Patty

Planning a 6 night trip in late June/early July. Currently thinking of a 3/3 split between the two. We already have a trip to St. Lucia planned for May and will be staying at Jade Mountain (anniversary splurge) and hadn't planned on returning to the Caribbean so soon, but we need to go to the East Coast for my niece's graduation in June and are using FF miles. Since it's only 10K more miles for a Caribbean award with a domestic stopover vs just a domestic award, I thought why not make a detour (isn't that great rationalization on my part? )!

Anyway, so I'd like to keep the budget for this fairly moderate, preferably no more than around $1800 total for our accommodations for 6 nights. I was thinking the bulk of that could be spent on St. Barts (where I think I'll need it) and going with something cheaper on St. Martin to offset that.

On St. Martin I was thinking of staying in Grand Case and forgoing a rental car. What do you think of the area?

I found a studio for rent that looks like it might be what we're looking for http://www.vrbo.com/150176 Anyone stayed there? Anyone have other recs?

On St. Barts I was thinking of staying in the St. Jean area. Is that the only beach area with restaurants, etc. within walking distance? We do plan to rent a car on St. Barts but we also like places with a village atmosphere and being able to just walk around. What about Flamands?

I've been looking at Les Ilets de la Plage, Emeraude Plage, Village St. Jean and Baie des Anges. Has anyone stayed at any of those? Any other recs?

I was also looking at villas but it seems most of them only rent on a weekly basis or at least the websites only list weekly prices. Would I be able to rent by the day in off season or do they generally discourage that? If you know of any particular villas in my price range that can be rented by the day, please let me know.

I did find one that posted daily rates http://www.vrbo.com/150176 Has anyone stayed there?

The other thing I can't decide is whether I want to be on the hillside or on the beach. I can see advantages to both. What do people do for beach chairs and umbrellas if you're not staying on the beach? Can they be rented on the beach or is it BYO?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Patty

Oops, I posted the wrong VRBO link for the second one http://www.vrbo.com/114999

Callaloo

I like the way you think!

In St. Martin, I LOOOOOOVE to stay in Grand Case. Last time we were there (March), we stayed at Le Petit Hotel, which I highly recommend. The year before, we stayed in an appartment right on Grand Case beach, very near the property you are looking at. That property is a good location, very close to the main part of the village, and of course, right on the beach.

In neither case did we have a car, but I will caveat that with the fact that last year, we were chartering a boat anchored in Grand Case, so we went everywhere by boat (plus a few bus trips and taxi rides). This year, we were quite content to laze on the beach and watch the Heineken Regatta from our perch for 3 days.

If you have not been to St. Martin in general, or Grand Case in particular, you should be prepared for what you'll find. First of all, there is a busy main drag (Grand Case Boulevard) with, oftentimes, no sidewalk, which makes walking into the main part of the village a little challenging. You can make the walk on the beach if you prefer. The area itself can appear somewhat seedy/dirty, but once you turn to the beachside, it's quite another world. Very Mediterranean and lively, but not too crowded or cheesy (although no place on the island seems immune to cruise ship daytripper buses). The beach is quite pretty, but not the best on St. Martin; it affords great views of Anguilla across the channel, and we also made great sport of watching the little planes landing at Grand Case airport. We loved walking down the beach to Calmos Cafe and having drinks, then stepping across the street to one of dozens of topnotch restaurants for dinner. For less, you can eat at one of the lolos, which really give local flavor.

I will admit going to St. Martin last year (2007) with very low expectations. I had honeymooned on the island waaaay back in 1989, and disliked it enough to avoid it for the next 18 years. Since then, when not sailing, I found my true island home in the secluded and remote Out Islands of the Bahamas, which are about as different from St. Martin as you can get. But circumstances brought us back to SXM last year, and basing ourselves in Grand Case made a big difference for us, for we'd found a setting and vibe that worked for us. We liked it enough to return in 2008.

I've got trip reports of all three trips on my webpage: www.islandtime.homestead.com.

Patty

Thanks, Callaloo! After reading your trip report, I think Grand Case will be perfect for us, especially when you likened it to San Pedro. We loved San Pedro (although it's been many, many years since we were there) and other similar funky little beach towns. Speaking of Belize, we're headed back there in Feb for the first time since 1995. We'll be spending most of our time inland but are planning a few days on Caulker and will probably head over to San Pedro for the day to see what it's like now (I'll try to pick a non-cruise ship day).

Thanks for the tips about walking around. Is it fine to walk along the beach at night? I read someone else's review that made it sound like walking along the beach was unsafe at night.

I really enjoyed all of your reports. Thanks for sharing!

Patty

On the St. Barts front, I sent an inquiry to the VRBO listing and received an email from a rental agency asking me to contact them. When I called I was told the minimum rental period for that villa was 7 nights. Not only that but the price is quite outdated. It almost seems like the listing is just there as a lead generator.

Right now I'm leaning toward either a beach villa at Les Ilets or an A bungalow at Emeraude unless anyone has other recs. The beach villas at Les Ilets seem like they'd be more private as they're stand alone units rather than duplexes and we'd have a front facing view of the ocean rather than a side view looking across other villas. The other units at Emeraude are out of my price range.

RAB

It has been a few years since we were there, but we stayed at Village St. Jean in St. Barts several times; it was a relatively inexpensive and quite nice place. But not on the beach, if that is important. As for walking Grand Case (or any other) beach at night, I think most people with knowledge of St. Martin would recommend against it.

elisemf

You would be happy at any of the hotels you mentioned. Les Islets are much roomier than the accomodations at Emeraude, but the convenient patio kitchens, and recent redecorations at Emeraude are very nice. I am also especially fond of VSB. Since that is pretty quiet season I would consider contacting the villa rental companies, and asking if there are any villas for your exact dates. Sometimes you can fit into a slot between rentals. Baie des Anges is nice, but kind of plain, and there is no "village" there, the beach in Flamands is at the bottom of a hill.

iw

We stayed at Esmeralda in St. Martin on Orient Bay. Basic hotel, but need a car or taxi. Grand Case would be a good choice, just be smart when walking. I have read good things about Grand Case Beach Club, but do not have experience.

