other options?

while we wait for Club O to rebuild I'm interested in hearing from other Club O lovers like us, about other options in the Southern Caribbean (Bonair, Curacao, Aruba) that didn't suffer much if any, damage that also have a c/o beach or resort. Have any of you experienced any of these islands and found any nice c/o resorts or beaches? thanks

Couples Sans Souci, Jamacia. It is all-inclusive with a separate AN pool and beach.

If you stay at the Renaissance in Aruba, you have access to a 40 acre private island & 1/2 is adults only, tops optional. I'm afraid pants have to stay on. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

Darn those pants

We rebooked for couples san souci in Jamaica. Of course we were already booked for December but now we will also go in April.

I am praying Club Orient will be back for April 2019

Why is this posted on SXM Board?????????????

Irina-- People are just talking about where else to go now. Not trying to enforce too many things right now.

Hi Carol,
We have 3 villas booked at BSV in May..... do you think that is to soon??? We are unable to do anything with our flights at this point. But I would be perfectly happy staying right on the property doing a bunch of nothing!! We want to support them any way we can!!!

If you will stay onsite then wait for owners to get there and access damage. They will report back with a timeline as soon as they can. We were booked along with 5 other couples for Oct. Some also had reservations for April. Oct cancelled but we wait on April.

This was on their face book:
BLESSED news! GREAT NEWS! Beachside Villas will be up and running by November 1, 2017. And should have the first villas ready to go in 2 weeks.

Exciting to see 1 weeks progress! Yes a long way to go but happy things happening.

Wow, amazing!!! Thanks for posting!!!

We're also Club Orient fans, and were scheduled to go there in Nov. It's where we're happiest. Instead, we have booked 10 days at The Natural in Curacao - going in March. We just did a search (Bing) of c/o in Caribbean, and read nothing but positive reviews. No official c/o beach, but possibly an unofficial one.

We just booked for Curaçao in place of our November SXM trip.

I checked out their website and tried to get more information about the resort. Without any first hand knowledge the website for The Natural makes it appear that it may cater to lifestyle guests, which my wife and I are definitely not part of. I'm leaning toward Couples San Souci in April for our first C/O venture.

Honestly, for April, I wouldn't book somewhere else YET... If all you want is a c/o beach and don't have to stay at Club O, the BEACH there should be clean by April. And there will be SOME lodgings available on the island. I think it's ambitious, but Beachside Villas says they will be open by November 1. And a lot of other places say they will be available by January 1. Maybe actually DO bring a bunch of food, etc., but by April, the experience will not be anywhere near the same, but if all you want is the best c/o beach on the planet, I wouldn't book somewhere else yet.. I doubt there will be many (if any) gourmet restaurants available and there still will be a lot of damage evident everywhere. If you want a regular vacation experience as you have in the past, it won't be available in April, but you will be able to enjoy the beach...

Mary's Boon has targeted October 30th to reopen.

OK, thanks for that info. Once we get electric back at home, I will begin trying to compile a list of what is supposed to reopen and when.

I just hope Maria stays far enough away to not do any MORE damage..

Hi Kamehamaha,
Sent you a pm.

Before booking anything this year you might want to wait till hurricane season is over. As there seems to be an active hurricane season this year.

Wendell

We did not book at The Natural in Curacao. We just wanted our beach vacation and have booked at the Avila Resort for 10 days. Will definitely miss SXM this year, but don't want to vacation there with all the sad destruction and without too many resources (restaurants, supermarkets, rentals cars, etc). Even though they may need our tourist dollars, I'm not convinced that using up whatever precious resources they manage to get back over the next few months is the right thing to do. Hopefully will get back there soon.

Curacao sits outside the hurricane zone, so hopefully we will be alright in that regard.

You will like Curacao. No, it is not SXM but not a bad alternative. Avila is a nice hotel.

Exactly true, not SXM but a really nice Island

No indifference here but I assume as us, many who visit the island are of limited time off and means and while we would like to support the islands we won't be returning until there is a whole vacation experience... beach, lodging and food. When you only have 7-10 days a year to travel you want to have the best time you can which is why we have traveled to St Martin so frequently...it's the complete package. Then of course there are all the life long friends we have meet who also return the same time year after year. It's hard not returning for perhaps years to come.

