In March 2008, we spent a week in St. Martin and took a day trip to St. Barthelemy.
~~ ST. MARTIN ~~
HOTEL: We stayed at L'Esplanade, a LOVELY small hotel tucked in the hills of Grand Case with panoramic views of the ocean. The hotel feels very private and makes you forget you're staying on the very busy island of St. Maarten/St. Martin. The landscaping is beautiful. L'Esplanade and its staff lived up to all the great reviews we had read.
~ ROOM: We stayed in a spacious Deluxe Studio. It had a King bed, a small dining table with 4 chairs and a kitchenette with a large fridge, an oven, a microwave and dinnerware/cookware. The room also had a DVD player, a CD player and a small safe (you would not be able to fit a laptop). If you need a voltage converter, the front desk will lend you one at no charge. We had a lovely ocean view and we could see the Grand Case airport runway to the left. We did not think the airplane noise was intrusive. Only small planes use that airport and only during daylight.
~ BEACH: L'Esplanade is not on the beach. There's a footpath that will take you either to Grand Case Beach or Petite Plage. It is a 5-10 minute walk.
~ POOLS: The main pool has a swim-up bar. You can order drinks and food from 11am-6pm every day. There's a small round wading pool.
~ FOOD: We tried the cheeseburgers with fries, the chicken salad and the chicken sandwich. The morning of our departure, we ordered a baguette, croissants, pain au chocolat and pain au raisin for breakfast. All of the food was very good.
BEACHES: Last year, we visited islands with spectacular beaches and thought the ones on St. Maarten/St. Martin were average. We liked Baie Orientale and Ilet Pinel the best.
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| Baie Orientale |
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| Baie Orientale |
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| Mahoe Bay |
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| Friar's Bay |
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| Galion Beach |
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| Grand Case Beach |
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| Grand Case Beach |
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| Petite Plage |
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| Ilet Pinel |
DINNERS: All our dinners were in Grand Case. We'd do the 5-10 minute walk every night from the hotel. We never made reservations. We'd walk into town and decide then where to eat. I think it's fine to do that if you eat early, but if you eat later and it's high season, reservations might be best. Overall, we were not wowed by the food. We only had one GREAT dining experience. Bottom line, we had high expectations due to all the reviews we had read and they weren't quite met. By the way, service was always good.
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| Restaurant Row - Grand Case |
~ SPIGA: This Italian restaurant is not on the water and offers 1 euro for 1 dollar if you pay cash. I had the beef tenderloin. My husband had raviolis filled with veal. Our son had spaghetti. Our food was GOOD. With 1 glass of wine, 1 coke, 1 juice and 1 bottled water, our bill came to $74 (before tip).
~ LE TASTEVIN: This restaurant is located on the water and does not offer 1 euro for 1 dollar. I had the dover sole fillet. My husband had the veal tenderloin. For dessert, I had the cheesecake and my husband had the chocolate cake. With 1 bottled water, 1 glass of wine, 1 coke and 1 apple juice, dinner came to $142 (before tip). The food was GOOD. (Before we went out for dinner, our son ate the rest of the spaghetti from the previous night.)
~ L'ESCAPADE: Our GREAT dining experience. This lovely restaurant is on the water and offers 1 euro for 1.25 dollar if you pay cash. My husband and I had the jumbo shrimp in cajun sauce with risotto. It was DELICIEUX! Our son had the chicken breast with mashed potatoes. It must have been DELICIEUX as well since he cleaned out his plate. I had creme brulee and my husband had crepes with chocolate sauce. SUPER! We paid cash, so our bill came to $133 (before tip).
~ LA CALIFORNIA: Our WORST dining experience. It's on the water and offers 1 euro for 1 dollar if you pay cash. I had the most AWFUL mussels with a SMELLY broth. I couldn't even finish them. My husband had the lasagna bolognese which was just okay. Our son had a kids meal, meat patty with fries. For dessert, I had an AWFUL banane flambee and my husband had a good chocolate ice cream. Our bill came to $74.50 (before tip).
~ TALK OF THE TOWN: We did takeout from this local place in town. The ribs with fries and bbq chichen breast with mac and cheese came to $13! The food was good too!
