St. Maarten or St. Barts, anyone?

[Anna Low]

We are considering a quick trip to St. Maarten or St. Barts in a week or so - has anyone been and what are the recommendations? St. Maarten seems to be less freakishly expensive than St. Barts, but perhaps it has simply been too long since I have been to the Caribbean.

Any tips or reviews would be greatly appreciated!!!

[ManteoChik]

I can't offer much advice, but some of our friends go to St Maarten every year and love it. Fortunatly for them, money isn't an issue so it doesn't bother them...I however live in the real world (lol).

[Anna Low]

We are definitely leaning towards St. Maarten - this is only a little side trip for us and not a big vacation. We are definitely not penny-pinchers, but we also don't want to spend $1k plus per night on hotel accomodations alone. Our original plan was merely to go to a beach for a few days that would have ocean water warm enough to swim in. Somehow, it morphed into this....

[cari2]

My husband went to St. Martin two weeks ago. We loved it! We stayed at La Samanna (french side) and were there for four nights. For us, it was a great getaway. We didn't really explore the island as I just wanted to relax and was not interesting in sight-seeing. I only left the resort twice (for meals) and in retrospect should have stayed at the resort the whole time (it was gorgeous). It is very hot there right now, and it really doesn't cool down at night. Let me know if you want to know more about the hotel or anything else...I haven't been to St. Barts so can't compare but you can take a day trip from one to the other via ferry (we didn't because I was lazy)...

[Anna Low]

Thanks Cari2! We are also interested in just relaxing on this trip and not much sightseeing. At this point, our plan is to stay at the Westin. I would love to take the ferry to St. Barts - hopefully we can do that while we are there. Any dining suggestions? We are very casual people and would like nothing more than to park ourselves at a little seafood place on the beach.

[cari2]

Sorry, I can't be of much help in the restaurant department. We went to one decent place - Temptation - but it was a little more swanky and not really beachy. Other than that the best meals we had were at the resort. Our hotel was on the beach and one night we ordered room service and sat on the balacony looking at the water - it was gorgeous.

[Sasha]

We went to St. Martin for our honeymoon and it was wonderful. There are great restaurants on the French side in a town called Grand Case. Basically, many of the great French chefs come from France and set up restaurants in this town too. Our hotel was in Grand Case and we pretty much went into town every night and ate at a different restaurant. It's been over 5 years, so I am struggling to come up with some names....Le Tastevin sticks out in my mind, as does this wonderful Italian called Il Nettuno. Many of them are right on the water, providing beautiful scenery.

Grand Case has some of the best restaurants I have ever been to, I highly suggest exploring them. Have a great trip!

[wine_o_girlie]

We went to both St. Maarten and St. Barths for our honeymoon and loved both but for different reasons.

SXM - I'm with Sasha in recommending the French side and specifically Grand Case for accomodations and dining. I didn't love the Dutch side of the island (except for the casinos :p ) because it is sooooooo over-developed and I didn't want to stay in a "typical" high rise hotel. We stayed at L'Esplanade (http://www.lesplanade.com/web/the_hotel.php) and loved it. It is not on the beach but we loved the small, intimate feel of the property and the owner (Kristen) is so nice and warm. We walked almost every night down the hill into Grand Case and had dinner, it was so nice. We drove most days to Orient Beach or sometimes we just wanted into Grand Case and went to Calmos Cafe on Grand Case beach - if you are drinking/eating you can use their beach chairs. Pros - SXM is a lot of fun, great restaurants, and good nightlife for the Caribbean. Cons (IMO) - can seem overcrowded, can seem a bit dirty, can seem a bit Americanized in places (McDonald's, KFC, etc.), and there are tons of timeshare people hanging around especially on the Dutch side.

St. Barths - in a word it is "fairytale". I mean truly it doesn't seem like a real place but rather a made up utopia. It's TINY (8 miles big), extremely rich (think huge mega yachts, celebrities, and Gucci stores), and so lush and beautiful. It's very, very hilly and driving can be an adventure. Coming up over the hill and seeing Gustavia (the capital) harbor down below you with all of the yachts and the sun shining on the perfect aqua water is a major "wow" moment. We stayed at Eden Rock (http://www.edenrockhotel.com/) and it was amazing. I would go back in a heartbeat just for the amazing breakfast each morning. We went pre-renovation and it was expensive but I think it is much more expensive now. We barely left our resort because it was so nice except to drive around and explore. Pros - amazing beautiful, not overcrowded, you feel like you have found paradise. Cons - all that beauty comes with a hefty pricetag.

