TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Trip Report 12/24-12/31

Smooth sailing on Delta all legs of trip.

Where we Stayed:
We rented at Mt. Vernon from TTOL sponsor Studiosxm. Unit 3211 has a great view and everything else we want. Amaury, the owner, is easy to work with. He owns Bistrot Caraibes in Grand Case—we didn’t get there this trip but next time we plan to.

Weather conditions:
Perfect sunny weather except for a couple of bursts of rain.

Food:
Rosemary’s lolo in Marigot. The food was great. I had the oxtails and Peaches had Creole shrimp. We picked up dinner from Rancho del Sol. We had ribs and a Caesar salad.

Rancho del Sol is a unique place. It’s tex/mex/french/italian—not fusion just a lot on the menu. This is usually not a good sign but I resolved to only drive within the Mt Vernon to Club O circuit (on one trip, I calculated that I had spent over 8 hours driving. That’s a whole day of beach time!), so we had take-out there twice. The ribs were great and the Caesar salad was the best. I should have taken a photo. It was huge and came with a side container of about 3 dozen anchovies. Anchovies were nice because we saved them to use on the pizzas we ordered from the Mt. Vernon pizza place.

I love the pizza at the Mt.Vernon place. It’s that really thin french style crust and they have a variety of unique toppings.

Lunch at Orange fever three times. On Thursdays and Fridays they fly in fresh mussels. They serve up a giant pot of them—maybe four dozen. We also had Mahi and burgers. All the food was good and was followed by free shots of rum.
We ate at the Perch one day. Food was lackluster to say the least. We do not recommend. Also, don’t recommend Little Italy!!! and it’s stupid Euro/$ exchange—food definitely not good enough to overcome bad service either.

Yellow Sub for breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is standard fare. They serve Lavazza espresso, which is my favorite—that was nice to find. We never order chicken at a restaurant but decided to try the rotisserie chicken at Yellow Sub. We’re glad we did. You have to order it ahead of schedule like a day or so. It’s worth the effort. The potatoes are cooked with the chicken drippings. Also had a steak sandwich. They make the sandwiches on demi-baguettes, so they are huge and quite delicious.

We enjoyed a variety of adult beverages. Interacting with Willy at the Perch was great. She’s sooooo nice and she makes a great pina colada.

Things to Enjoy:
We were at Club O beach everyday but Wednesday. Wednesday we went to Marigot and did a little shopping. I picked up some magic spice. Spent the rest of the afternoon at Mt Vernon.
Club O beach is awesome as usual. The Christmas winds left us sand-blasted a few times but other than that the beach was perfect. At one point security came along and closed everyone’s umbrellas for fear of them flying away.
There was one day with some bursts of rain but that wasn’t so bad. Met some great people when everyone on the beach huddled in the Perch for shelter—quite a sight. LOL

Pro Tip: If you’re on the beach and getting a tan, remember to flip over once in a while. I look like a black and white cookie. LOL

Grocery Stores:
Again, wanted to drive as little as possible and stayed in the Mt. Vernon/Club O circuit, so we shopped at Leader Price and Petit Casino. Both are decent markets. I think Petit Casino was a little more pricey but not too much more.

"Also, don’t recommend Little Italy!!! and it’s stupid Euro/$ exchange—food definitely not good enough to overcome bad service either."
What was wrong with the exchange?

It's just that every other place is one to one and Little Italy was charging 1.13.

With the exchange rate bouncing around 1.047 they are a little off.

Thank you for the report!

I don't think all that much of the food at Perch either, but the fact you don't have to get dressed to go up the beach makes it more than good enough. If a nice lunch is what I'm after, Papagayo can be quite good. But I still prefer the vibe at Perch.

Thanks for the report! We've enjoyed Rancho del Sol for a while. It's not high class french, but enjoyable food. I note you got carry out. They used to deliver. Do they no longer do so? I will have to try to the rotisserie chicken and potatoes at Yellow Sub. Everyone raves over those potatoes! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" /> What are they serving at the Perch for food these days? It's actually been a while since we have eaten there. Sorry to see you missed NYE at Club O, a nice time.

Sounds like an enjoyable trip - thanks for sharing. I also end up being much more tanned on the front than back, simply because I can't get comfortable lying on my stomach and arching my back. I wish they made beach loungers that lie flat, with an opening for the face. Then my all-over tan would be even. It's good to know that Orange Fever is back and just as good.

Try turning the loungers the other way. Most work better that way to lay on your stomach.

Yes. Rancho del Sol still delivers. We had to drive by it so thought we'd just pop in. An the Perch was serving hamburgers and hot dogs.
Next time we'll plan better so that we can do NYE at Club O--bet it was fun.

OK,thanks!! Hope the next time includes NYE!

Thanks for taking time to post your report.

I've wanted to try the chicken and potatoes on our last two trips but it never worked out because we ate on the beach for our lunches at LaPlaya or the year prior had other lunch plans. We typically don't return immediately to our resort so couldn't keep it in the car.

The rotisserie is closest to Macaron where I've purchased items several times over the course of a few days and witness people randomly purchasing the chicken and potatoes. I asked the server about it myself and wasn't told I had to have pre ordered. Must be in high demand now?

They run out of chicken and potatoes later in the day. They told me to order a day ahead, if I want it around 5 or 6. You're right it must be in high demand now.

And I forgot to mention Macaron in my post. We indulged in several of the macarons and got a buche noel from them as well. All very good.

We've taken the chicken & potatoes back to our room at Club F and they are delicious. Because they do run out, pre-ordering will assure that you get some.