Grand Case or Orient Bay
 

Hello all:

My wife and I are continue to contemplate on a trip to Anguilla with a 2 night stop over on St. Martin.

We do not intend to rent a car, and had narrowed down to either Grand Case or Orient Bay. Can you help us rate the pros and cons?

I am drawn to Grand Case for the abundance in dining options, but the beach seemed a bit narrow over there.

Whereas Orient Bay of course is THE beach to visit, but knowing that it will be busy which is not what Peg and I usually liked. Nevertheless, if this is the only beach that we should visit on the island we would like to contemplate.

We love nice beaches, good dining (not necessarily the most expensive) and local watering holes.....

Moderately priced hotel suggestions also requested.

Thanks - we are going in the late April/May time frame.

Cheers,
Peg and Ed

I definitely would not stay in Grand Case even despite the number of good restaurants. The beaches in Grand Case are unclean at best. I would suggest that if you are planning a trip to both st. martin and anguilla that you spend the first two nights in st martin. The Radisson Blu in Anse Marcel can schedule water transfer from the airport directly to the resort. The Radisson is approximately halfway between Grand Case and Orient beach. The beach in front of the Radisson is very clean and quiet. However, i would recommend that one day that you take a three minute taxi ride to Cul de sac and take the $2 ferry to Pinel Island. Pinel Island is one of the more laid back and beautiful beaches on the island with a couple of good restaurants for lunch. For dinner i would recommend Le Ti Bouchon in Cul de sac. (this is the real deal be sure to ask for MoMo the owner). To get to Anguilla the Radisson offers a return bus service to Margiot where you can catch the public ferry for $15.

HI foodiechan,
I always enjoy reading your TR's so hopefully I can give you some good advice seeing your travel style. Did you get a chance to read my TR on our trip to St. Martin this past May? We spent the first night at Grand Case Beach Club and loved it. Although the beach is narrow on the one side of the hotel (which the snorkeling is great on that side so it makes up for it) the other side of the hotel has a wider beach and the sand compares to that of St. John's sand. It's walking distance to all of the Grand Case restaurants. For staying just 2 nights there I highly recommend staying at GCBC. The pricing is also reasonable there.

We visited the Radisson too and if you're looking for a larger hotel with big grounds then this would work, but personally we didn't think the beach was very nice. It is wide and long, but the sand was very dull/gray. The pictures of the beach online look much nicer than it was in person. The pool is another story-it's HUGE! Also, Anse Marcel is removed from everything walking wise, which is fine if you want to just hang at the hotel for the 2 days or if you prefer large hotels.

Wherever you stay, I agree with Kevin that you should try to get to Pinel for a few hours. It's about a 5-10 minute drive from both Anse Marcel and Grand Case. We had a wonderful day there.

Orient is great too, don't get me wrong. But from reading your TR's I think you would prefer the small boutique type of hotel with empty beaches. I have photos of all of the places listed above in my TR along with detailed info on them.

Here's the link to my TR. I have to repost the second half of our trip photos (those include photos of Pinel, Orient, Anse Marcel/Radisson and more of Grand Case). I accidentally deleted the link. gr! I'll try to get those reposted in the next few days. But the ones of GCBC are at the first link still :)

http://www.fodors.com/community/cari...-7-15-long.cfm

and here is Kristen1206's TR (same trip-we went together :). More photos and you can get her take. One thing to note-her family came down a day after we did so they didn't spend the first night at GCBC, but they did go to all the other places with us as well as do dinner one night in Grand Case.

http://www.fodors.com/community/cari...-of-photos.cfm

Orient Beach is a big beach and while one end of it is certainly busy, I believe the other end of it (the left hand side as you face the sea) can be quieter and less populated. It is one of the nicest beaches on the island, but not the only such one.

You mention not renting a car (and I understand that for being there only 2 days), but if you did, and you were staying in Grand Case (I'd also recommend the GCBC), your car would very quickly and easily open up a whole slew of beaches not that far away that are both beautiful and less populated. These include Baie Rouge, Baie Longue and Baie aux Prunes (Plum Beach). These are all along the main road leading from/to Marigot and are one after another.
I prefer these beaches, I stay in the Marigot area and travel to Grand Case to eat several times on all my visits to the island.

Whatever you decide, have fun !

Hi Foodiechan. I recommend staying in Grand Case if local watering holes is what you are looking for. Kellybeaches' photos should assure you that the beach near GCBC is nice. Orient beach was fun but more of a Miami beach vibe. Can you stay in Grand Case and spend part of a day on Orient? They are not that far apart.

The Radisson didn't impress me. The beach was under-whelming and the resort buildings seemed sterile. It was perfectly nice but I was expecting more. Another beach that we did not make it to but that I have heard good things about is Mullet Beach on the Dutch side.

Where would you stay on Anguilla? I think I responded to your post about restaurants a while back. I love Anguilla and I think a longer stay there with a 2 night add on in St. Martin would be a great vacation.

Definitely Grand Case -- don't think twice. We just came back from the Grand Case Beach Club (like you, before a trip to Anguilla). We loved it. The beach at GCBC is fine but the location to the village is what really makes. Orient Bay is tacky and touristy.

I would strongly recommend Grand Case. We stayed at the Grand Case Beach Club and absolutely loved it. The beach is quiet, very pretty, and has beautiful views of Anguilla and Creole Rock. Sunset Cafe (at GCBC) is excellent.
We made a day trip to Orient Beach and enjoyed it as well. It's a beautiful beach with a different vibe than Grand Case. I would definitely recommend visiting Orient during the day, while staying in Grand Case.
We loved walking to the different restaurants in Grand Case at night. We thoroughly enjoyed every meal. There are plenty of bars for some fun nightlife as well.