and Leshandras(Sp?) were both closed- apparently more vacationing shop owners. The Orange fever was open- we stopped in for Ice cream ( strawberry for me and Oreo for the daughter). Then got drinks for the walk back, The exchange rate at Orange was 1 to 1, every where else it has been Euro to Dollars- with the 1 to 1.2 rate so Paying in US is always a higher number.

The Orange Fever beach boy helped me with another French lesson.Helped me get my "how much does it cost" out. i can say it but perhaps not spell it correctly.

The amount of people on the beach still seemed light. Daughter suggested we count them on the way back to La Playa Hotel,
there were approximately 160 people between Pedro's empty building and the la Playa Umbrellas where we were. i could see further up the beach another 10 -15 people before the big rock pile,. So excluding the people at the Perch and whoever was in front of the Blue buildings at the north end of the beach there were Under 200 people on Orient Beach at noon on a Monday in August.

They really need the cruisers back. Although it is Nice to get immediate attention when you walk into a bar ,i would be willing to wait my turn if it meant that things were back to normal.

After our people counting we went to the pool for a few hours and then got ready for Dinner We went to Le P;tit Bistro. My wife had a bucket of Mussels,daughter a pork filet and i had some grilled Mahi. All in all another great meal. The bucket of Mussels was huge my wife was still working on it for quite a while while Abigail and i played UNO. She Finally finished and we asked the manager for la carte de dessert. He smiled and seemed genuinely pleased that i had asked in passable French,

The girls again got the Chocolate lava cake with Real vanilla ice cream. Very good. I got a raspberry tiramisu with sliced strawberries in it. It was one of the best desserts i have had, The meal at Le P;tit Bistro was probably the best we have had- everything was top notch, The staff ,the food and the atmosphere. We all agreed it was very good and the best dinner so far( Abigail still added a disclaimer for her BBQ Octopus).

Day 5 is starting out wet. we shall see....

Thanks for another couple days' report! Where are Le Petit Bistro and La Favela? Neither one of them rings a bell. I may need to just take your word regarding the grilled octopus!

Yes, today probably is not going to be much of a beach day..

Looks like your having a great time. I had the BBQ Octopus at Anse Marcel which was absolutely the best. I'm sure your daughters was the same. The waiter/beach boy JC is great at orange fever. One of our favorites at Orient.

Loving your trip reports.
Not sure about your hometown grocery store but see if they have the Talenti Gelato brand. Here are some that might interest you: Coconut Chocolate Cookie, Coconut Almond Chocolate and Caribbean Coconut Gelato. They are extremely yummy!

Le String and Leandra are closed on Mondays. I think Le String is closing 8/15 for a month. Not sure about Leandra.

le petit bistro is in orient village near le piment. Sebastian was owner. Great service & food.

Jeepers--thanks. I didn't remember that one. What about La Favela? Is that in Orient Village also?

I think La Favela is a new place (or a renamed place) behind Le Telegraphe in Orient Village. I believe 'favela' means 'ghetto' in french, but I hope not.

We're enjoying your reports. We use to stay a lot on the French side. No reason we're not these days, I love the vibe there. But as I was saying to a friend of mine, that we found it best in many occasions to carry Euro's for the reason you mentioned. The rates and exchange can be higher. Funny thing at the old airport, they had the best rate at the time for exchange rates! REALLY BBQ Octopus??? I guess, will try, coming from a Southerner!! LOL!!!

Sammy,
Favela is a brazilian word that means slums. Learned it in Rio.
Cheers
irina

Thanks for clarifying! So, why would they name a restaurant after that?! I could think of some other better choices!