Traveling to St. Martin (RIU Palace)
Apr 6th, 2015, 11:14 AM
#1
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Traveling to St. Martin (RIU Palace)
I am traveling to St Martin staying at the RIU Palace on the French side. I read a thread on this site that literally terrified me. So naturally, I am now trying to plan every damn hour of this trip. (Sigh) Thankfully, there are so many brighter threads on here than just crime reports. =(
We are staying at the RIU Palace? Has any one stayed or been? Good, bad and ugly details?
For things to do, I think we want to:
- Visit Shoal Bay East in Anguilla for a day trip. (Will we have to rent a car once there?)
- We DID want to go to St. Barth but everyone says it is overrated. Thoughts?
- Fly Boarding... really excited about this one.
- Visit Marigot to shop, do a Segway tour, we think.
- I just read on the French side we should go to Pinel Island and Orient Beach.
I am wondering do we HAVE to rent a car? I wonder about airport transfers. Expedia has them at $50.00 per person. For that price, we were going to get a private SUV. Anyone think that isn't smart? The price is the same via Expedia.
For our trips into Marigot for activities, the trip to Anguilla leaves from there... then we were going to go another day to do the shopping and segway tours etc. So 2 trips. 2 different days. Other than that, we were probably going to stay on resort (since that other thread scared the sh*t out of us!) I am going to google Pinel Island and Orient Beach, maybe that is something to do as well.
Anything we should also consider? Any insight? Especially hotel insight. I HOPE it is gated. I stayed at a RIU in Costa Rica and it was isolated but had a gated car entry as well. I am hoping that guy DavidSXM is still around. His feedback is so clutch on these SXM threads.
Thanks Everyone!
We are staying at the RIU Palace? Has any one stayed or been? Good, bad and ugly details?
For things to do, I think we want to:
- Visit Shoal Bay East in Anguilla for a day trip. (Will we have to rent a car once there?)
- We DID want to go to St. Barth but everyone says it is overrated. Thoughts?
- Fly Boarding... really excited about this one.
- Visit Marigot to shop, do a Segway tour, we think.
- I just read on the French side we should go to Pinel Island and Orient Beach.
I am wondering do we HAVE to rent a car? I wonder about airport transfers. Expedia has them at $50.00 per person. For that price, we were going to get a private SUV. Anyone think that isn't smart? The price is the same via Expedia.
For our trips into Marigot for activities, the trip to Anguilla leaves from there... then we were going to go another day to do the shopping and segway tours etc. So 2 trips. 2 different days. Other than that, we were probably going to stay on resort (since that other thread scared the sh*t out of us!) I am going to google Pinel Island and Orient Beach, maybe that is something to do as well.
Anything we should also consider? Any insight? Especially hotel insight. I HOPE it is gated. I stayed at a RIU in Costa Rica and it was isolated but had a gated car entry as well. I am hoping that guy DavidSXM is still around. His feedback is so clutch on these SXM threads.
Thanks Everyone!
Jun 3rd, 2015, 09:50 AM
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Hi, You ask a lot of questions. I will try to answer a few:
1- First, do not worry. You will have a great time. RIU is a nice place
2- Things to do in Saint Martin:
- go to Orient Beach. Even try the nude end if you dare. You will enjoy it.
- Try some of the other beaches that are more isolated -- Baie Rouge
- Restaurant in Grande Case
3- Saint Barth is very pretty but hard to appreciate in a day. If you do, fly from Grande Case in the early am, rent a car, tour the island, stop at Salines or Gouverneur for a quick swim (again skinny dip if you dare), go to lunch at Eden Rock or La Plage on Saint Jean beach, go to Gustavia for a bit of shopping, and fly back. You'll have the time of your life. It is like Saint Martin with only the best parts (i.e. no crime, no casinos, no overdevelopment, no fast food), at five times the price. It is worth seeing.
1- First, do not worry. You will have a great time. RIU is a nice place
2- Things to do in Saint Martin:
- go to Orient Beach. Even try the nude end if you dare. You will enjoy it.
- Try some of the other beaches that are more isolated -- Baie Rouge
- Restaurant in Grande Case
3- Saint Barth is very pretty but hard to appreciate in a day. If you do, fly from Grande Case in the early am, rent a car, tour the island, stop at Salines or Gouverneur for a quick swim (again skinny dip if you dare), go to lunch at Eden Rock or La Plage on Saint Jean beach, go to Gustavia for a bit of shopping, and fly back. You'll have the time of your life. It is like Saint Martin with only the best parts (i.e. no crime, no casinos, no overdevelopment, no fast food), at five times the price. It is worth seeing.
Jun 4th, 2015, 08:44 PM
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We visited St. Martin in February for the 1st time. I booked quick to take advantage of a cheap airfare offer. When I started to do a bit more research I nearly had a heart attack based on some posts here which are likely the same you have come across. Fortunately, we had a lovely time with no incidents.
We rented a town home in Orient Beach Village. We rented a car and had no trouble driving around. Orient Beach was great, we also visited the beach club at Anse Marcel, the beach at Grand Case, and Pinel Island for a day. They were all awesome. We also went into Grand Case for dinner a couple of nights.
We had originally thought about a day trip to Anguilla or St. Bart's, but we only had 6 days and ended up really enjoying relaxing in St. Martin. In fact we didn't ever make it to the dutch side, though I would have liked to see the planes arriving over the beach.
I think you will really enjoy your visit and shouldn't be concerned about venturing out on your own, especially during the day. All the folks we encountered were very welcoming and friendly. I am looking forward to a return visit.
Enjoy!
We rented a town home in Orient Beach Village. We rented a car and had no trouble driving around. Orient Beach was great, we also visited the beach club at Anse Marcel, the beach at Grand Case, and Pinel Island for a day. They were all awesome. We also went into Grand Case for dinner a couple of nights.
We had originally thought about a day trip to Anguilla or St. Bart's, but we only had 6 days and ended up really enjoying relaxing in St. Martin. In fact we didn't ever make it to the dutch side, though I would have liked to see the planes arriving over the beach.
I think you will really enjoy your visit and shouldn't be concerned about venturing out on your own, especially during the day. All the folks we encountered were very welcoming and friendly. I am looking forward to a return visit.
Enjoy!
Dec 13th, 2015, 10:09 PM
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Hello. I am new to this forum, and I am traveling to the Riu palace as well with my girlfriend. How did you like it? Was it easy to travel as we are renting a car to travel from the airport, and wish to travel to Maho beach on the next day. What can we expect ?
