TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin La Playa restaurant on Orient

We received an email from Bruno this morning which states that Bruno, along with Thomas from Astrolabe, have purchased La Playa restaurant on Orient. How exciting, to have Bruno's food, on Orient beach!!

And Thomas's food, we have loved Astrolabe for many, many years. Used to have visitors stay at Esmerelda when we lived in Orient Village many moons ago.

We haven't been to Astrolabe for many years, but I know they have a wonderful reputation also.

Bruno's food is already there at Yellow Sub, but this will probably be a more upscale dining experience.Congratulations to Bruno and his team with another expansion!

Carol, that is wonderful news. We always liked La Playa but didn't stay on their beachfront ften because we like the amenities at neighboring beach restaurants/bars. The food was always good and staff was friendly. Definitely on our list to check out. Could be our "new" home on Orient. I wonder if he would offer free chairs at LaPlaya if staying at his Bungalows?

I don't know one way or another about that. Are you guys staying at the Bungalows this time, in addition to BSV?

No, we are at the Royal Palm for 4 nights before moving over to BSV. We are hoping for a winter/spring trip next year and will reach out to Bruno. I'd love to spend the week on Orient w/o worrying about driving. It's been more than 5 years since we've stayed on Orient.

We will visit Bruno at Dreams and also at Yellow Sub.

That's Awesome, you know anything Bruno does will be done right. We look forward to seeing this, if its anything like Dreams it will be a great addition to orient.

After 2 weeks of recent dining at all the biggies,
Astrolab was a close second and will probably always stay on the go to list.

Yellow Sub is one of our favorites - will have to check out Astrolab and La Playa now!

this is good news I enjoy both places and La Playa has not been the same since Philip left. will be checking it out in February.

He may follow the same chair policy as he does at Dreams....free beach chairs if you dine there. That would be perfect!

Wouldn't that be perfect?! If he did, it would definitely set him apart, as all the places around him charge for chairs. The problem would be the cruisers, who tend to spend little or nothing on the beach.

Yes, Elizabeth that would be great. I was initially thinking more of him offering free chairs/umbrella to his Bungalow/villa "guests" who rent from him as the other small resorts do. I realize that he has fewer units than the other Orient locations and he has very reasonable rates so he may not be able to offer that. Either way I'm happy to see him on Orient beach.

How exactly would cruisers be a problem?
We've enjoyed many cruises over the years, as well as many vacations on SXM. In fact, we will be stopping in SXM via cruise ship in November. We manage to spend plenty of money in the short amount of time we are ashore... chairs @ Club O, drinks at Perch, lunch on the beach. Last time, we also stopped at Yellow Submarine for breakfast before venturing to Club O. I guess I'm just curious how you've deduced cruise ship passengers don't spend money?

My comment wasn't meant to be derogatory to cruise passengers, although I can see that it may have sounded that way. I just know that many take the tours offered by the ship, and don't spend any additional monies on the beach. Bruno's other beach restaurant, Dreams, offers free chairs for those who dine in his restaurant, and isn't located on as busy a beach as Orient. Since all the beaches around La Playa charge for chairs, I think it's less likely that he'll offer them free. Just my musings....

Thanks for clarifying... I will admit, we don't "love" when there are tons of cruise ships in port when vacationing in SXM, but we love when our cruise ports in SXM .

...did Bruno mention when this will happen?....we are in Orient early November, what a great option this would be!!

It's great for the foodies that go to the beach for lunch. I for one go to the beach to enjoy the water, sand gravity and people watching. Food is secondary and far down the list. LaPlaya is one of my favorites to lounge at as their loungers have nice cushions and are spaced apart. This last May it was $15 for two loungers, table + umbrella. Even included two drink coupons too. Hope that doesn't change with new ownership.

Di he also buy the Hotel? Both were owned by the same group

That is great news Carol. Thanks for sharing. When we were on the island in July Bruno told us he was working on a "project" but would not share what is was at that time. So glad to hear that he will have yet another place on Orient Beach. I wonder if they will consider opening in the evenings. It would be nice to enjoy his fine dining without the drive from Orient Village to Dreams.

We have always enjoyed Bruno's restaurants - when he had LeCottage in Grand Case, Dreams, Yellow Submarine....they have all been good. We have stayed in Bruno's bungalows several times and we always received a discount at Le Cottage. I look forward to trying LaPlaya when we're there next month. Hopefully it will be open by then.

He's open now, for breakfast and lunch; not sure if he'll be open for dinner or not.