Having spent 6 months in New Orleans as part of the post Katrina recovery effort I can honestly say it's going to be years considering the destruction was so much worse. I hope we are surprised . Yes there will be pockets of recovery and if we had many weeks to vacation a year we would give it a go. Until then I assume many including us will not be returning for a while. So at best 2019 but most likely not until 2020 till we return, So options are the Costa del Sol in Spain (Vera Playa) expect Nov through March appears to be very beach weather friendly. The cost of accommodations (rental apartment is $60-90 a night far better then Club O and makes the cost the same when you add in the extra cost of airfare. There are even indoor heated pool and outdoor pools. So will give that a try and spread our wings a bit. Will surely miss St Martin but this give us a push to experience more of the world.

You are right of course. We absolutely love St Martin, have been going for 20 years and have many friends on the island.

We very much want to support our friends, but we are getting older, don't have unlimited funds, but do need a place to get away to and relax.

So, as painful as it might be to us, for a while we will have to seek out other alternatives.

We just hope that "a while" is not a long time.

Not quite sure where you gleaned the information that The Natural may be a "lifestyle" resort. It is actually the opposite. My husband and I do not partake in any "lifestyle" resorts. We did a lot of research on the resort before booking. They get five star reviews and it's mentioned numerous places that they, in fact, do not allow any type of "bachelor parties" or that sort of thing. Their regulations/rules are clearly listed on their email reply to us after we booked. Just wanted to clear up any confusion.

Not sure where to post and probably already mentioned somewhere, but, Toppers is supposedly already open again.

Thanks for clearing up any confusion on my part.

also in jamaica is couples tower isle resort, they have a private island which is mandatory fully nude for couples only, they serve lunch on the island, have a full bar and a nice pool, its takes about 5 min to shuttle to the island from the mainland and you can get a shuttle any time

Can you go without pants there???

We booked at the same place. There's a beach just a few minutes away by car. And apparently there are three beaches in an area of Curacao northwest of The Natural Curacao called "The San Juan beaches" -- Playa Chiki, Playa Manzalina and Shon Mosa, where sunbathing bare was "fine and customary" "as long as no families were around." And of course, there's the nice pool at The Natural. There's a fourth, but its not really a beach to lay out on due to all the coral.

Thanks, David. I don't know when you're going, but it sounds as if you've been there before.

No.

We didn't get that impression of The Natural either and just booked a bungalow for November. It might make a nice alternative. We did Couples years ago when we first started going to the Caribbean and didn't want to do it again - too many people, too much structure and rules.

Bequia is so remote, it also has some nude sunbathing ...

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/f...a-best-location

Don't forget Aruba. Like Curacao & Bonaire, it's not in the hurricane zone. We spend 3 weeks there almost every year and just came back 2 weeks ago. Great beaches, terrific choice of restaurants, excellent choice of places to stay. Dutch charm and friendliness. A bit too Americanized but still a good choice.

Wondering where you enjoy best in Aruba? Restaurants, or do you cook? Are there grocery stores?
Favorite restaurant? Lighthouse?

Always hated the metered pouring of drinks at bars on "7 Mile" in Aruba"
Did you experience that?

Bequia is so remote, it also has some nude sunbathing ...

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/f...a-best-location [/quote]

Nudity is prohibited by law in St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
Hope Bay is so isolated you might get away with it, but like most of the former British islands, it's very conservative in that respect.

Got a call from one of Topper's best friends on the 14th and it was not opened but they were trying to restore it to the point where they could at least have hot dogs and hamburgers and open the bar. Telephone service is very erratic.

We have 2 timeshares there, Marriott Surf Club & Renaissance Ocean Suites. We traded something else for a 3rd week at Marriott Ocean Club. We usually eat in for breakfast & lunch and use the grills for some dinners at the Marriott properties since they have grills. Ling & Sons is the BEST grocery store we've found....good selection, custom meats & seafood. Some Fav restaurants are Driftwood (go fishing with them, too), West Deck, Barney's. La Vista had a great buffet. We've been to all the usual fancy restaurants....just too tired after a day in the sun.

Aruba is not really a c/o destination, which is what the original post was asking for..

No, but then we like to drink our own pours around the pool. Love the new Hopi Bon beer by Balashi!

We will be heading back to Desire Pearl in Mexico, as I don't think Club O will be ready for over night visitors until sometime in the 3rd quarter of 2018 - this will be our 6th visit to a Desire resort & we find the service to be top notch.

Actually, its our first time there, and our first time in Curacao, for that matter, but I researched my butt off on some travel websites, and I got the info from some of the reviewers at those sites. Hope you have an awesome trip !!! We can't wait !!!