A Quick Visit to Paradise - May 20-27 (Trip Report)

This year’s trip to paradise was a short one, but the trip report is not. We stayed overnight in Cleveland at the airport to catch a 6:30 a.m. flight to Dulles, and a direct flight from there to SXM. No delays and we arrived a few minutes ahead of schedule. Took only about 5 minutes to get through immigration, but another 40 minutes for our luggage to appear. Makes carry-on look more and more appealing.

This trip we booked through Cheap Caribbean and our accommodations were at the Pelican. This was our first time-share resort stay. Our room was in the “B” building, high on the hill. It was a one bedroom and very nice. We had a water view, as well as a sideways view of the pool. Two negatives were first that only the bedroom had air conditioning, which we knew in advance. Also, when I’m on vacation, I like daily maid service (which we did not include for an extra fee) as I do plenty of bed making, bathroom clean up and kitchen duty throughout the year! Not a real issue, though.

Two last thoughts on our stay at the Pelican: keep in mind this was our first experience at Pelican (or any timeshare) and so are not familiar with the routine. That being said, we tried to contact our “personal concierge” one day to help with a dinner reservation. Upon reaching her voice mail we were informed that she “did not wish to be disturbed”. We left a message, but never did get a return call and figured it out on our own.

We also had a small maintenance problem one evening (toilet would not flush). Maintenance was not available until the next morning (after 9) and there was no answer at the front desk. (?) Fortunately, the problem self-corrected after a while, but it left us wondering what we would have done had it not.


We unpacked and headed to BBB for a “vacation is finally here celebration” drink. From there we stopped back at the Peli Deli for room supplies. After putting away our purchases we headed to SSBB. There was a good number of people there; service was slow and prices were high (again, not to our surprise). We had lunch/snack here. Met up with our friends, Deb and Frank, and stayed long enough for dinner as well. We saw the dancing girls (previously mentioned as maybe being from the Platinum Room??), and while we don’t find that offensive, it didn’t seem suitable for the early time frame, nor for the little girl (maybe 6 or 7) that came on stage to dance with the girls. Retired early that night as we were tired from the travel.

Sunday

We were up early and headed to Orient for the day. Started out with breakfast with Andy at Baywatch. We had pancakes (blueberry, banana, pineapple or strawberry), an omelet, coffee and a mimosa. Cost $27. It was a beautiful first day on the beach. Returned to Baywatch for lunch, too. Shared a salad and eggplant parmesan, 2 beers and water, cost $30. As the Cleveland Cavs were in the basketball playoffs we wanted to catch at least part of the game and so headed to Ric’s from the beach. Had a few drinks (drowning our sorrows as they lost) and went home to clean up for dinner. Had wanted to try Bajatzu in Maho, but apparently it is closed on Sunday. Opted for Le Charolais, upstairs across from the Casino Royale. We thought this would be a great location to view the carnival parade, but the weather did not cooperate. We had steak, prime rib and grouper, drinks for 4. Staff was very pleasant and entertaining. Cost $151 (for 4), not including tip. Made a quick (and unprofitable) visit to the Hollywood Casino before heading home.

Monday

Started the day with breakfast at the SMYC. Enjoyed watching the boats, although we missed the bridge opening. Spent the day at Cupecoy. Water was rough, but there was some beach, along with the wall. Ate Dany’s ribs for lunch ($16) which this year included salad and rice/peas. Stopped by SSBB on our way home. Dinner (for our 30th anniversary) was at Tabba Khady. This was, by far, the BEST new find and the best meal of our trip. William and Phillipe do an excellent job and I would highly recommend a visit there. Cost for 4 appetizers, 4 dinners (tuna, lamb, pork and ?) 4 drinks, 3 desserts and a complimentary bottle of champagne was $222 (1:1 euro/dollar if paying cash), not including tax. Well worth it for a lovely evening.

Tuesday

Breakfast today was at Z-Best. $20 for juice, coffee, pastries, ham/cheese croissant and maybe an omelet? Headed again to Orient. Another beautiful day. Had lunch (and happy hour) at the Perch where we shared a burger (with baked potato and coleslaw) for $8. When we were finished at the beach we took advantage of Club O’s showers and got cleaned up for a stop at the Hidden Forest Café at Loterie Farm. It was too late in the day to enjoy the entire trip up Pic Paradis, but we enjoyed looking around the farm. We shared one appetizer and one salad for an early dinner – 48 euro. Food was very good and the atmosphere very pleasant. On our way home we stopped by SSBB (again) and then at BBB where we had one last drink and a pizza. Had the pleasure of meeting Bill and Elaine although we didn’t stay very long. We were tired and needed to go home.

Wednesday

On our way to Orient we stopped in Grand Case for a quick breakfast of croissants and coffee ($7). This was Tiko Tiko day which we had signed up for on Sunday. We had an almost full boat (11 people). We enjoyed a wonderful day on the boat and on Tintamare. As always, Phillipe and Melanie are excellent hosts and we were with a great group of people. After our return we all stayed at Papaguyos for happy hour. That night dinner was at La Rosa, too. Excellent meal in a beautiful setting. $71 for 1 glass wine, 1 vodka, 2 salads, chicken parmesan and lasagna (included tip). Would definitely return there. We were tired from the day and came home early. Although we don’t normally watch TV in SXM since we were back in the room and the season finale of Lost was on, I did.

