La Samanna and St. Martin

Old Jan 12th, 2008, 12:26 AM
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La Samanna and St. Martin

After reading a couple reviews about La Samanna on TA, I am just wondering what the deal is? Is the resort really great, or is it not? I think I am leaning on choosing La Samanna for my trip to the Caribbean in May/June 2008. La Samanna and St. Martin seems to be a great choice since the resort is known for being luxury, having a great beach, service, etc. St. Martin seems to have the best of both worlds... great beaches and great luxury shopping.. not to mention, a day trip to St. Barth's for more shopping or a trip to Anguilla are accessible via ferry.

So I am just wondering from your experiences, is La Samanna actually a reallly good resort? The reviews either seem to be very positive or down right negative. The family would be staying in the Two-Bedroom Suite with the Family Plan.. the two bedroom suite can't be too bad, right?
TrojanBMW is offline  
Old Jan 12th, 2008, 02:59 AM
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Ah, La Samanna is one of those places you either love or hate. The reason is service, ambiance, etc. often doesn't live up to the price you pay which is why there are conflicting reviews.
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Old Jan 12th, 2008, 04:31 AM
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I can tell you that La Samanna is in a lovely location on a beautiful beach.
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Old Jan 12th, 2008, 06:08 PM
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It was a great resoret 8-10 years ago and has rested on a reputation. The hotel has too many coats of paint and fix-ups to really call it luxury any more. The food is fair and over-priced. The only positive is their beach but for beachesanguilla beats it by far. Personally, we found te island boring on 2 one week visits about 7-9 years apart.
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Old Jan 13th, 2008, 08:22 AM
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well, you can say many things about SXM, but I have never heard it called boring before. LOL
SXM is an island with 2 distinct sides and many activities.
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Old Jan 13th, 2008, 09:20 AM
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Yeah.. St. Martin seems to have plenty to do. What is the shopping like in Marigot? Is it as good as the shopping in St. Barth's? What actual stores are in Marigot.. such as Hermes, Vuitton, etc?

And maybe La Samanna is a little bit older, but it isn't like Cap Juluca, Hotel St. Isle de France or Malliouhana are new? I just think staying at La Samanna is the best of both worlds since it has a great beach like Cap Juluca but it has more to do like the hotels on St. Barth's.
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Old Jan 14th, 2008, 11:49 AM
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I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I cannot in any way recommend La Samanna. My husband and I stayed there two years ago for several days before heading over to Anguilla.
It is NOT a luxury resort. I agree with other poster that it has been relying on it's reputation for quite a bit too long.
Our room was small and old looking. There was NOTHING luxury about the bathroom.
Upon arrival we wanted a bottle of wine from room service and the guy that brought it to our room looked like we had asked the world of him.
We arrived at night so took a walk on the grounds the next day and they were desperately in need of some serious sprucing up. Junky.
The beach is so-so, but be prepared to walk down quite a flight of steps to get to it. You can't just walk right onto the beach. The service at breakfast was slow and not very friendly.
The island of St. Martin itself IMO is dirty, filled with very bad traffic including people on scooters and motorcycles driving incredible speeds and weaving in and out of traffic. I suppose if the Casinos are your thing you might like it. Also keep in mind La Samanna is not in walking distance of anything. I did not enjoy my stay there. To me a true luxury resort is more along the lines of Cuisinart or Cap Jaluca in Anguilla. Not trying to be negative, just my honest opinion.
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Old Jan 14th, 2008, 01:50 PM
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The shopping in Marigot is limited with savings for those from the US of 10-15% so not really worth buying but 2 hours of window shopping is an activity worth doing if it's not too hot.St. Barts not much better but has more of a personality in the shopping experience.
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Old Jan 15th, 2008, 03:58 AM
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The best shopping on the island by far is the Dutch side. Strolling Front Street is a lot of fun even if you don't buy.
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