La Plantation

Anyone have experience with this hotel?

I stayed there for a few days this past February and had a studio unit near the pool. The place seemed quite nice although the grounds seemed very spread out. I don't know how the units in the rear are. They offered a nice breakfast buffet. I would stay there for a few more days when I return but, unfortunately, they are apparently closed for the month of September when I will return to the island.

The hotel is a few blocks from Orient beach and the walk wasn't too bad.

We ate there in October when they had first reopened and many of the items on the menu were not offered the evening we were there. We asked for Pina
Coladas but they had no coconut. Still had a good meal and the atmosphere with the blue lighting in really neat. We ate there once again 3 weeks ago and had a great meal. Not many customers the evening we ate there, but we have seen plenty of cars parked across the street from the place other evenings. Give it a try if you are nearby. Parking is easy and the neighborhood is very safe in the evening. Our waitress both evenings was Indiana who happened to have two different color eyes and that was the first thing she noticed about me. We had a great evening talking with her.

I have been traveled to Saint Martin over 60 times in the last 20 years. I love Orient beach and have stayed at Le Plantation the last 12 visits. It is not a 5-star hotel, it is in a very quiet area. The hotel provides you with a free breakfast and free chairs and umbrellas at the 5 stars beach bars. You are close to Orient Village restaurants and food stores. The rooms have a refrigerator and stove if you want to eat in. Staff is excellent.
There is not much night life after dark, like Maho and Simpson Bay so all depends what are you are looking for on your vacation.
I always use Jim Ruos of Caribbean Island Travel Service to reserve my stay at the hotel.

That's a nice inclusion. However just to note, at least at Kakao (KKÔ) it would be second or third row charis.

60 times in the last 20 years! You've got me beat, Speebs. Never stayed at La Plantation for whatever reason, so thank you for your input regarding this hotel. We usually look for something a bit closer to the beach (such as Palm Court or Alamanda), but it really isn't that far away. We may just have to give this place a try next time around. With Club O. gone I had several people on the c/o beach ask me recently about places to stay (even though I was just a visitor, too) for the future so I'll have to add this one to the list.

We’ve always stayed at Alamanda but I’m told they are not going to rebuild or open again.

They've been repairing Alamanda, and it will re-open but not as a hotel. When we visited in March there were workmen all over this place. There's another forum topic out there about this that I just responded to earlier.