Shopping in St.Martin/Eating out/Raddison
 

How late do the shops in St. Martin stay open?We are only staying 3 nights and want to get beach time in plus shopping..I am interested in high quality jewelry so which shop or shops would be the best. With so short a stay where would you choose to as a "must eat there if you are going to St.Martin".Does anyone know if the Raddison on the french side is nice or would you suggest another hotel with nice beach.Any certain places or sites we should not miss out on.

6 PM on the French side and around 10 pm on the dutch side.
Jewelry i think 1 place is as good as the other. The Alamanda on the french side is the most recommended.

stores on the Dutch side also close at 6PM unless they are associated with a hotel. For instance, the shops around the Maho Resort stay open til 10 PM but the main shopping is in Philipsburg and these stores close at 6PM.
That is where most of the best jewelery stores are.
I would recommend DK Gems on Front Street (ask for Deepti , the owner) but there are many others also. best idea is to visit several stores, shop around, negotiate, and see what you like best.

The Radisson is newly open and is getting very nice reviews.
There are many many wonderful restaurants to visit while you are on the island. it is hard to recommend without knowing your food tastes or budget.
A very inexpensive place to visit are the lo los in grand case. These are local grill places with grilled chicken, fish, ribs, etc. They are very inexpensive and the food is wonderful. You cannot visit St. Maarten without having ribs at one of these place.
if you want a high end French restaurant I recommend Tropicana is Port Royale in Marigot.
and there are many other restaurants from high to low also.
Enjoy!
you almost cannot go wrong in choosing a restaurant.

We have had friends staying at the Radisson in Anse Marcel for the last week. They were very happy with the hotel - though it is not easy to get to - apart from the evening buffet which apparently left much to be desired, and the fact that two short local phone calls were billed at Euro 8 each !! The hotel is now offering 'day facilities' at a charge of Euro 85 per FAMILY, affording full use of all hotel facilities. This may not please guests seeking a bit of peace and quiet, away from a bunch of non-resident small children leaping in and out of the beautiful pool! I fully agree about the Tropicana restaurant on Marina Royale. It, along with L'Escapade in Grand Case, is one of our favourites, and we dine at both regularly. You should be warned NOT to approach the French (civilised) side of the island from the airport via Simpson Bay. The road works are horrendous - even by usual St Martin standards ! Also, beware the concrete jungle on the Dutch side of the island !! I admit to being rather predjudiced as I live above Orient Bay !!

To HNRS. At this time of year the stores on Front Street in Philipsburg (Dutch side) mainly close daily at 5pm, and do not open on Sunday - unless there is a cruise ship (or ships) in port - highly unlikely at a week end out of season, which it now is. Do not be afraid to bargain ! The marked prices are ridiculous I bought a piece of jewellery there last week for $2,100 which was marked at $12,000 - and I am sure that the guy still made a good profit ! The best frequented beach on the French side is Orient Bay, a pretty lively place,with lots of beach bars, great for water sports, jet ski, parasail, kite surfing etc. One of the pleces less known to tourists is Pinel island. It is very quiet with only 3 beach bars serving half way decent food.,The water is always flat calm (very safe for small kids), even when there are rollers at Orient Bay. It is about a 10 minute trip on a small ferry boat which leaves every 30 minutes from French Cul de Sac, starting at 10.30am, cost $7 return. Last boat back is around 4.30pm or 5pm. Don't miss it or you will have to sleep under a palm tree ! There is also a beach boutique there selling rather more interesting, and better priced items than can be found in most similar places. The atmosphere on the two sides of the island is TOTALLY different, though the entire island is duty free. The Dutch side has high rises, 12 casinos, Burger King, lots of time share, and a very lively night life, plus an apology for a golf course - none of these things will be found on the French side (though there IS one very small, well hidden time share operation). The Dutch side does have some decent restaurants in the Maho area near the airport, but be careful walking around late at night - particularly if you have just cleaned up at a casino. By far the best food is to be found in Grand Case, on the French side - it is the cullinary capital of the Caribbean - and you can hardly go wrong with any of the establishments. The ones directly overlooking the water are slightly more expensive because of the view, but you will eat very well pretty much anywhere. Have fun, and don't be depressed if it rains in the early morning - that's what keeps the island green - and you will almost certainly get sun shortly after ! Don't burn. The temperature is around 85 degrees every day, but you do not notice it because of the trade winds which blow gently all the time, so use sun protection even if you think you don't need to do so.

stores on Front Street close at 6 PM, even at this time of year.

Tropicana Restaurant at Marina Royale in Marigot is our favorite restaurant in the entire Caribbean, and we have been to every island.

Sorry Barbara !, but I was on Front Street on Thursday afternoon, and most of the stores were closing, or already closed, at 5pm, with most of the others getting ready to do so.

I have a store on front street and everyone tends to stay open until 6, although it really doesn't make much sense now when there is not a ship in.
I don't know what was going on Thursday but I know we were open til 6.