When it says on the Grand Case Beach Resort site "walk to town of Grand Case for restaurants". What kind of walking are we talking about? Highway? pretty road? hilly? flat? interesting?
I'm narrowing down my search. It is now between the following 4 hotels:
Palm Court
Grand Case Beach Resort
Cap Caraibe Resort
Oyster Bay Beach Resort
Again, my wish list includes:
snokeling from the beach
good food
pretty places to walk
calm, warm water for swimming
Thanks ahead of time.

It quite honestly pays to have a car in SXM, even if only for a couple of days, as I learned on my first trip there many years ago. However, if you prefer not to rent a car, my suggestion would be to stay in the Grand Case area. Grand Case Beach Club would be my choice for a week or longer vacation, versus a couple of days.

When you stay in that area, you have the calm uncrowded beach, SOME snorkeling, a nice relatively quiet atmosphere for relaxation, and a great array of restaurants within walking distance on a not so busy, fairly quiet street. The Grand Case area is located on more of a small, one or two lane thoroughfare, which is flat, versus a highway or hilly, busy road.

I have found when staying in Oyster Bay that a car is really a necessity since things are farther away, but I can't comment on Cap Caraibe Resort since I'm not familiar with where it is at.

Hope this helps.

Oyster Bay Beach Resort in not in the Grand Case Area. You will need a car if you stay there, as nothing is within walking distance except the beach. Oyster Bay Beach Resort does not have its own beach, you must walk to Dawn Beach and rent chairs and umbrellas there if you want them.

I just got back from St. Maartin, last weekend. I stayed at Oyster Bay Beach Resort. They do have chairs and umbrellas on the beach for people staying at that property. You would definitely need a car there and I would recommend one anyway. You can get one for $25 a day and it's easy to drive around. There are so many different areas to explore.

has anybody taken a small boat over to green cay? there used to be a fellow named robert who would take you there.
has anybody had the wednesday night buffet in marigot's at the mini club? that used to be a terrific deal. we haven't been to st. maarten is over 7 years and we're giving it another try, staying at oyster bay beach resort since we always stayed at the beautiful dawn beach hotel that no longer exists. i hope we're not disappointed.

If you like snorkeling, think about taking the Scoobi Doo catamaran trip to the island of prickly pear, or some other organized snorkeling trip. I really enjoyed Prickly Pear. Scoobi Doo does pick up from Grand Case Beach Resort. The restaurants in Grand Case (pronounced Grand CASS) are fabu!
Bring lots of American cash, and you can save lots of money because many places will take it instead of Euros with no markup.
HAVE FUN & ENJOY!!!-- michaluna

I think nobody really answered the original poster's question, so I will try... The 'walk to town' is about ten to (at most) 15 minutes along an 'ordinary' road - some traffic but by no means a highway. The Grand Case Beach Club is built slightly uphill, so you will be walking downhill when you leave the hotel, uphill when you come back. Hope this helps - we have booked the Grand Case Beach Club first the 1st time this summer, because we love Grand Case - last year we stayed at another hotel where we rented a car and we went to Grand Case all the time. It is like a little French town, with the great coffee and food, but set in the Caribbean. Wonderful! Aso, I've read nothing but good reports about the hotel. Hope this helps!

dear cindgail,
we are going to oyster bay beach resort in february. we had stayed at dawn beach hotel for 7 years in the 1990's and know the original oyster pond hotel.
the hotel used to have a fine french restaurant. i understand that is now asian food and i haven't heard "great reviews". what did you think? also, the package includes 2 days free car rental and we want it for at least 6 days. do you know what car rental company is present at the hotel? any practical advise you could give me regarding the hotel would be appreciated.
putch