Thought I would drop a note about an oustanding trip to SXM.

We stayed at L'Hoste. In the past we stayed on the Dutch side and being just steps from Orient Beach was fantastic. We spent the first day on the free chairs (with the room) at LaPlaya, but hiked down to Club O for the rest of our OB days - worth the $18. BBC's at the Perch were outstanding - especially during happy hour, which came at the perfect time of day for us.

Our Captain's Tour on the TikoTiko was cancelled, due to lack of signups, but we did the run to Tintamarre on Wednesday with a great group from Ottowa, Toronto, Virgina, Tucson, Maine and Sam from New York, who took pictures at lunch and provided us copies later in the week. Good food, good drink and great company. I hiked in to the airstrip and saw a few of the local residents (goats) and we had a wild peacock begging for food under our umbrellas on the beach.

Spent one day at Happy Bay and enjoyed Danny's shrimp, chicken and ribs. Next time we will look for the shorter route instead of hiking from Friars Bay, but I forgot to take the directions.

Parted with a little money at the casinos and picked up a few "needed items" on Front Street. About 10 years ago I bought my favorite SXM shirt in Margot and it was getting a bit faded. Went back to the same store and they still carried the same button up shirts, so I was a happy camper.

L'Hoste was a great stay. We had a second floor room with a partial ocean view, over the LaPlaya roof. The room was clean, the air worked and the free morning breakfast was more than filling. The walk-through to Orient Village made for easy shopping/eatin when we were too lazy to go out.

Great food every time we went out and revisited creme brulle at Captain Olivers and it still ranks as the one with which we compare all others. It was nice to have it live up to our memories.

Crime was never a problem and we may have ended up being over cautious, after reading all the concerns. We stayed out very late, but never in unlit or lonely places.

All and all the perfect trip! Made new friends, loved the time and hated to leave. We will likely hit some other islands before we return, but we will be back.

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