TRIP REPORT 12/23/12 – 1/4/13 Christmas/New Years

Hi everyone. We just returned from two weeks in our favorite 2nd home. We have been going to St. Maarten since 1984, with our first stay at Mullet Bay. How the island has changed since then!! The weather this year was the best we have had in many years. Below is a recap of the trip.

FLIGHTS
American Airlines direct flight from JFK, New York. Smooth flights in both directions-- actually landed early on the way down.

ROYAL ISLANDER LA PLAGE / MAHO area
The resort was well-maintained as always, and the flowers on the property were magnificent. We had almost NO BEACH for most of the trip, but the water was calm and we were able to swim in the ocean almost every day.

Internet access was much improved for us in Room 1209. I was able to use my laptop and Ipad on our balcony, as well as by the pool pretty consistently. However, other friends were still having issues getting online. Apparently, the location of your room still makes a difference. They are still charging $50 per week or $60 per month to use their wireless network.

We still have access to the gym on the 3rd floor of the Maho Hotel. They finally got rid of a treadmill that has been sitting inoperable for years. The Good Life Spa is still across the street in La Terasse, and my daughter had two good massages there.

There is now a new frozen yogurt store in the La Terasse stores, and a new gelato place at the other end of the Maho shops under Bamboo Bernies. Both were very good, and a nice addition to the area.

Overall, we love our little home away from home, and wouldn’t dream of staying anywhere other than the Royal Islander La Plage. The landscaping is breathtaking, and there are always workers raking, cleaning, pruning, and generally maintaining the property. The location can’t be beat, with the Casino Royale across the street, and many GREAT restaurants, bars, and clubs within walking distance.

RESTAURANTS and BARS
We mostly have breakfast and lunch in our room, but look forward to our dinners out. Here is a recap of all of the restaurants we visited:

La Belle Epoque (Marigot – Marina Port La Royale)– went 2 times; always the best escargot on the island, and great pizza;

Pizza Pasta (Maho) – Great pizza, pasta bolognese, and veal parm as always; very tiny restaurant,
so need a reservation; we were 11 people here for New Years Eve-- fastest service ever on New Years Eve for our group (with no mistakes on the dishes)

Bajatsu (Maho) – considered a “steak restaurant”, but we love the escargot, plantains, and sweet potato fries; had an awesome ossu bucco this year, and the best lobster bisque in a puff pastry
we have ever had;

Pineapple Pete’s (Simpson Bay) – we usually love this restaurant, but were a little disappointed this year; Ronnie Santana’s band is no longer there on Tuesday nights-- there was a raggae band that was not very good, in our opinion; our onion soup was not hot enough and just ok tasting, and the crab stuffed shrimp which I usually love was also just ok; Pete (Pierre) is still there, but just wondering if there was a change of chef?? Anybody know why Ronnie left?

Temptation (Cupecoy) -- Fabulous as always-- delicious food, comfortable setting- sat outside with nice breeze

Greenhouse (Pelican, Simpson Bay) -- several people recommended, but we were disappointed; probably our worst meal, and 5 of us ordered different dishes

Mark’s Place (Phillipsburg) -- our first time here; wow -- all you can eat ribs for about $16-- best ribs we’ve had in a long time-- yum!!

Le Croissanterie (Marigot) – went for breakfast; delicious crepes and freshest croissants; friendly
efficient service

Zee Best (Simpson Bay) – went for breakfast; delicious omelets and crepes; very convenient to Maho

Bamboo Bernies (Maho) – EXCELLENT food and ambience; Technically a “Japanese” Restaurant, but none of us normally eat Sushi and we love it here; shared a lot of different appetizers, like dumplings, spring rolls, etc, and one was better than the next; my salmon was delicious, as was the pork fried rice; appetizers come out quickly, but then there is a long wait between the appetizers and entrees.