~ BISTROT CARAIBES: This restaurant is not on the water and does not offer 1 euro for 1 dollar. They have a tank filled with lobsters right in front of the place. I think it's their specialty. We really wanted to try their lobster but were worried that our son would freak out over us eating them. I had the grilled ribeye center. My husband had the grilled salmon steak. Our son had the chicken with mashed potatoes. For dessert, I had the biggest ever creme brulee. YUM! My husband had the profiteroles with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. DOUBLE YUM! With our drinks, dinner came to $142.50 (before tip). Our food was GOOD. Our desserts were GREAT.
OTHER STUFF:
BUTTERFLY FARM: This is a neat little place for kids and even for adults. The cost was $35 for the three of us. The price includes free return visits any time during the remainder of our stay.
WEATHER/WATER TEMP: Overall, we had good weather. It rained a couple of times and some days were windy. I thought the water was cold. My husband and son didn't seem to mind.
MOSQUITOES: They love my son and me but he only got one nasty bite and I just got a couple. I was very vigilant with the mosquito repellant and must have done a good job!
RENTAL CAR/DRIVING: We rented with AAA car rental, a local company. We paid $180 for our entire stay. They're 5 minutes from the airport and will pick you up and drop you off. No problems to report. I was a tad annoyed that the rental car company said they'd have a map for us and they didn't. However, we found it easy to get around the island and our hotel had maps. As widely reported, the traffic is awful.
NUDITY: If that's an issue for you, here's the deal. We saw some topless women but they were always outnumbered by women with tops. We really didn't feel like it was in our face or maybe we just weren't really paying attention to that.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I read that safety is a problem on the island. I'm happy to report that at no time did we feel unsafe. We never went to secluded places and made sure to never leave anything in our rental car. We found the people to be really nice. Language is not an issue. I was happy to practice my French (it's my first language) but everyone there speaks English as well. St. Maarten/St. Martin ended up being what we thought it would be: not really our cup of tea... too busy, too crowded and we didn't think it was a particularly attractive island. My husband was surprised (not pleasantly) when I booked this trip. Why? The island was never on top of our list. I booked it for a variety of reasons. I had Continental vouchers from a previously canceled trip, I wanted a non-stop flight, etc... Okay, so I'm still not making sense, according to him :-). Anyway, we won't be going back.
~~ ST. BARTHELEMY ~~
I had always wanted to go to St. Barthelemy. My husband, who had this image of a very "chichi-foufou" island with too many "poseurs", had no desire to step foot on it. So we compromised on a day trip.
GETTING THERE: We flew St. Barth Commuter from Grand Case Airport. We left St. Martin at 8:30am and returned at 4:30pm. It's a 15-minute flight. It all went quite smoothly and we'd highly recommend this method of getting to St. Barthelemy if you're staying on the French side of St. Martin.
CAR RENTAL: Before the trip, we reserved a car with Alamo which has an office right at the airport. The economy 4-door/automatic/air vehicle cost us $50 for the day. We had no problems with the rental.
BEACHES: We spent our morning on aptly named SHELL BEACH. It is very picturesque and full of shells. Our son thoroughly enjoyed himself. We also checked out ANSE DE GRANDE SALINE, ANSE DU GOUVERNEUR, ANSE DE LORIENT, and BAIE DE ST. JEAN.
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| Shell Beach |
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| Anse de Grande Saline |
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| Anse du Gouverneur |
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| Anse de Lorient |
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| Baie de St. Jean |
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| Baie de St. Jean |
BREAKFAST: We had breakfast at LA CREPERIE in Gustavia. Our food was DELICIEUX. I had a croissant with coffee and a freshly squeezed orange juice. My husband had the omelette with swiss cheese with toast and bacon on the side with cranberry juice. Our son had scrambled eggs with toast and an apple juice. Breakfast came to $55 (before tip). We'd definitely recommend.
LUNCH: We had lunch at DO BRAZIL on Shell Beach. The place was packed with only 2 servers, so service was slow. We all had cheeseburgers with fries. They were VERY GOOD. With 3 drinks and a bottled water, lunch came to $115 (before tip). Did I mention how much the dollar sucks?
