This was our fourth trip to St. Martin but this is our first trip report and first post. Like so many others, my wife and I have benefited greatly from all of the information on this board and enjoyed the conversations and opinions.
Left Minneapolis on American to Miami. Made the connection in Miami to SXM no problem except for the serious hike through MIA due to construction etc. As we were heading down to The Friendly Island we cared not a bit. Left MIA around 5:00 PM for our first night arrival. We were a little bummed about not being able to marvel at the many shades of Caribbean blue as we descended but forgot about that when we were treated to a gorgeous view of the full moon reflecting off miles of sea. As always, we loved the first feel of the air and breeze as we stepped out of the plane. On our previous three trips we arrived on Saturday. This was a Monday evening and we were impressed and pleased with how quiet immigration was. Also on our other trips we rented from Avis but this time we went with Unity and were very pleased. Michael picked us up no problem and we drove a 2004 Corolla all week for $169.00.
Headed off to The Alamanda. We had always stayed at the St. Tropez, but they were no longer offered as a package deal option through the American web site. We had watched The Alamanda being built, and after reading the reviews on TTOL we decided to give it a try. We were not sorry. A very nice clean room, friendly service, and an OK restaurant option all to serve as our base of St. Martin operations. BTW, the rooms have no radio so if you want some tunes take appropriate steps.
We go to St. Martin for the beach, and we always walk down to Orient to say hello on our first day. This time it was an evening hello, but a wonderful hello at that. No need to go into Marigot to the market this time as the little store on the road to the beach across from the hotel is just fine. Probably a little more expensive, but very convenient.
A word on exchange rates. The hotel was strictly 1.25:1 but most other stores and restaurants were 1:1. For some reason we were consistently told if we used our American Express card we could not be given the 1:1 exchange. No one seemed to know why.
Day one and to the beach. Staying at The Alamanda includes chairs at Kakoa however each day we were there the hotel’s small reserved section of chairs was on the far right side of Kakoa’s area. Most of the chairs were reserved for cruise ships. Not a big deal, but if you want to be in the front row the rule is get there early. The beach up and down Orient was in great shape, very little erosion noticed. The people of Orient were their usual eclectic selves which I suppose included us  After a nice lunch, and the end of a succession of Caribs and strawberry margaritas, we freshened up and went into Marigot to check out La Casa del Habano. I must say if you like cigars, or have friends or family so inclined, this is a great place to stop. The store is not large but a) all the cigars are Cuban and b) the entire store is a humidor! Carol the proprietor took good care of us. The store is by the Marina past the Rue du President Kennedy on the Rue de la Liberte. Later in the week we stopped at the Phillipsburg version of the store and found we liked the Marigot version much better. Went to harmony night in Grand Case that Tuesday evening, a definite “must do” with much positive energy and great people watching. Went to Talk of the Town and discovered No Plantains! Of course this constitutes a crisis on St. Martin, but they assured us more would arrive later in the week so we just focused on our chicken, ribs, and shrimp.
A word on the weather, ours was practically perfect (hmmm…that’s two words). 85 in the day, 75 at night, light to moderate breezes. We had one “hot” day and one “partly cloudy” day but it was no problem. In the 28 days total we have spent on the island we have had some rain outs etc. but as we love being on St. Martin we do not worry about the weather. There is always lots to do, and lots to not do too if you are OK with doing nothing and we are
Day two and after a morning at the beach and a stop in Marigot it was off to The Sunset Beach Bar for a late lunch. My wife ordered a brandy coke but they had no brandy, only cognac. Is that great or what? So it was cognac and coke, or, as we were informed by the beertender, a yac and coke (pronounced yack). Dinner that evening was at a new place directly behind Bikini called Club Orient. This is a nice location, the food was OK but not great and this was one place were it was 1.25:1. One of the deserts that sounded interesting, but not interesting enough to try, was Grand Marnier chocolate soufflé with pepper sauce!
Day three, our fourth wedding anniversary, we celebrated by going to the beach! What is better than a Carib on the beach? Two Caribs on the beach. Mid afternoon we head into Marigot to the Roland Richardson Gallery on the Rue de la Republique. This is a wonderful art gallery with many originals pieces and prints by Richardson, a Marigot native. It is a wonderful place to browse and look at wonderful local art in a relaxing atmosphere. His website is
www.rolandrichardson.com. Stopped, as we always do, at the crepe lady’s place on the Rue du General De Gaulle but didn’t eat too much as we had anniversary meal plans. That night for dinner we went to Le Santal at Sandy Ground. This is a marvelous old-fashioned place with white linen, large wicker chairs, a great ocean view, French waiters, and a maitre’d from Spain named Sergio. The food was excellent and the service was perfect. They did not have the Chablis we ordered so they gave us the more expensive grand cru Chablis for the same price. All in all a lovely anniversary dinner and another example of the amazing variety to be found on St. Martin.
Day four was a quick beach morning as we were off to the 12 Meter regatta at 1:00. We had done this three times and loved it. This time was very different, we had almost no wind. We thought they would cancel the whole thing but they brought it off and the crew worked very hard to keep us laughing. We did feel sorry for anyone on board who had never sailed before as they would have no idea how exhilarating it can be. This was Good Friday and most stores were closed. Luckily, The Sunset Beach Bar was very open so we headed that direction for the late afternoon scene.
Day five is our shopping day. Off to Marigot, to the boulangerie and cigar store, and then around to Phillipsburg. On the way we stop for the first time at Cupecoy. We have read a great deal about Cupecoy on TTOL but were unprepared for it rugged beauty, lovely views, and surprising sandy beaches. A great place to lose yourself, we will be back. Here we are now in Phillipsburg, getting things for the family and going to DK gems for ourselves. That evening we go to The Saratoga at Simpson Bay for dinner. This was our second time there and once again we had a wonderful meal and a wonderful experience.
Day six, our last full day, is an all beach day. In among the sun, sand, ocean, Caribs, and margaritas, we fit in para-sailing, a massage for each of us from Annie (massages on Orient beach, highly recommended) and lunch at the Kon Tiki. That evening it is back to Talk of the Town, we have plantains !
Day seven, departure day. We go to the restaurant at La Plantation for breakfast which is our traditional last day routine. It’s the usual airport scene but again it is Monday so a little less hectic. We are leaving, but with the resolve to take our island-time attitude with us back to Minnesota.
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