Just returned from 17 great nights in St Maarten and thought I would offer a few unbiased reflections on our visit. Been visiting St Maarten for some 30 years and it's always great returning to reconnect with the island and reconnect with some long-time good SXM friends.

So, we flew from Miami and enjoyed the usual excellent car rental service with Winston Blythe through blythetourcarrental@hotmail.com. Winston is a great resource for private island tours, too. We stayed at Beachside villas and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. In fact, we offered to bring our housekeeper, Beverly home with us. Such a wonderful person as are all the folks at BSV. The staff at Beachside Villas is second-to-none. The seas were rough throughout our visit limiting swimming but staying on the beach was so relaxing. The pool at BSV is a great spot to watch planes come and go from PJIA.

Like you all, we have our favorites: Tortuga Restaurant at the Royal Islander, Chesterfields in Phillipsburg, Green House on Simpson Bay as well as Buccaneer Beach Bar. Great food and not overly pricey. Travelled around the island and was happy to see some normalcy since our last visit post-Irma. Too much traffic and you have to watch for the wild scooter drivers. Love Rosies on Mullet Bay for chicken, ribs, burgers and out-of-the-world blended frozen drinks at the new add-on bar. The staff and, of course Rosie herself, are some of the nicest helpful folks I have ever known.

Mornings are for ZeeBest breakfasts and croissants. ZeeBest has fantastic sandwiches made-to-order at the airport road location. The St Maarten Yacht Club was "ok" for breakfast. Ventured in the new (for us) area including Fat Tony's and a Spaghetti joint up near the medical school but found them to be not well staffed and uninviting. Would never miss an opportunity of hanging out at Sunset Beach Bar, but that location, too, has become run down and overrun with cruise visitors during the day. SSBB no longer a relaxing, fun place to go, but the new Sand Bar Restaurant adjacent to the Morgan Resort was nice and the bar food menu decent. Nice place to catch a sunset, as well.

Stopped in to check out the Morgan Resort (formerly Alegria) and was impressed with what has been done with the pool and the interior public areas. Being a former Millenium, Caravanserai, Alegria time share owner... cast aside... still makes me both sad and angry. But the property is pretty attractive in it's current state and we noticed how welcoming the Morgan employees were.

Dropped by Mary's Boon but the dog doo on the front steps was pretty much a turn off. Karakters was pretty worn ,too. St Maarten will always be a part of our hearts and happily still reflects the moniker, The Friendly Island. Until next time...

Interesting perspective and impressions.

We found BSV a few years before we lost our Towers timeshare and it was love at first stay. I guess that’s why we were so easily able to accept the loss. You are so right about the staff - they are ALL wonderful and I’m glad you seemingly enjoyed it as much as we do. There’s something magical about being lulled to sleep by the sounds of the waves rolling in and out all night long.

Our next visit is but short weeks away and I can’t wait. Sorry Fat Tony’s and Spaghetti House weren’t up your alley but we can’t agree on everything. We fantasize over Rosie’s ribs all winter long. Another point of agreement along with Tortuga and Chesterfields. So many great places and so little time to enjoy them all.

Thanks for sharing your trip and wishing you more good island time soon come.

Sounds like a wonderful time! Yes, NOTHING beats BSV and there lovely staff!!!! Sorry about Fat Tony's, yes, it can be a little crazy with the order process. But we loved Spaghetti house, and I'm a snob when it comes to eating out Italian!! Do try it again!!! We were 7 of us, we called ahead, the owner had our table ready. Everything was to perfection! Even the limoncello shots!! LOL!!

What are your BSV dates???

Yes, Beachside Villas are the best! We been staying there since 1997, way before all you “newcomers” found them. So here some history for you.
I remember big iguana pen against the fence where manager’s Betty husband Ray fed them. He used to push his liquor cart around offering guests a drink. Previous pool had it’s steps on a gazebo side. There was a volleyball net next to the pool, it was all sand there then and you could use the door next to shed by the fence to go out to it. All lounges were put away every evening by the guard under the porches, there was an empty space under all of them. Then the hurricane Lenny came and destroyed it all, only to be rebuilt again by Yolanda and Telly, first the pool building and then few years later the first one. The managers came and gone but most of the stuff stayed the same. Yolanda and Telly would frequent the place often and always stay in #6 where Yolanda had her own office. She would make her daily inspection rounds through out the property stopping to talk to the guests. The maids use to fret her coming as she was very demanding of them and the place would be spotless prior to their arrival. Telly used to inspect everything for mechanical issues. Also there were always fresh flowers in a vase on the dining table upon your arrival and Beachside Villas calendar with staff pictures hanging in the main bedroom. The observation platform was a lot closer to the airport fence, you could touch it and lean over it to look left and right. The road to BSV was obsoletely horrendous before they repaved all of the Beacon Hill.
So there is some history for you guys.
Pat, are you guys coming in November? We are coming on the 7th so maybe our pass will cross again and we can socialize little more this time.
Luda

Loved the Beachside Villas history...thanks very much!

Luda,

Going to attempt to send you a private message.

We are one of those relative BSV newcomers only discovering them six or seven years ago but we’ve managed two stays a year almost every year since then. We never had the pleasure of meeting Telly or Yolanda but I’ve only heard the very best about both of them. We booked our first trip through Yolanda and she couldn’t have been any nicer to deal with but Tracy has been great, too.

Our island history dates back to November, 1973 and next year will mark fifty years of at least one annual trip for us each of those fifty. We first stayed at Mullet Bay Resort and then purchased timeshare at the Towers at MB which we enjoyed for almost thirty years. Over many of those fifty years we booked a second trip each year usually trying ‘new to us’ places. After hearing and reading so many positive comments we finally tried BSV and it was love at first stay.

Love the ease of booking, the staff, the proximity to both the ocean and the airplanes and the group of really nice people we’ve met there over the years. I don’t think it can get much better than that.

I will be at BSV on Nov 8. Looking forward to see you again.

I can't wait to meet you in November! (We usually go April and November)

There are a few of us that have been going to BSV for a long time, but you beat us.

There is also a group that was there during the hurricane, and have some incredible memories!
You probably know them and we may have met you over the years.

Your post was very interesting---BSV fans are growing!!!!!

I'm happy we will see you again, Elizabeth!

I won't be there, but glad you will be going back to SXM, Elizabeth. Enjoy.

I think we met this past November, we were there from November 13th to December 4th. Anyway looking forward to meeting you again.
Luda

It sure looks like we going to have a nice crowd in November. Looking forward to hanging out at the pool with everybody exchanging dining experiences and recommendations and watching the planes come and go. Can’t wait!

I really loved your trip report - thanks for sharing!

We are also orphans of Caravanserai/Alegria so we've been trying out other places to stay over the years. We have yet to get to BSV but it's on our list.

I wanted to mention that we have spent the last few years at Mary's Boon. Probably about 4 trips so far and we also ate there a lot when we were at Caravanserai. The dog mess you found on the stairs would have been a one time thing. When we stayed there in November, I noticed that the two resident dogs are starting to get really old. So, it might have been a "senior dog" issue or a visiting dog (I believe they are welcome on the beach if their people are eating there and enjoying the beach chairs). Their grounds staff are amazing and always doing something on the property so I hope your experience didn't turn you off too much from Mary's Boon - one of the island's charming boutique hotels!