This was our first visit (aside from a couple of stops during cruises). We found the advice on this forum very helpful, although many of the arrangements were made before I discovered TTOL, so maybe we could have avoided a few glitches. I especially enjoyed all the trip reports, so I'm contributing mine for the cause. No point in detailing everything we did, but I tried to include things I thought would be helpful to others. Overall, it was a fantastic trip.

FLIGHT: Non-stop is the way to go! CLT-SXM in under 4 hours, but an hour late due to mechanical problems. Return trip uneventful and that's all I ask from a flight. I use seatguru.com to choose seats on every flight I book. It's invaluable. Flights out of CLT are more expensive but non-stop is worth a lot to us.

HOTEL: We didn't want a mega-resort or huge hotel, didn't want to stay in "a little Las Vegas" (we've been there plenty of times) so we went with L'Hoste and were very happy with it. Staff very nice; someone else complained there was no one to carry your bags up, etc. It's not gonna happen here, but that's OK. Poolside breakfast is included and it was very good. Apparently eggs, French Toast, etc. were available if you ask: we didn't and were happy with fruit, yogurt, croissants and so on. The room itself was spacious, clean and bright. Saw maybe three tiny ants. Big deal. We've stayed at many beach hotels in NC and this was as clean and well-kept as any of them. So there's no shower curtain - so what! When there's no water, it doesn't matter (more on that later). But with this property, it's all about LOCATION. Couldn't be better - right in the middle of things on Orient, but not noisy or busy. The rooms come with a "kitchenette" which consists of a microwave, a small 'frig, a couple of burners and a sink. Aside from the mini-frig we didn't use anything. We don't cook that much at home. Are we gonna cook on vacation? Getting into and out of the bamboo-framed bed was hard at first, but it was a very comfortable bed otherwise. We'll stay there again, probably.

CAR: Rented a Corolla from Prince Rental Cars. Also rented a phone from them. No problems with either, although I wish I'd gotten a road map from them, as some places provide.

DINING: The last thing I want to do after a day or two of decompressing and wearing shorts is to dress up and go through a "fine dining experience" so we didn't eat at La Anything. I like a good meal as much as anyone but it just didn't seem like the right thing to do at the time. Almost all the meals we had were very good. Pizza at Tap 5 the first night was a pleasure. Walked down to Baywatch Monday mid-afternoon but they were closed so we ate at the Pirate place next door. Lousy service, food nothing special. Dinner at Cheri's Cafe. Good food, lots of fun, great service. Tex-Mex (in the Caribbean??) at the Rocking Chair in Orient Village. Good food, sangria in a huge soup tureen, nice setting (kids playing soccer and men playing bocce in the plaza), very friendly place. Sky's the Limit for lunch is a great value and some of the best tasting food we ate. Best of all, though, was CoCo. A delightful meal in a terrific setting and served incredibly quickly by great servers. A couple of shots of rum as closers and we thought we were in heaven. A short walk down the beach in the dark (made me nervous after reading the crime stories, but it was the only way to end the evening) and we were home.

ACTIVITIES: The beach of course. Didn't go to any other beach, but why bother? When Orient is most crowded with cruisers, it's time for us to get out of the heat for a while anyway. Early in the morning I walked from one end to the other, in the minority in my textiles.

We did the Pub Crawl on the Celine one night. Had a great time, met good people and had good food. We'd do it again, for sure.

The Golden Eagle trip was another story, though. I wanted to get to Tintamarre so we booked this at the last minute. We left nearly an hour late ("the captain was stuck in traffic" - the same traffic I drove through and got there on time) and we were the first to leave for home. Staff was nice and drinks plentiful, but overall it left a lot to be desired. Upon arrival we were told the water was about 8 feet deep and we could swim in from there. There was no way to carry our belongings to the beach. Maybe we caught it on a bad day, but I don't get the attraction of this place. The beach itself is very steep. The snorkeling was terrible (the water's rough and most of the coral looks dead). Come to think of it, every time I've taken a snorkeling trip in the Caribbean, they've told me "it's a bit rough today". Is it ever calm?? The mud bath thing didn't do anything for me either.

On the way back to L'Hoste afterwards, we stopped at the side of the road after Oyster Bay to take a couple of photos and a woman pulled up next to us to ask if we spoke English. She gave us a couple of scratch-off cards and one of them said we'd won BIG. The catch is, we'd have to sit through a time-share presentation to get the $500 shopping spree (and she'd get a $150 commission, she said). We got as far as registering for the pitch when we decided this was not the way to spend 2 of our last 24 hours on the island. If I ever buy a timeshare it will be on the secondary market.

Made several trips to the Dutch side for shopping and casinos. While my wife won (slots) every time it wasn't enough to pay for the shopping.

We didn't see any crime and never felt uncomfortable but a couple on the Pub Crawl said they'd been surprised by a man near Pic Paradise who came out of the bushes with a machete hidden behind his back. They bluffed their way to safety, but they were spooked and as a result, we didn't want to go there either.

Is it odd that, of the three couples we got to know during our visit, two were from Raleigh, North Carolina, not far from where we lived for 20 years?

WHAT WE'D DO DIFFERENTLY:
1. Stay longer. There is so much to do, it's like there are several islands in one. SXM has it all, and I think that's what I like best about it.

2. Rent a smaller car - the roads are narrow and the parking spots, when you can find one, are miniscule.

3. Wouldn't pay for the bamboo junior suite at L'Hoste. There is no view of the ocean from there, unless you're standing on the roof. Our room looked out on a patch of dirt with palm trees and a chain link fence. Not a big deal, but we paid an extra $30 per night to walk up the stairs to our room. A ground floor room would have been fine, assuming the size and furnishings are comparable.

4. Buy less cell phone time. Spent $20 to put on the phone, not knowing how much we'd need. I think we left $19 on the phone when we left.

5. Skip the Tintamarre trip and ferry over to Pinel for snorkeling.

6. Check out Anguilla. Maybe a different catamaran trip.

NOW FOR THE THREE GRIPES:
1. Twice during our short visit, there was no water available. We were told, very matter-of-factly, that this happens on occasion and usually doesn't last more than a day or two. Ours was actually restored in a few hours, but when you need a shower, you need a shower, especially just after the beach and just before getting on a plane. This is apparently a common problem on the French side while they are working on the pipes or pumps or something. I know we're spoiled and all that, but running water should be a given in a tourist spot. I don't think that's asking a lot.

2. Why is the island so full of litter and trash? Everywhere we turned was a pile of garbage and bottles, or a rusting vehicle or a half-finished, decaying building. It takes away from the beauty of the place.

3. The roads are, of course, terrible, but the fillings in my teeth can be replaced. Seems like attention to infrastructure is lacking. With all the money on that island, you've got to wonder where it's going.

Please don't think these complaints overshadowed a wonderful trip. This was the most fun I've had on vacation in a long time and I can't wait to get back.