lilceeja123

I am planning a 6 night solo trip to Saint Maarten end of March. I am 37 and looking to relax with a pina colada in the day at the pool or beach and then nice restaurants and some nightlife. I prefer the live music scene when solo.

I was thinking of splitting my trip 3 nights on the Dutch side and 3 nights French side. Was thinking the Morgan hotel and then grand case.

what do you think of splitting it up and of the areas staying solo? Any suggestions?

MoBro

Why Saint Maarten? We were thoroughly unimpressed there.
Seemed people stay on their resorts for food and entertainment, because town was really sad. This was several years ago, but I'd not go back there.
Especially would not want to travel there alone.

lilceeja123

hm interesting. I am hearing amazing things about it. I’m going for beaches, restaurants and to have a little nightlife. Also heard it’s relatively safe compared to other islands. What do you mean by the town was sad?

MoBro

Don't take my opinion as definitive. It's been 30 years since we stayed there for 10 nights. It was a disastrous vacation from start to end.

We had two children with us, and I'd reserved a car through Hertz, with two car seats. We arrived at the terrible-looking rental car place, where they literally laughed when we asked about our car seats. They had no such thing. They denied we'd even reserved car seats. The cars they had were seriously wrecks. We had no other option. We finally chose the 'best' car, which had a rear seat back, which kept falling down. Real safe for the kids. There was a very stinky sulphur pond, between our condo resort and the town.

Our first lodging situation was a condo we'd traded for our own in Colorado. It was quite nice, in a decent location, in sight of Philipsburg port. Its beach was advertised for snorkeling, but there were absolutely no fish there at all. In fact, there were spearfishers right there, amongst the swimmers and the children. Nice.

Town was sad, in that there were many starving dogs wandering around, and several children begging from tourists. Shops sold expensive trinkets. It was a place where the line between residents and tourists was drastic. Seemed most tourists just stayed on their resorts.

Our second lodging reservation had been arranged by a bona-fide travel agent. It was a sad situation. The drive there was in this rattle-trap car we'd rented, on very narrow, hilly, dirt roads. We didn't think our car would make it. We arrived at a very low-key place, with our 'suite' being barely decent. The only place to eat was at the 'resort' restaurant, where we had the worst food and service anywhere. Probably because the tip was automatically applied. We had two little kids, and couldn't even get crackers to the table to start for them.

We were happy to get out of there unscathed. Would never return.

BelleT

Hello! St. Maarten is the culinary capital of the Caribbean and attracts many from around the world; the crime rate is extremely low. I am not sure what the other person on the forum is referring to but since the hurricane in 2017, the main capital i.e. Philipsburg has not really been the place of attraction at night but definitely bustling for shopping throughout the day. Nightlife is usually down in the Simpson Bay area on the south eastern end of the island. You also have a few town centers on French Saint Martin including the French town capital for shopping. Beaches and activities are many.

Let me know what exactly you are looking for and I can direct your further.

MoBro

"St. Maarten is the culinary capital of the Caribbean". Seriously? You do know how many islands there are in the Caribbean?

"I am not sure what the other person on the forum is referring to". Well, I was pretty specific.

We have visited Anguilla, which was beautiful. We stayed a week at St Croix, which can also be dicey but The Buccaneer Resort where we stayed is awesome.
Have also toured the Dominican Republic.

BelleT

Yes seriously! I am not the only person who has made that statement it's something I have heard from others who have compared other islands when it comes to food choices.

I am glad you enjoyed your visits to the other islands!

Have a great day!

MoBro

Can you post some authentic published articles & reviews, saying it’s the “culinary capital of the Caribbean”, with details of restaurants and menus there?
What are your sources?
Besides that you’ve “heard it from others”?
That’s a big claim to make without citing specifics.

Have a great day!

RoamsAround

People refer to St. Martin as the “culinary capital of the Caribbean” because the island has over 300 restaurants in varying price ranges from inexpensive roadside stands to upscale gourmet French restaurants.

The island’s tourist office uses that term in their promotional material.

MoBro

Thanks, RoamsAround, I figured it was a marketing slogan they use.

lilceeja123

I have also seen that Saint Maarten was know for its restaurants! That was one of the reasons I chose it. I’m a big foodie!

so I booked the grand case hotel for 3 nights and then booked the Morgan for 3 nights to be closer to Simpson bay. I like to be able to go out at night and see some live music and have some drinks. I am second guessing my booking at the Morgan though. Seeing some not so great reviews lately. What do you think? Is there any other place I should stay over there instead?

BelleT

Well Morgan is fairly new so I cannot really give any advice on it. But if you want to be in the heart of the nightlife then I would suggest either the Simpson Bay resort or the Hilton Hotel. The Hilton is just on the main and and closer to many restaurants and walking distance to night clubs.

BelleT

Your "presumptuous comment" that "I've heard it from others" is not the case but it seems like you cannot help it.

Birdie

I’ve visited quite a few Caribbean islands. If I’m looking for a culinary experience, I’m going to St Martin.

BelleT

The food choices are many. I'm pretty sure you would like it!

MoBro

“it's something I have heard from others”

mlgb

I think some people are confusing the island (Saint Martin) and the names of the Dutch (Sint Maarten) and French (Saint Martin) territories. I understand that the better restaurants are on the French side. There was some devastation when Irma slammed the island, when we stopped over in 2019 the damage from Irma was still visible and was worse on the French side.

mlgb

https://www.eater.com/maps/best-rest...s-saint-martin

lilceeja123

oooo yumm thanks so much. Will take a look!!