Thursday

We had a slow start on Thursday. The week is starting to catch up with us. We had planned to just stay at the resort by the pool, so this worked out well. Went to SSBB for breakfast $10. Not as good as last year. Breakfast meats were very dried out from keeping warm, and no juice was served. We had to go to the bar to request it, but not a bad deal for the money. Deb and Frank joined us at the pool. We just lounged around the “B” pool, had lunch and joined in afternoon BINGO. Deb won one game (a coupon for BOGO ice cream at an ice cream place in Simpson area whose name I can’t recall. Made it a short day and went upstairs to nap and recharge. For pre-dinner drinks we stopped at Shrimpy’s (very nice) and Peg Leg Pub. PLP was fairly empty (it was early) but we got good service and the bartender was very pleasant. Dinner that night was at Pineapple Pete’s. The food was good and reasonably priced ($51 for 2 beers, 1 salad, 2 soups and 2 chicken fettuccine alfredos.) This included a 15% tip which is more than they would have received not it not been automatically included. This was, by far, our WORST dining experience of the week. We had high expectations based on all the good reports. It all started out fine. We were greeted by Drew, a hometown local from Ohio, and had a nice visit with the friendly bartender whose name I don’t recall. We were shown to our table in a corner which was very hot. Throughout our visit the waiter did not ask if we wanted any more to drink (alcoholic or even water) and did not check on how the food was. Guests who arrived and ordered after us were served before us. Even after asking for our check it took quite a long time for it to arrive.

After leaving Pineapple Pete’s we went to the Red Piano at the Pelican. It was Karaoke night. There were a lot of people and it was a fun night. Drinks were a little pricey and there is a cover charge automatically added to your bill.

Friday

Breakfast today was at Le Sucriere, the new French bakery. Delicious! We had a ham/cheese croissant, quiche and water – and an éclair for dessert! Sat out back on the deck and enjoyed a nice breeze and the view – Cost $10. From there we headed back to Orient. Traffic through Marigot was very slow. Lunch was at Baywatch – 1 beer, 1 water, lasagna and meatballs with ziti $40. Spent happy hour at the Perch with our group from the Tiko Tiko. It was nice to see them again. Trip back home through Marigot was also very slow – heavy traffic. Got cleaned up and took a quick nap. Decided to try Bajatzu again tonight. This time it was open. Beautiful décor and excellent service and food. Cost was approximately $90 for a filet, a strip steak, 2 appetizers, 2 drinks and water. (tip not included). After dinner we wandered around the Maho area. Stopped by SSBB but the music was much too loud. Bamboo Bernies was closed. Bliss was open, but deserted. Stopped by the Hollywood Casino to cash in left over chips from an earlier visit. Stopped back into the Red Piano. Tammy T was playing and was very entertaining. This visit was actually more enjoyable than karaoke night as it was not quite so loud and crowded. Bartenders were very nice and remembered us from the previous visit. There was no problem with it being smoky on either visit.

Saturday

Woke up early and packed. Needed to check out by 10. Our flight was not scheduled until around 3:30 so we had plenty of time. Tried checking our luggage at the airport, but it was too early – told us to come back at 10:30. Went to SMYC for pineapple, English muffins and tomato juice - $20. On our way there we finally got to see the boats going through the bridge opening even if it was from the road. There were some very nice looking boats. I can only imagine what we’d see in high season. Returned to the airport to check our bags – departure fee included on United tickets. Then went to SSBB for one last visit until it was time to be at the airport. Also had lunch at SSBB before the long trip home.

It has been quite a while since we traveled home on a Saturday and I say – never again. What a nightmare. When we returned to the airport the security line was out the doors by check in. It did move pretty quickly, but once in the “holding area” it was horrible. No seats to be found, hardly any standing room, complete chaos. Announcements were extremely difficult to hear and/or understand. When our flight was finally called there was no order to boarding. We can only hope the new airport terminal helps alleviate this problem.

Our only “crime report”: on our visit to the Red Piano on Thursday (karaoke) night, our friends used the complimentary valet parking service at the Hollywood Casino. They watched the valet drive up the hill and then back down to the lot in front of the Red Piano. Once the car was parked, the valet proceeded to search through the car – fortunately nothing was left in it. When approached and asked what he was doing (obviously unaware he was being observed), he said “let’s not make a big deal out of this.” He said he was just looking for the window panels (for a jeep). Our friends took the keys back and didn’t make any further issue of it, but it left them (and us) feeling very uncomfortable.


All in all it was a great week. As always, we visited some old favorites of ours and tried a few new ones as well. The dates aren’t set yet, but we’re planning to return next year in April instead of May.

Many thanks to everyone on TTOL who keeps us informed of the happenings on SXM from trip to trip. We appreciate all the good information we find here and hope you enjoy our report.

Frank/MJ