Rebecca

Help! My husband and I (30ish) are going to St. Maarten May 21 for 5 nights. We like being in the center of things (action), gambling, beautiful beaches, water sports, lovely rooms, good restaurants, etc. I have gotten the impression that the Dutch side would meet these criteria more so than the French. Where should we stay? We are renting a car. One important "no-no" - we absolutely are not interested in listening to someone pitch timeshares to us. I've had awful experiences with places hounding us about timeshares. We just want a really nice/luxurious hotel/resort atmosphere that meets the above criteria. Please help - what would you recommend?

Wendy

go to http://shell4.ba.best.com/~ctr/ctr_indx.htm for all the information you could ever want on St. Martin. You can go the the most recent newsletter or go into the archives. Good luck!

Cheri

Avoid Great Bay.

LuLu

After extensive research on where to stay/ which side to stay on we stayed at the Maho Beach Hotel on Dutch side and were very pleased. It's a sprawling resort with a Casino and several very good restaurants (approx. 8 or 9 restaurants total). There is ample shopping right there as well. The beach is fairly nice and is placed directly under the airport runway which I was a little leary about. But I was surprised that I found it rather enjoyable. It is overwhelming to watch a huge jet come in for a landing standing directly under it on the beach. The rooms are nice, but I wouldn't classify them as luxurious. It has two pools, one huge with a swim up bar. The hotel is not directly on the beach, but part of the complex is. I don't think you'll mind that. If you're looking for a serene place with rooms directly on some incredible beaches I suggest taking the ferry over to Anguilla (15-30 min). We did just that and stayed 3 nights over there and enjoyed the stark constrast between the two experiences. Maho is definitely the center of attention and quite glitzy.

Elthebel

A friend and I have stayed at Little Bay Divi Resort. It's the best, right on the water. We've gone there for five years and we have seen all the hotels. Divi's the best. Five minutes from downtown Phillipsburg on the Dutch side. You should ask for Beachfront room.We are going in June