Any hotel suggestions for St. Maarten?

[uzza]

Hey Guys,

Heading to the US in a couple of months and am making a detour down to St. Maarten to get the obligatory shot at SXM (aka jets just over the beach). Does anyone have any suggestions for hotels (or ones to avoid) down there, or just any other info on St. Maarten that may be helpful? I had a quick chat to a TA regarding hotels and they were next to useless!

Cheers,

Uzza

 

[samh004]

I found wikipedia to not be very specific, possibly due to the Island being split in half, but this wikitravel page has some good suggestions.

 

[garyjohn951]

I stayed at a timeshare on the French side. That side is much better, underdeveloped. The Dutch side [ or little america ], has the big hotels, cruise ships, etc. We stayed at Anse Marcel, but the French capital Marigot is a lovely french town.

 

[SimonM]

I haven't been to St Maarten, but it's on my research list for a future trip.

I watched a DVD of the flights arriving into Princess Juliana Airport and was hooked. Google Maps shows a couple of hotels close the beach end of the SXM runway such as the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort which appears to be a short trudge along the sand from the famous spot.

Also, and I don't know how true this is, one site suggested that the majority of big planes come in on Thursdays, so this might be worth checking out.

 

[albatross710]

Tripadvisor has some reports: St. Maarten/St. Martin Hotels: Read St. Maarten/St. Martin Hotel Reviews and Compare Prices - TripAdvisor

 

[Sprucegoose]

Hey Guys,

Heading to the US in a couple of months and am making a detour down to St. Maarten to get the obligatory shot at SXM (aka jets just over the beach). Does anyone have any suggestions for hotels (or ones to avoid) down there, or just any other info on St. Maarten that may be helpful? I had a quick chat to a TA regarding hotels and they were next to useless!

Cheers,

Uzza

I look forward to reading your trip report

cheers
SPRUCE

 

[NYCguy]

How much do you want to spend? We've stayed at La Samanna, which is 10 minutes by car from SXM. It's not a budget hotel, but it is excellent.

 

[Lendav Orav]

Stayed at the Radisson on the French side few months ago. French side is definitely nicer with more character. The Radisson is pretty good although nothing spectacular. It has a very nice little set of restaurants just next door though, sort of like its own little village and everyone is French-speaking, so you actually feel like you're somewhere exotic (unlike the Dutch side which is tourist hell). If you're there for plane spotting it's right at the other end of the island from SXM though, I think it was $40 each way in taxi.

 

[uzza]

Thanks for all the responses! I'm thinking of spending somewhere around the $200USD/night range for a couple of nights, bit of plane spotting and relaxing - presumably theres plenty of opportunities for the usual 'beachy' activities (jetskis etc.)