Let me start by saying we had a fabulous time! The island was SO green and lush, it was beautiful!
We flew out of chicago via miami on AA with no real problems....just 30 min or so late because of mechanical checks in miami. not a big deal if you have a few bloody mary's!
my cousins were at the airport to greet us(they spend months at a time in sxm). The people from AAA car rental were waiting for us and drove us to our car right away, didn't see Alain. $260(is that high?) for the week with tax for the cheapest car he had and the brakes started to give us problems mid-week so we took it back and had no problems getting a different vehicle.
Last year we used Kenny's rental and he was there with the car at the airport, which I find I like better.
We checked in at the Pelican resort(our second time there) and the line was out of this world. When we finally got to the front desk they told us they were overbooked and we would have to move to a different room the second night. I overheard them telling this to almost everyone checking in and they were not happy.
We got to our room and it was nice(basic) with a spectacular view of the marina filled with sailboats. We were very happy with the room and especially the view. The front desk never contacted us to move so we got lucky.
Our days went like this......husband would walk down to the pelideli for bread and we would have breakfast on the porch, then head off to OB and meet my cousins for some serious beach time. we didn't visit any other beach, no need! the sand came back on the far end past papagayo(sp?), where we camped out all day . noticed not many people eating at the restaurant this time. usually it is full. i guess the euro/$ ratio was the problem because we noticed much more $$ activity on the dutch side than the french side. We didn't eat out as much since my cousins have an apartment in grand case and they are wonderful cooks!
as far as restaurants go we did the usual......conch fritters at the pelican cafe were ok but the fish and chips melted in your mouth! sunset beach bar cheeseburger is such a great deal for $6, we ate there twice, those girls really take care of their customers at the bar. ribs at the lolo accross from talk of the town were THE BEST, had them 3 nights in a row, but you have to watch them and tell whoever is cooking you want fresh ribs...also when they cut them they don't give you the whole slab, they just fill the plate, so we get ours uncut. a little work for your food, but it's worth it for $5 a slab!
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food food food.....we tried something new and stopped at a "jamaican jerk patty" place and had one of those.....interesting and dee-lish if you don't mind the sodium!
the sunday champagne brunch at Port de Plaisance with live music and dancing was fabulous, we go every year and demolish the seafood!
Drinks at Calmos Cafe on the WRONG ttol night! we went there thursday nightthinking it was full moon party night and when nobody showed up I took out the piece of paper with the date on it and hit myself! we couldn't go friday night because it was my cousin's birthday. we ordered a big cake from Carl and sons bakery which tasted better than any birthday cake we've ever had! yum! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/chef.gif" alt="" />
On the day before our last night at the pelican, we came back from OB ready to shower and go to supper when our key to the room wasn't working........Bob went down and told them it wasn't working, so they fixed it, but when we got into the room we discovered none of our stuff was there(groceries and all) and that SOMEONE else's things were in our unit unpacked and everything. We checked the closet and found our dirty clothes still in the hamper.....took them and our belongings from the day at the beach and marched down to the reception desk .....I was about to explode! They told us that we had been "moved", and we should have gotten a "move letter" the day before telling us we would have to switch units for the last night of our stay. ?!?! What kind of place asks you to MOVE everything the day before you are supposed to check out? We never got a "move" letter and had no clue what they were talking about. So, a manager packed all our things....dirty underwear, toiletries and groceries and put them in another unit without telling us. I was more upset with someone else touching and packing my things than I was about the absent move letter. they just looked at us like we were crazy, like it was no big deal that we had all our personal belongings shoved into our suitcases and a new watercolor(unframed) we bought from a local artist FOLDED and packed!
They said there was nothing they could do for us, that we should have gotten the move letter and moved ourselves.
It makes me livid just thinking about it!
The new room was ok, in the B building overlooking the pool, but it was tough to get over how we were treated by the managment and staff, we will never stay at the Pelican again and that's too bad because we liked it there!
Our last night on the island we stayed at Le Meridan and had a completely opposite experience . I prefer the "hotel treatment" to the "timeshare treatment". We were greeted with punch and smiles at the reception. They let us check in early and they placed several phone calls for us which we weren't charged.We really like the feel of the meridan, the atmosphere was great and our room was vibrant. The maid even pulled down our bed in the evening. little touches like that are nice. the breakfast was very good, lots of cereal,pastries,eggs, bacon,pancakes,cheese,fruit.
we checked out and hit sunset beach bar one last time for drinks and burgers.....then flew home on the 3:50 flight via san juan.
We had a very relaxing wonderful time and didn't let the pelican fiasco ruin the rest of the trip.
Sorry this was so long......it seems like we did a whole lot of nothing, now that i look back! but isn't that what vacation is??
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Jackie
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