Spiga (Grand Case) – By far, my favorite Italian restaurant on the island; Excellent pumpkin ravioli and short ribs ravioli; great food and service overall;

Buccaneer Beach Bar (Simpson Bay) – excellent hamburgers and pizza; fast friendly service; Ronnie Santana was playing there-- nice to see him again

Friar’s Beach Café (Friars Bay) –excellent hamburger—came with delicious large portion
of crunchy French fries

Pedro’s (Orient Beach) -- Ribs were just ok, much better at Mark’s Place, but daughter said the bbq burger with cheese was the best she’s ever had

Mr. Busby’s (Dawn Beach) - food is just fair (I had a grilled chicken sandwich)

Sunset Bar and Grill (Maho) - Still best hot dog on the island and great crunchy french fries; but beware, the cruise ships have excursions here now with hundreds of people there at a time; we went after 3:30 one day and got great fast service and sat at a prime table



BEACHES
Orient Beach -- Bikini Beach (went twice) - lovely days, though second was more windy than first; daughter took out wave runner first week and went parasailing second week

Great Bay Beach (Phillipsburg)-- Those who want to shop, shop, and the rest of us hang out on beach chairs in front of Taloula Mangos. We order lunch and beers from there and spend a very relaxing day on the beach. Louie took good care of us with the chairs and food

Friar’s Bay -- Extremely calm water; took out a kayak here for the first time; beautiful cove; had no problem parking; great lunch at the Friar’s Beach Café; enjoyed our day immensely; decent snorkeling on the right side by the rocks

Dawn Beach -- friends rented a magnificent villa near here, so we met them for a day; very nice beach with decent snorkeling; unfortunately, there is no great snorkeling on this island anywhere in my opinion

Maho Beach – this is our home beach; first two days we had a small beach in front of our building. After that there was a huge dropoff at the base of the steps leading down to the sand, and the water was coming up close to the wall.



FUN AND ADVENTURE

Dive Safari (Simpson Bay)– our daughter scuba dives with them every year; she did a shallow refresher dive, and they offered her a free deeper second dive; we highly recommend the staff here

Loterie Farm Fly Zone (Pic Paradise) – always a great thrill for the adventure seekers; this is not your average zipline. There are a series of 15 or 18 sections up in the tree tops. Only about 5 or 6 are actual ziplines. The rest are more like an obstacle course in the sky, with tightropes and moving step platforms, etc. Having been on ziplines in Costa Rica, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, etc, I feel that this is the best one! However, you have to be somewhat athletic and in good health to attempt this. My husband has a bad back, and would never be able to contort himself to go under some of the cables as required. I have done this with my daughter many times, and we both love it!

Parasailing and Wave Runners -- Orient Beach

Caribbean Jewish Festival -- Saw a flyer for this and attended; was held at Porto Cupecoy on a Thursday night; this was run by the local Chabbad, who claims there are about 300 Jewish residents if I have this correct; There was a fabulous steel band that did all Israeli music, lovely works of art were on display, and ethnic food was available; they called this the first annual festival, so it seems it will become a regular yearly event; we enjoyed the festival, and were glad we decided to attend


NEW YEARS EVE
Dinner at Pizza Pasta in Maho with group of 11; then watched the Maho fireworks from balcony of friends’ penthouse apartment in the Royal Islander; The fireworks were lackluster compared to prior years, in my opinion


OBSERVATIONS
Weather was the best we have seen in 8 or 10 years; just beautiful our entire trip; we woke up to bright blue skies every day; there was one short shower one day where we had to stand under an umbrella briefly; The last few years, the ocean was very rough by the Royal Islander, and waves kept coming up over the pink fence by the pool. Was nothing like that this year, and we could actually swim or take rafts out in the ocean every day.

First year ever that we did not see any famous people; usually we see someone in our casino at some point -- in the past, we have seen Beyonce and JZ, Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kornikova, Maxim and Val from Dancing with the stars, Danny Devito and Rhea Perlman, Chris Rock, etc. Were they all in St. Barths this year? Anyone see anyone interesting on island recently?

Marigot Marina Port La Royale was more lit up than it used to be; the restaurant just past Belle Epoque, Cafe De Paris, seemed busy, and that brought more foot traffic down past the new Belle Epoque location. That whole side of the marina used to be dark and scary, so it is much improved. However, this year, there were NO security guards or Gendarmes anywhere on the marina -- last year they were all over.

Mullet Bay is so much nicer to drive through now. Last year they finally razed the abandoned buildings, but there was ugly orange tape everywhere. Now that tape is gone, and so is the eyesore that was Mullet Bay. About time!!!

The traffic for us was not too bad. We almost always went thru the lowlands from Maho to avoid the bridge and cruise ship traffic.

Overall, we had another fantastic trip. That’s about all I can remember. Post any questions here, or feel free to e-mail me privately. Already counting down to next year!!!!