<br>We have just returned from our 16th trip to St. Martin, and offer the following update to our previous posting on WhereToStay.com… The new posting includes our 2002 restaurant and hotel recommendations, and a few other updates… St. Martin is still the best….<br><br>*******<br><br>We have been to many islands in the Caribbean, and St. Martin, FWI, is the finest. The people are wonderful, the ambiance international, the beaches are nice, and the food is perfect.<br><br>The Beaches…. The beautiful beaches offer a potpourri of activities and satisfy a range of interests… you can choose very quite beaches, or find ones with lots of activities. There are beaches where you can show off a new bathing suit, and others where you can just be proud of the one the Lord gave you. We prefer the quite South end of Orient Beach or Baie Rouge.<br><br>The Restaurants… You’ll see so many great restaurants on the French side. And because they’re French, the food is prepared and served to perfection… Marigot has a fantastic marina that will remind you of St. Tropez… Gran Case remains one of the greatest places on earth for fine dining, with so many great chefs. More recently, Orient Beach has an array of beach front bars, restaurants and chair rentals reminiscent of Caan, Nice, Antibe, etc… To simplify the first night of your vacation, just go to the marina in Marigot, look around, and choose a restaurant. You won’t need to speak French or have a pocketful of Euros; a smile and a credit card will do just fine. On the second night, try Gran Cas, and wander the main street, looking into the restaurants until you find just what you are looking for -- and you will. Orient Beach restaurants are best for lunch, with open atmospheres and a real laid-back, beachy environment. <br><br>Here are our personal restaurant recommendations from our 2002 trip…<br><br>At the harbor in Marigot… La Main La Pate, BDLG, and Le Galion, for fun al fresco lunch or dinner… You’ll want to make reservations at Tropicana, as it is both fabulous and very popular… Le Chanteclair has become very popular and will prepare a great meal for you, but is weak on both ambiance and service…<br><br>In Gran Cas… L’Auberge Gourmande, Le Pressoir, Le Cottage and L’Escapade are all fantastic choices… Great recipes… Excellent service… L’Escapade boasts a new owner and new chef this year, with great ideas and a lot of enthusiasm for their guests… You must try it!<br><br>On the road to Mt. Vernon… You’ll find Le Tattoo a pleasant restaurant with a quite atmosphere that will remind you of Tahiti, offering a nice menu and very friendly service….<br><br>At Orient Beach… For a real adventure, try Papagayo… It’s at the nude resort… It’s not what you think… You’ll have a nice lunch… You don’t have to be naked… The servers and cooks will not be naked…. Just some of the diners… You do have to be polite…. Don’t bring your cameras… You’ll talk about it for a long time… You might even decide you like it… <br><br>The Best Pizza…. Le Galleon…<br><br>The Best Dessert… L’Auberge Gourmande’s Trois Chocolate… We had this 3 times in 2 weeks…<br><br>The Best Meals… They were all fantastic…But if I had to choose… L’Auberge Gourmande, Le Pressoir, and Tropicana…<br><br>Don’t waste your time or money…. Our only bad experience this year was a restaurant called La Vie En Rose in Marigot… very poor service and lack-luster meals – at the highest prices we paid anywhere this year -- $20 for appetizers, $35 for entrées – much higher than any of the other restaurants mentioned above… we ate there a few years ago, and didn’t like it then either… It wasn’t the high price that bothered us, it was the food and service that were just so mediocre.<br><br>Cars… You’ll want a car, as many of the things you’ll want to do are spread around the island…. You can reserve on in advance, or just go from booth to booth at the airport and negotiate a good deal…<br><br>Hotels… Our choice for the last 4 years has been the Orient Bay Hotel, a delightful villa/hotel, priced moderately, nicely appointed, in a quite area, 2 pools, with the very nicest staff you’ll ever find! They even arranged for our car. We’ll be staying there again, and again… The photos on WhereToStay.com are very accurate.<br><br>The Dutch Side… Okay, I’ll try to be fair this year… If you enjoy drinking and loud parties, gambling and crowds, you’ll probably like the Dutch side… It does have nice shopping, but offers little in the way of fine dining (restaurants yes, fine dining, no). We did hear that a new restaurant, Citrus, is very nice…. Aviation enthusiasts might enjoy the sound of jets taking off and landing just a few feet over their hotel or restaurant. Twice, we stayed in hotels on the Dutch side, but were treated so poorly, particularly at the Passagran, that we vowed not to stay on the Dutch side again. If you must, try the Oyster Pond area.<br><br>Safety… I’ve always felt safe in St. Martin…. But I have heard of people having problems with purses, or having their car broken into… As with travel anywhere in the world today, you should always be vigilant, i.e. you should not be out alone at night, lock you car, etc…<br><br>Your Comments…. As always, feel free to post your comments on our thoughts about St. Martin…. And, offer any recommendation that you have for us for 2003…<br><br>For 2003, we’ll be off to St. Martin, the French side, for another 2 weeks… our 176h trip… probably late January and early February… we can’t wait!<br><br>Joe & Tony<br><br>
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