Carly

I'm thinking of staying here for my honeymoon in September. Has anyone been here and gone all-inclusive? Is it worth all-inclusive or is it inexpensive enough where I wouldn't have to. Also, how are the accomodations in this resort and nightlife (not necessarily in this resort)?

Kim

Hi Carly, <BR>Skip Maho, and go to Great Bay. <BR>We stayed at Blue Bay in 99 and had <BR>a wonderful time, but I understand the hotel is in need of extensive renovations and attention now. <BR>Maho is right beside the airport...look out when Air France comes in, the plane will suck you right off the beach into the water, plus the sand storm... <BR>My travel agent, who just booked me for Cuba, stayed at Great Bay in December, and raved about it, advising that if we should return to St. Maartin, to head there for sure. Food is great, service awesome, plus, you are very close to downtown Phillipsburg for the excellent shopping! <BR>All inclusive is one option - we found it to be very cost efficient, yet still went out for dinner a few times to sample the local food, which is amazing. <BR>Grand Case, or, Gastronimy Alley, is the place to go for an above average dinner, but, if you head to Phillipsburg, be sure to stop in at Rick's Place and have one of their home made burgers....he flies the sirloin in from the U.S., and makes them up by hand...mmmmm...mmmm...great!! <BR>Have fun if you go, it's a wonderful island to see. <BR> <BR>K.

Vanessa

I haven't stayed at Maho but have to put in my two cents about Great Bay. Although I like the location of Great Bay, the hotel is not worth raving about. There are definitely better beaches on the island and hotels with better food. However, the location is great as it's withing walking distance to downtown Philpsburg and it has it's own casino. Don't get me wrong....it's clean, etc.; it's just not worthy of raving about. <BR> <BR> <BR>

Ken

We stayed at Maho in June of '94 for our honeymoon and had a terrific time. For a first-timer to St. Martin I think that is a good place to stay. It IS in a more active part of the island and right next to the airport, but we found it very entertaining to watch the planes land coming in 50 ft. over the beach. Adjacent to Maho, within a several hundred ft. are shops and restaurants, including Cheri's cafe, which draws locals as well as tourists. I would recommend NOT doing the all-inclusive because their are just too many great restaurants outside Maho to deprive yourself of - particularly in Marigot and Grand Case, both on the French side of the island. Which leads me to my other suggestion, which is to rent a car for most of your time there. There are great beaches in other parts of the island, including Orient beach on the NE part of the island and you shouldn't miss shopping in Phillipsburg for at least one afternoon. <BR> <BR> We also returned to visit St. Martin in 1997, staying at St. Tropez hotel alongside Orient beach - both trips having a car the whole stay. The beach at Maho is interesting, but fairly small and not the one you'ld want to confine yourself to for your whole stay, particularly if you are beachgoers as we are. Maho does have nice pools, and when we were there the one over the cliff next to the ocean was practically deserted the whole time we were there- awesome view of the Carribean. Caution though about your September travel date- that is high season for hurricanes. Hurricane Luis in particular and a couple others more recently have slammed St. Martin so at least keep that in mind. Actually, Maho and most of the hotels were closed more that 1 year after Luis- a lot of rebuilding took place. Almost forget, there's a casino at Maho also if you want to try you luck. If you have other specific questions on St. Martin or Maho, just place another entry on this tread and I'll try to respond.

Barbara

I live on St. maarten and I would definitely recommend Maho over Great Bay. Great Bay is probably cheaper so if you are on a budget, then that is a consideration. It is located near town and is a decent place <BR>Maho is a little more luxurious than Great Bay, howwever, and the location is better. It is surrounded by stores, restaurants, casinos,and night life.It is a much more fun place to hang out <BR>I would not recomemend the all inclusive anywhere on St. maarten. We have excellent restaurants. It would be a shame to only eat hotel food when you can dine at so many different places. You should rent a car so you can drive around and hit different beaches and different restaurants <BR>

Jill

Will be taking my first trip to St Martin in June. Have booked Sapphire Beach Resort in Cupecoy Beach but haven't found anyone who has been there. Am hoping its nice and that at least some people wear bathing suits!! Any info appreciated!!<BR>

stephanie

Carly, I've also stayed at the Maho Beach Hotel in 1996 and would say Ditto to just about everything Ken said. It really is fun to watch the planes fly in, the restaurants esp. Cheri's near the hotel are excellent (didn't eat anywhere that we didn't like.) There's live music at Cheri's, it's outdoor, we thought the food was great and it's a fun atmosphere. I would say a big drawback is that it's true the beach isn't huge so if you like to take long beach walks, you won't get them there. But, I will also say that there are so many different beaches on the island, esp. Cupecoy beach (sandstone cliffs right along the beach - beautiful) that it really is worth renting a car and driving to see the others. It depends on what you want from your caribbean trip. We also stayed in Anguilla on the same trip which is a 25 min. ferry ride from St. Martin, very quiet and our hotel was very secluded, and there was nothing to do there but walk the beach, lay out, swim in the pool and eat at the beach bar down the way - which we loved because we had so much activity and choice in St. Maarten. The contrast was great.<BR><BR>