TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin El Zafrio in foreclosure

This was posted on SXM or Bust Facebook page.
"Was just down by El Zafrio all locked up, security guard said they are in foreclosure the restaurant and boutique hotel. It was a cute hidden gem."

Thanks, Scuba. Jumped right on the phone with my cc company.

Got my payments resolved with my credit card company re El Zafiro. Now I just need to find a place to stay for those first three nights. What else can possibly go wrong?!.

Kim and Ken offered us their condo but logistics don’t work that well for us right now.

Pat, you can stay with us for three nights.

If true, yikes!

Sadly, Carol, it appears to be true.

Leona,

Thank you and that is very sweet of you and Andre but I’ve pretty much resolved things. I hope!! Kim and Ken offered us their condo at Cupecoy Beach Club. Still looking at a few other options but I think that’s what we’re gonna’ do……..

So unfortunate but it’s a tough business, hopefully not to many deposits will be lost but if it’s Finacial issue probably so. A few other better options on Simpson Bay anyhow, Mary’s Boon Beach Hotel and restaurant never disappoints and is wonderful place if you can get a booking and also I think Azure is a nice guest house property.

Sad.....really enjoyed starting the day with the wonderful ambiance and breakfast that they offered.

Yes, pat, if you can get a first floor room, Mary's Boon would be a nice option.

Since our vacation is scheduled for next month and we have never stayed in this area before, we had hoped that El Zafiro would be our "go to" restaurant. We never dined there in 35 years so we won't know what we missed but we will find another local restaurant I am sure.

Tom,
Dining at EZB is a non-issue at this point. The restaurant drew a host of varied opinions and while we always enjoyed the food, many others had different experiences. For ambience it was a delightful dinner venue but the menu was fairly limited compared to so many of the alternative island eateries. I always liked their salads for lunch and we particularly enjoyed breakfasts with the lovely Erika but sadly, no more.
You might consider Mary’s Boon or if closer to Maho, Sublime upstairs at Maho and just down from Jax. We totally enjoy it but you have to know there’s no ocean view. We usually dine outside overlooking the Maho strip.

OMG......just saw this. We had reservations there for a couple of days in March before our move to LaPlage. Wife on phone now with cc company to try to get credit back. Thanks Scuba for the heads up. Looks like we will be looking for alternative real quickly. Damn.

[quote=EdB Looks like we will be looking for alternative real quickly. Damn. [/quote]

Have you ever stayed at Horny Toad Guest House? Might be an alternative for you.


LINK to Horny Toad

thanks for the info...but we decided to go back to mary's boon for the two nights.

I’m bummed. The food was never great there and maybe that led to their downfall but the location was great and parking was easy and secure. Going to miss all the people I got to know there over the years.

Agree , was a nice and quiet alternative to Karacter with same lounge/ umbrella offerings.

Thanks, Pat
As stated we will need to learn about our options. We are staying at Baywatch on Beacon Hill this year. When we stayed at Belair for so many years we could dine there, next door @ Divi or Mark's Place, Greenhouse, or Chesterfields regularly. I suppose we will test the adage that "you are never too old to learn something new". Last time we ate at Mary's Boon we were inundated with dogs, who were eager to share our meal. A bit of a downer.
T.

To us The Boon Beach Bar and Restaurant at Mary's Boon Hotel has always been a lot more fun and better food than anyplace on Simpson Bay and yes island dogs to tend play along that entire beach. I don't mind dogs and never been a problem while enjoying the ocean views so I think it just part of the Caribbean fun and experience. I think I even seen few cats around there too.

Tom,

I don’t particularly enjoy eating in a lounge chair on the beach so I’ve never experienced doggies around me while dining, but I have had to deal with blowing sand on a few occasions.
I’ve had incredibly good meals at the Boon and I’ve also had a few not so good ones but that can happen anywhere, too.
I particularly like eating lunch on the beach at a picnic table at Rosie’s at Mullet and have met some awesome peeps there over the years.
You’re going to love all the different dinner ops around Simpson, Mullet and Maho Bays. I will reiterate, do try Sublime. Some of our more memorable meals at Sublime remind me of dinners at Antoine’s back in the day but without the ocean as a backdrop.

This is Lisa, Tom's wife. I had a wonderful meal with my son years ago at a restaurant I thought was called, Sublime, on Front Street. Is this the one you mentioned but it has moved?

Lisa,

It might be or then again, maybe not. I honestly don’t know.

I was aware of Sublime originally opening in the old Kissing Fish location and after the demise of that property it reopened on one of the side streets in the Simpson Bay area but it was definitely NOT a setting that most would seek out. The food was delicious and reasonably priced for its location but the current spot is far superior in every way. We park in the Maho carpark on the upper level and walk through to Sublime. They will comp your parking ticket.

Thank you, Pat. You are so thoughtful.

We have stayed there 3 times and enjoyed the location , the rooms and the hospitality and friendly ness of the hotel and restaurant staff. I always just called to make my reservations very easy to deal with , we were there this past May for 9 days and love every day just walk out the door and you are on the beach.

Very sorry to hear it is in foreclosure, hopefully it will reopen a lot of potential

Dick--if you haven't stayed at Beachside Villas, you should. It has everything that El Z had (other than a restaurant) and much more.

It's not in foreclosure. Evicted for non payment of rent.

El Zafiro was one of the first rental properties to reopen after Irma. We stayed there two weeks in May of 2018. Really enjoyed it and the free daily breakfast and restaurant/bar on-site was a real plus. Hate to hear it is no longer.

