Glad to read of the parking here. The former Privilage Hotel was our very first stay on SXM - long gone. I remember the Hotel Keep - Bernard was a wonderful man. We stopped making the trek over the hill when the hotel closed and there has been lots of turn over at the other resorts there...seems like almost annually one turns over. We will make an effort to visit the beach and restaurant in Feb when we visit.

Thank you, Pat. Your directions are great and I will use them in tandem with Google Earth to commit the route to memory. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you, Mike. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />

We have a friend in the hotel business and he said there are several places where "turnover" is constant and Ansel Marcel is one of them because on SXM most don't want to be that isolated or to go AI. I believe the Meridian closed after that fiasco with the road that went un repaired for ages leaving the hotel with no guests for quite awhile. Raddison didn't make a profit either so in came RIU. Time will tell if another comes along.

This beach and restaurant has eluded us. It sounds wonderful.

I googled it and can't seem to find a website with their menu and wine list.

Anyone had any lucK with this?

It appears they choose to not put the menu on their website. While I am not a fan of that the reviews are so outstanding we are going even if we have to take out a second on our house!

Seriously, as long as the value is there, we are good. We only get 8 days each trip so every moment must be used to the maximum. The trip lengths are going to get extended when the tuitions stop in two years.

This is their website, but it doesn't appear to have a menu yet.

The good thing about this place - or one of the many good things - is you can go and spend a lovely and comfortable day on the beach and throw in a lovely meal with or without wines, etc., without having to deal with night driving and all the other stuff. And it can be a full day or merely a lunch stop but personally speaking, I'd do the former. And if it does turn into what you might consider an expensive day, eat in that night or just have a pizza or something very light if you're so inclined.

My one warning, though, is if you're looking for rough waters and waves to play in, you probably won't enjoy this beach all that much. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

I'm a little confused with the Radison and RUI labels. One of the newspaper articles about the terrorist attack in Mali said the hotel was a Radison Blue but the picture with the article had a Radison RUI sign on it. Are they connected in some way?

I'm confused
The thread started about the beach bar, but Jazzgirl's link is to Anse Marcel Beach Resort
I think this was - in 2014 - La Domaine? - Air Transat was selling packages in 2014 from Canada.
We visited the beach bar in 2014, it was very new, not quite finished and our visit was not the best experience. Also looked at the hotel for a Quebec friend and it wasn't looking so good at that time.
So has the beach bar now somehow connected with a re opening of the hotel?
That might also explain how and why you can drive to the beach bar?
J&B

John and Bev,

To clarify - maybe.

Once upon a time, in the land of Oz.....sorry, wrong story.

Once upon a time the main resort out there was La (Le?) Meridian. LaDomaine and L'Habitation were also there but possibly at the top of the hill and Meridian was at sea level. It had an incredible check-in area and was quite lovely but very remote at the time, there being almost nothing else up that hill and in that area.

A few years ago L' Meridian became the Radisson Bleu or perhaps, just the Radisson to most Americans, and again, this was the beach level property.

Just a couple of years later it became the RIU AI resort. It is at their gatehouse where you need to hang a left and head on to the Restaurant at Anse Marcel, for want of a better name to call it.

It's a very pleasant place to spend a day and to the best of my information, it is a totally independent property with no connection to RIU. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

I hate to comment on Pat's comment, I'm a raw rookie by comparison!! I am not suggesting the beach bar is part of the RUI.
Two beachfront hotels at Anse Marcel, the Rui / Radisson / ? to the east and to the west what in 2014 was I think called Le Domaine [de Lonvilliers?].
The beach resto being discussed was in front of Le Domaine and was not completely finished when we visited late Jan? 2014. At that time the beach resto had nothing to do with Le Domaine. I walked around Le Domaine as a french speaking friend had asked me to check it out for a possible vacation - it was tired at the time.
My comment was in reference to the web link which refered to the Anse Marcel Beach Resort and the resto appears part of the resort? so wondering if it is the hotel resto or maybe just an association that works for both of them

J&B

I was told or heard that what was de Lonvilliers was divided up. Some units are now owned, some are rented, and some can be reserved through the Beach Restaurant. If I remember correctly, there's a separate door on the non-beach side of the restaurant for check-in to the rooms.

I have not seen the rooms that can be rented through the Beach Restaurant so can't comment on them. But since the check-in for the rooms is on the back side of the restaurant, it does appear there is some association.

Restaurant is definitely completely finished now and is wonderful.

The Lonvilliers are timeshares (at least some are), and belong to the Armed Forces Vacation Club. There is one for rent at $365 for a week in November on the club site right now.

Just returned from two weeks in SXM. We decided to explore "new places", not just our old favorites. After 10 trips over last 18 years, we finally made it to Anse Marcel at the Ansel Marcel Beach Resort. The beach bar and dinning is very nice, we will return one our next trip for sure. To call this a beach bar is really misleading as it is so nice. Two notes: 1)they do not do 1-1 eruo to usd, their exchange rate is 1.15 - 1, so use a credit card to avoid the high exchange rate. 2) the beach and the resort dining is very French and highly visited by the local French reside residents, if you go on the weekend I suggest you make reservations for lunch and beach chairs.