I do know that the landing in St. Barth's is about the most exciting thing I have ever done. Amazing.

We stayed at Emeraude Plage last summer. It is clean and basic and the staff was helpful. We found that we did need a car since taxis are not reliable. There is an outdoor kitchen that we used every day for lunch. We drove to the local market and stocked up on everything that we needed. That allowed us to splurge at dinner. St. Jean was nice and Andy's Hideaway was excellent and fairly reasonable. We also ate a Zanzibarth (sp) and Eden Rock.

Callaloo

Patty, I didn't like to walk the beach in Grand Case after dinner, though we'd done it a few times -- there are several spots where it's very dark. This was motivated by the general vigilance that I try to exercise under all circumstances (although, as you probably know, St. Martin in general has more crime than some other islands). Our typical routine was to walk the beach to dinner while there was still some daylight, then to walk along the road on the way back from dinner.

Patty

Thanks everyone for your advice and suggestions!

Does anyone have a recommendation for a rental car company on St. Barts?

I'm looking at taking the ferry to St. Barts. Is there much of a difference between www.rapidexplorer.com and www.voyager-st-barths.com? If we take the latter, we'd leave from Oyster Pond. It looks like both take 40 minutes to make the crossing. I tend to get claustrophobic on small planes and it's exacerbated by heat so prefer to avoid it unless there's no practical alternative. I've read the comments about the water being rough but it takes a lot for either one of us to get seasick.

Finally, what time should we be back at SXM for a 1:15pm departure to JFK?

Thanks again!

Patty

PS - Do the ferries generally run on time?

elisemf

The rental companies in St Barth are all pretty much equal. You can see what rates you get on one of the leading internet travel sites to compare. Its fun to try a Smart Car from Gust Smart St. Barth (Colombier) Tel: 0590 27 95 06. As for the ferries, just know that the crossing can be very rough. If you are inclined to sea-sickness, be sure to come prepared with Dramamine.

TPAYT

Budget accomodations on St. Bart's?-----let us in on it. Of course if you're going in June or July the prices would be less.

Love St. Bart's(beautiful, classy, safe, great restaurants and shopping), but it's very expensive.

St. Jean would have the most restaurants & shops in walking distance, but you would still need a car to get around---the Smart card are fun.

On the other hand, St. Martin was not "our cup of Tea" except for a few good restaurants. Some nice resorts, but didn't feel real safe walking around, especially at night. If I went there again, I would stay at a resort.

Good luck, and let us know your results.

TPAYT

Sorry---it's Smart Car not "card ".

Although, if there was one of those, it might not be a bad idea---every time you charged something stupid, the card would reject it!!!

Patty

Neither of us are prone to seasickness so hopefully we'll be fine on the ferry.

I checked with a few villa agencies and the minimum number of nights they would rent was 5. I did contemplate spending all of our time on St. Barts but decided to stick with a 2 island split (for now).

I booked a beach villa at Le Ilets. Still deciding on St. Martin and currently leaning toward L'Esplanade.

If I take the 10:00am ferry to Oyster Pond that arrives at 10:40am, does that give me plenty of time to make a 1:15pm departure from SXM? I'll be flying in business.

Patty

I was looking at the Smart Cars and MINIs and then I came across these http://www.qdoscars.co.uk/zest.htm

Has anybody ever rented a Zest? 21 HP, woohoo! Well it only weighs 800 lbs so maybe that's enough. Best of all, I read that there are drainage holes to keep the passenger compartment from flooding when it rains

GoAway

In Grand Case, I've not stayed at Le Petit Hotel, but I have stayed at L'Esplanade and much prefer its location over Le Petit's.

Patty

Thanks, can you tell me why you much prefer one location over the other?

GoAway

L'Esplanade sits up on a hill overlooking the town and bay. I don't need beachfront at night (my days are spent at Orient Beach), and I like being able to look down on the town and across at Anguilla as it lights up at night.

Mostly though, I think the walk through Grand Case is a little easier from that end -- a lot of the street that goes to 'Restaurant Row' isn't as heavily travelled on the L'Esplanade end (actually, the road goes down to Grand Case Beach Club), and for the most part it's more residential. There isn't a sidewalk, but the lighter traffic makes it feel a little safer from passing cars.

On the plus side for Le Petit - there's a really good breakfast spot nearer to it than it is to L'Esplanade.

By the way - if you're going to stay in Grand Case and go anywhere else at all on the island, you do want to get a rental car. You won't need the car to drive to dinner in Grand Case - but you will for anyplace else. We've always has L'Esplanade arrange it for us - pickup at the airport and driven to the hotel to fill out the paperwork, with the return handled at the hotel also (they then drove us to the airport). I don't know if this is as cost-effective as renting on your own, but it certainly is a convenient and relaxing way to start a vacation.

Patty

Thanks, GoAway. I made a booking at L'Esplanade. Since we're staying on the beach in St. Barts, this may be a nice contrast. We're not there long so will probably just hang out in Grand Case.

For anyone else looking for budget accommodation on St. Barts, Hotel Christopher is reopening next month as sort of a "no frills" or maybe "few frills" property with rates starting at 99 EUR in low season and 170 EUR in high. You could stay a whole week for less than $1000 at the current exchange!