Radisson vs Westin in St Martin??
 

My husband & I (mid-thirties) are planning a short getaway to St. Martin very soon. Trying to decide between the Radisson St. Martin Resort and the Westin Dawn Beach Resort.

We're looking for a low key couple of days to truly relax & unwind without the kids. Want to enjoy nice pool and wonderful beach. From reading up on them, both sound wonderful. We will only be there for 4 days so we're thinking we will primarily remain on the resort property most of the visit as opposed to traveling much around the island.

Any feedback on these resorts would be appreciated! Thx!

The Radisson is a newer resort than the Westin. If you plan to remain on the resort property, I'd probably recommend the Radisson. It has more dining options, and if you do want to escape, it's much closer to Grand Case, where there are plenty of good restaurants. The beach there is nice, but man-made. I've read middling reviews of the beach at the Westin.

Both resorts are pretty isolated, so a car or taxi is required. I'd still recommend a car since they are usually so cheap on St. Martin and give you the option of going into Marigo or Phillispburg or out to dinner. Even though you may think you want to stay on the resort property, you could change your mind.

You do not want the Raddison. The advertising is misleading. The hotel is old and has been partially remodeled. It has only 2 places to eat. Very average food and expensive. The beach is brown sand, not nice. Floors in the hallway are cracked. It is sandwiched between two other properties. You cannot leave the property unless you rent a car. The pool and the help are the only things going for the Raddison.

Hi, we have a beautiful appartement for rent on Dutch Saint Martin. 1 bedroom, overlooking the ocean. No buildings in front of you. Own drive. Living, bedroom, bathroom,kitchen, deck with this incredible view. 170ft. Cool breeze, birds and waves, thats all. Free internet ADSL connection.
USD 92.- per day all-in in low season.

The Radisson used to be le Meridien and when the Radisson bought it they did a renovation and upgrade. I believe the Westin is a newer property.

We stayed at the Radisson in April and really enjoyed our visit. It's clean, the included breakfast buffet was great, the bed was comfortable and it is relatively close to Orient Beach where we typically spend our days when we are on St. Martin. I agree that our dinner was average and pricey but we rarely eat most of our meals at the resort so that wasn't a problem for us. The pool area is beautiful and it has a huge hot tub. We didn't go to the beach there but we did walk on it and I don't remember that it was brown sand. We just prefer Orient Beach.

The Radisson is only about 10 minutes from Grand Case, home to some of the finest restaurants in all of the Caribbean. It's also 10 minutes from Orient Village where there are some good, casual restaurants.

I've only spent a day at Dawn Beach so I can't really comment much on the Westin. In fact, the Westin was in the midst of construction the day we were there. It seemed that there were lots of condo-type accommodations (time shares?) and villas in the area and not that many restaurants. Pretty beach though.

We stayed at the Radisson at the beginning of July. I posted my hotel review on Tripadvisor. I loved the pool and they claim it's the biggest in the Caribbean. The beach was OK but we'd just spent a week on Anguilla so most beaches would struggle to compete!
We ate at La Locanda which is the Italian restaurant just outside the Radisson (steps from the hotel). It was quite expensive ($20 for a veg pasta dish...the cheapest entree on the menu)but it was good and we'd heard that the hotel restaurant was not so good. The breakfast at the hotel was very good.
Get a car... you might not want to drive around the island but by the time to get taxis to and from the airport or out for dinner or trip to a nearby beach it'll add up to the price of car hire.