Yes, from my understanding, they didn't own the real estate, just the hotel and restaurant. I personally don't get the concept of building a hotel on real estate you don't own, but it's apparently fairly common in SXM.

With not paying rent they could afford to give free breakfast.

I wish the owners the best, they had to endure both Irma and Covid, pretty rough times to get through. They started with a building that needed a lot of work, and then rebuild portions after Irma. I felt they did a very good job with what they had, we enjoyed out stays there including the breakfast that was included in the rate.

We really wanted the restaurant to work out. But it seemed to be mismanaged poorly!! I had one of the worst breakfast there and got charged for my tea! The girls from BSVN had bad service as well as not the best lunch and dropping some heavy coin!! They never had anyone to serve drinks on the new observation deck that was really cool!! It must have been tough to stay a float during these times. It's a great location. I wish the new owners well!!

All property along Simpson Bay Beach is Government 30 or 60 years long lease. Nothing is owned outright. We only stayed at Zafrio and ate there once, nothing special really very simple no real hotel amenities. I also heard that it was not managed very well, and a lot of people lost room deposits etc and was in debt to the landlord a huge amount. A Gov auction for the furniture and equip end of this month and the property is for lease for $20,000.00 month with a years deposit and lots of use restrictions or you can buy it for $12 million US , per information sent to island realtors last week from the owner. I doubt anything will happened there for a long long time. nice property but maybe better used for single family condo's as its not located that great for restaurant or guest house. Still have good options on Simpson Bay for restaurant or Hotel.

Trusting your info is spot on, as it usually is, I can’t imagine how they could possibly generate that kind of monthly revenue there, not to mention all the other expenses and in the end, this little thing called profit that all businesses hope to generate.

Depending on what one considers important to their vacation needs, it’s a tough spot. Plenty of parking but pretty crummy access given the oft-times flooded access road. When the sargassum is plentiful around the island, sadly, too much of it ends up in that corner/end of the beach.

With regard to the restaurant, I’ve never been disappointed but I’m not too picky about meals either. The servers have all been lovely to us but we mostly do breakfast and salad lunches there and they’ve all been enjoyed. I would imagine, given the out of the way location well off the beaten track, it’s got to be tough to keep a good kitchen/wait staff there when there are so many other viable restaurant locations on the island.

I for one will definitely miss EZB and feel sad to learn of it’s demise.

Yeah, they definitely do get more than their share of seaweed there. I guess it's based on the prevailing winds. As far as the road being under water, I think it varies by the season. Usually we don't have much of a problem in June. I personally was never fond of the restaurant. Too many GREAT restaurants on SXM, for a fairly mediocre one to survive for long. Of course I have heard that Jessica (the owner) is very difficult to deal with also.

Always drive close to the casino side if there is a storm or just a lot of water. Supposedly a homeowner pumps out the ditch and area but he was busy!!

What I heard is that the owner of the Morgan pumps it out, if the water is high.

Either way - bizarre that this goes on - fix it!!! Kind of like Mullet!

Perhaps Topper will buy it as it is close to the land he owns there.

That's a great Idea!! IMHO, from what I have read, his new place isn't all that!!! IMHO, this could be a much better fit for him!!!

David--dear god no! Don't want to hear the sounds of karaoke wafting over from there!

I thought the location was great. Big wide beach. Lots of room between chairs. Ample parking. But they could never get the food thing right and it wasn’t cheap.

I personally can’t stand Toppers - new or old. And disgusted as to what he did (or was going to do) in Beacon Hill - if it even got finished. Never mind the “rumors” over a murder situation years ago.

Exactly!!!! Love the location - but food was spotty at best. Loved it when it was Tahoma as well. Expensive to run a guest house also. Should have stayed as a beach bar offering dinner some nights.

Kim--there's no way that someone could survive at that location with just a beach bar. Just not enough traffic, especially at night. Whenever we would drive by there at night, there would be no cars there.

If managed properly, if a lively social media account was set up word would
Get out. Live music, a nice watering hole. It’s probably one of a few places that actually has parking.

I still think the hotel would have to be rented, in order to make money there. $20,000/month just for rent, without any other expenses?

Unless there is an adjustment in the rental price I think this building will be vacant for some time.

Agreed! That’s a really tough nut to come up with based on what we’ve witnessed as far as typical nights dinner crowd.

Personally speaking, I think Kim has the right idea. It could be a great location but would require much more effort than we ever saw being put forth. It’s got all the requirements as far as setting, space, parking and a very picturesque dining room but it needed a consistent chef and more promotion with a carrot to draw the right patrons.

I don't mean for a restaurant, Carol. I was thinking for condos as the land next door is where he is building condos for sale. Thet seem to be slow to get started there.

Not sure whether that would be financially feasible or not, considering they would have to knock down what's there?

I thought Toppers purchased property in Burgeaux Bay. I know the land is cleared and it’s Not even close to ElZafiro. Is he also building the units on the same property (or next to) ElZafiro and I missed that. I thought that was the land owners not toppers

Maybe something like below could be built on that location!

I'd be interested in something on the 90th floor. Maybe even take 2 floors.

Yes, he is going to build condos next to El Zafiro, but nothing is happening there yet. Nothing happens quickly on the island.😊

It's funny, they have had bands there a few times, I could hear them warming up when I stood on the beach. But once on the deck. Wasn't loud at all. But you're right!! He'd make it obnoxiously loud! And yes Kim, I was never a fan of him, before or after "said" murder investigation!