This was our 12th trip in 10 years and we had probably our best visit for some time. I’ll try and keep this brief and keep to the salient points.

Travel
US Air out of PVD through CLT. Both ways were uneventful. This was our first experience out of PVD ( usually flew out of BDL or JFK ) – very good experience – will do it again. CLT is by far the best connection hub in my mind, easy transit and very efficient immigration clearance on the return. US Air take their hits at times but this was a great return trip.

Weather
We’ve been to SXM in May a couple of times before and for the first 4-5 days I’ve never known it to be so hot and humid. In talking with locals they expressed concern because the weather patterns had been so unusual it may not bode well for the hurricane season. The weather broke in the middle of our stay, the clouds dissipated somewhat, the wind picked up and the humidity dropped – and oh by the way the bug count dropped considerably. Paradise returned.

Accommodation
After a break of a few years we returned to L’Hoste and were not disappointed. Service was excellent, rooms clean, spacious and wonderful location. We got a very good rate through cheapcaribbean.com ( good service there by the way ) and, once you figure in the included breakfast and free use of loungers at Le Playa, it was an excellent deal.
A special mention should be made of the help we received when my wife had a dental emergency – I will elaborate further below.

Beaches and activities.
We stayed on Orient most days either at Le Playa or Club O.
As has been reported there is plenty of sand and due to the fact we were entering the quiet season not so much cruise ship traffic.

Spent a day at Pinel at the yellow beach which was very relaxing. I did take a trek
( note – not a stroll ) to the beaches on the other side of the island but quite honestly, unless you are driven to be naked, don’t bother. The other beaches are far from pristine and have little to offer IMHO.

Tiko Tiko – a must for every trip – we had a full boat of great people – sail, drink, beach, drink, swim, eat, drink, swim, beach ( and oh by the way drink ), mud, sail. You all know the drill – we had yet another great time.

Restaurants / night life

Breakfast – continental style at the hotels Madras restaurant – perfectly adequate for most days but did venture to Baywatch a couple of times which of course was great as always. In addition to closing for 2-3 weeks in June for kitchen renovations Cheryl and Andy will be closing in September for vacation.

Lunch – simple tastes for lunch – Baquettes avec jambon/fromage et beaucoup de beure or cheese/pate and crackers from Tap 5

Dinner
L’Auberge Gourmand - **** - $$$$ -Excellent as always – food, service, ambiance etc – our favorite.
Bistro Caribe - **** - $$$$ - ditto
Cote Plage - **** - $$$ - new member to our first team – we ate there 3 times – further comments below
Lal’s Indian Cuisine - **** - $ - inexpensive excellent Indian food in basic bar setting
The Wharf - *** - $$$ -food was good and service OK – the entertainment was a little overpowering for early evening dining for our tastes
Poulet D’Orleans - **** - $$ - after many years of meaning to go there we finally did and were not disappointed – relaxed atmosphere, home style service, excellent foo and well priced. This has also been promoted to the first team.
Wajang Doll - * - $$$ - After reading many good reports of this restaurant I was left very disappointed. We had the multiple dish sampler style ( 17 dishes or something like that ). The food was way over cooked, the sauces far too overpowering ( and I don’t mean spicy hot – I like it that way ), they didn’t seem to be able to keep it warm and the service was efficient but not very friendly. Just to note - this is not an uninformed opinion as I have had Indonesian food many times ( including in Holland and Indonesia ) and this did not stack up well at all.
Sunset Beach Bar – *** - $$ - CheeseBurger and Cheesy fries good as always. I’ve read a lot of criticism about SSBB recently. Yes they have expanded and it is not the same as the old days but we still enjoyed it and had no problem with the service.


Other points of note:

Security
Gendarmes were much more active and visible this trip. We did witness a couple of roadblocks but were not stopped ourselves. We also saw activity renovating the guard post on the OB entrance and it seemed to be manned much more often. One incident worth mentioning is that there was a confrontation between a 1st floor guest at L’Hoste and somebody lurking around the rear of the rooms. Local security guards got involved but the lurker disappeared. Importantly nobody was hurt. I would like to add that this is not just a recent occurrence. Some 4/5 years ago when we first stayed at Palm Court we were told to keep the storm shutter down when not in the room to deter break in.

Nudity
Just some observations. We spent many days at Le Playa and normally set ourselves at the far end towards Waikiki. We were nude most days there and were not disturbed by any of the staff even though they were serving us drinks etc. On a couple of days there were as many as 8-10 of us in that area. On busy cruise ship days and Sundays we tended to go off to CO. Walking the beach didn’t seem to be a problem but again on heavy cruise ship days you do have to be a die hard to venture out. Topless with thong bottoms for ladies was very prevalent everywhere.

Medical emergency
During our visit my wife had some painful tooth problems. I talked with the desk and they efficiently hooked us up with a dentist. Because the dentist was not open for an hour or so they consulted with the hospital and gave my wife medication from their emergency supply that helped greatly during the wait time. My commendation to all the staff involved. The dentist was excellent ( Dr. Dominique Ribaud in the French Quarter )
$ 25 office visit and $ 35 for two lots of drugs ( one of which he described as expensive )

The Square
The construction of the village square in OB is an example of good progress. I think it has been well thought out and we spent many pleasant evenings ( mainly at Cote Plage ) sitting out side listening to the music or watching people play Boules. Great atmosphere.
The addition of La Chappelle gives additional variety for evening entertainment. As the name suggests it is modeled like a chapel, air conditioned, dance music, good bar and food. This is a late night hangout to the wee hours. By the way Patrick from Oasis now works there.

Oasis
Talking about the Oasis Bar ( for those that don’t know this is the tiki bar on the beach in front of Bikini ). After the departure of Patrick it became focused on fruit/health drinks, a long way from the afternoon / evening impromptu parties hosted by Patrick. Well it seems to be heading back to what it was – I was pleased to chat with Richard the new barman – he is a great guy, loves music, knows how to work a crowd and seems set to get some events going there – good luck to him.

As I said a great trip and I’m planning our next

Tim & Ann