Another option you might want to look into is Anguilla (AXA). It's a quick 20 minute ferry ride away from SXM (much shorter than the journey to St. Barths). We absolutely love it and have been several times and will return this July. It has amazing beaches and restaurants plus it is very small and uncommercialized (no McD's, etc.) Check out this place - Ku resort (http://ku-anguilla.com/) it's on an incredible beach.

Just let me know if you have any questions! :)

[HeatherFL]

Todd loves St. Maarten, but I've heard that although crazy expensive, St. Barth's is beautiful and far superior. We have friends who have a home there and are constantly asking us to go, but we're too lazy to take the three planes from Florida to get there.

[Anna Low]

I am getting very excited about the trip. It will be so nice to not be here - even if it is only for a few days! It's hard to not be a goof - I was out yesterday getting lots of sunscreen and a new bathing suit! Good to know that we should head toward the french side of SXM as opposed to the dutch side. I am so glad to get recommendations. Thanks to everyone!

Took a look at Ku on Anguilla. Wow. We are still deciding on where to take my birthday trip, so that one definitely is a possibility.

That 2/3 planes was a huge factor in our choosing St. Maarten, so I completely understand. It pretty much burns up a day or two on each end, depending on where you are going and we just didn't have that kind of time.

[Sasha]

wine_o_girlie - Ha, we also stayed at L'Esplanade! It was wonderful, I loved having the two-story room and the openess of it. Beautiful view too. We also walk to down Grand Case Beach Club (I think that was the name!) and use their beach chairs, etc and then walked into town every night for dinner. I'd stay there again for sure.

All this talk is making me long for a return trip!

[taffers]

We're thinking of going to St. Barths or Anguilla for Thanksgiving this year...has anyone from the west coast been to either? Do you really have to make a ton of stops?

I can only find flights that stop in Miami or San Juan (or both!), then on to St. Maarten. I know you can't fly directly into St. Barths on a commercial flight, but aren't there flights that go straight from OC or LAX to St. Maarten?

Has anyone been to either place for Thanksgiving? Any recommendations for Thanksgiving dinner? It doesn't have to be turkey and stuffing. ;)

How is the weather then?

Lots of questions! Any other advice would be appreciated as well!

[wine_o_girlie]

We're thinking of going to St. Barths or Anguilla for Thanksgiving this year...has anyone from the west coast been to either? Do you really have to make a ton of stops?

I can only find flights that stop in Miami or San Juan (or both!), then on to St. Maarten. I know you can't fly directly into St. Barths on a commercial flight, but aren't there flights that go straight from OC or LAX to St. Maarten?

Has anyone been to either place for Thanksgiving? Any recommendations for Thanksgiving dinner? It doesn't have to be turkey and stuffing. ;)

How is the weather then?

Lots of questions! Any other advice would be appreciated as well!

Hey Taffers, yeah unfortunately getting to SBH or AXA from the West Coast seems to be a giant PITA. I am on the East Coast and it's still a PITA to get to SBH and AXA but trust me, it's so worth it! :) I would highly, highly doubt there is a direct flight from OC/LAX to SXM but I could be wrong.

About the best way to get to SBH from the East Coast is to get a direct flight from Dulles, Philly or NY into SXM, get a taxi to the Grand Case airport, and take a puddle jumper into SBH. I believe there might be a ferry boat but I would NOT take it because it's fairly long (around an hour) and I have heard a lot about it being very rough. Spend a bit more and take the puddle jumper flight, it's much faster, easier, and the descent is quite an experience (think super short runway that ends at the ocean over a mountain ). ;)

The best way for East Coasters to get to AXA is to again try to get a direct flight into SXM from Dulles, Philly, or NY, take a cab to the ferry terminal in Marigot, take the ferry into AXA (20 minute ride). American does fly to AXA but the flight times are very limited and it usually quite $$$.

I think your best bet is to look for a direct flight from OC/LAX to either Dulles, Philly, or NY and then book a direct from there into SXM. Either way, you are going to have a looooooooonnnnggggg day to get to AXA or SBH and it quite possibly might make more sense for you to break it up into 2 travel days. If you know that going into it, you will be much more prepared. Whatever flight you book, try to avoid San Juan AT ALL COSTS! That airport is a freaking nightmare and you will be delayed. We are traveling to AXA in July and are booked on a direct flight from Dulles into SXM (4 hour flight), check that flight out it's at good times.

I can answer other questions about lodging, dinner, etc. if you want - just let me know! I can also PM you if that would be better. Have fun planning! :)

[taffers]

Thanks wine! I have come to realize that it IS just a total PITA to get there, so we've decided to go to Hawaii instead! :o Waaaaaaaaay easier for us West Coasters!

Since we're just going for 5 days for Thanksgiving, it's too much travel time, BUT I will be back here and probably have a 100 questions for you because DH and I definitely plan on going to St. Barts in the future...hopefully the near future! ;)