Trip Report May 19 to May 28
I will keep this short and to the point.
Flights:
Delta, all flights on time or early, no luggage problems. Due to a flight cancellation months ago had to stay over night in Atlanta, inconvenient but no problem.
Car Rental:
Unbelievable, we rented from Unity and could not believe how fast and efficient this company was. We have rented with other major rental companies on the island and it took forever to check out and check in, not with Unity in and out in a flash and everyone was very pleasant. We rented a Rav 4 that had air bags and was in great shape. We will rent with Unity again.
Cell Phones:
Rented a phone from Sharon Harris for the second time. It went smoothly, .32 cents a minute to call the USA. Another feature that she now has is that you can send a text message from any computer to your phone, if our children needed a question answered they could text for free and we would call back at the cheaper rate. Very inexpensive.
Club Orient:
Love the place, had a garden chalet which was very clean and nice. You can not park your car near your building anymore but not really that bad. In the past you had to set up accounts at the store and the restaurant, now you can just charge to the room, much better. Front desk staff was very friendly and efficient. Already have reservations for next year. Beach was very crowded with quests and non quests. Love the people who try and get the cruisers to get naked, good for some laughs.
Nudity:
Had no problem doing our nude morning walk the whole length of beach. Did see complete nudity in morning around rock at Coco. We do not walk the beach nude during the day so we can not tell if we would have had any trouble or not.
Crime:
To us it seems that the both governments are trying. The Dutch side police have form an “attack squad” to have rapid response to problems. They had a major crack down and made over 30 arrests for various crimes. When we were in Grand Case we noticed French police doing patrols. A lot of private security, Maho had at least 10 officers in the area. On the negative side there was an armed robbery of a store on Front Street at 2 pm on a Tuesday. We never felt uncomfortable but we just keep aware of our surroundings.
Restaurants:
Breakfast:
La Boutique at Club O, we would walk up and get fresh pastries and enjoy on our patio.
Baywatch, Naked breakfast very good, but everything is good at Baywatch.
Lunch:
Baywatch, A couple of great meals. Mussels, clams (both Ala Andy) and egg plant are fantastic.
Papagayo’s, Good meal but need to improve air flow on patio very hot even in shade.
Perch grill, not bad for a quick Hot dog or Hamburg.
Dinner:
Tutta Pasta, Best kept secret on the island, only restaurant we eat at twice, great food and staff. This restaurant is our favorite.
Pineapples Pete’s, Good meal, staff and music.
Peg Leg Pub, Good steak and sea food.
Cheri’s, Entertainment was fun, Meal was average at best.
Talk of the Town, Where else can you get ribs, chicken and 3 sides for 10 bucks and the food is good.
Johnny’s under the tree, we have heard for many years about Johnny’s so we thought we would give it a try. Food was good, we had grilled lobster but the price was the same as a larger cleaner restaurants. The people who run this “restaurant” were not friendly at all, they acted like they were doing us favorite by waiting on us. The dogs and the bugs did nothing to enhance our “dining”. Sorry Johnny’s never gain. We love the Lolo’s so we are not that critical of island type restaurants.
Lee’s Road side, nice place, music was a little loud but had a good meal.
General Observations
It’s called the friendly island and by far the majority of people you deal with are just that, but this year found a growing group of clerks who were not friendly and seem to care less about your business.
The weather was perfect we had some short showers during 2 days and some at night but the majority it was perfect.
The airport was a breeze both in and out. What a great improvement!
For those who bring back liquor, remember when you get back to the states you have to check it because you can not go thru US security with any liquid over 3 ounces including liquor.
Meet some real nice people, it seems to us that people seem to be friendlier when they are nude. Our friends Amy and Roger make this time very special. Met some new friends Fred and Susan and saw some old ones like Fran and Joe.
The worst thing was a horrible site at Papagayo’s, a woman sat down on the wood tables on the patio and found it too hot, so what did she do, she took a table place mat and sat on it. She had a thong bikini bottom on but still it was gross. We made sure that the staff wiped the place mats before we ate on them.
Thanks to
Jim and Mary Ruos, Caribbean Island Travel, they are the best
Walt and Roberta
