wildcat22

My husband and I are heading to St. Martin for 6 days before Thanksgiving. We are 31 years old and having a hard time deciding where to stay. We want to stay somewhere that will have a good nightlife so that we can walk back to our hotel/condo and not have to drive. We are adventurous (we've backpacked Europe a few times and our most recent vacation was to Playa del Carmen) and like to lay on the beach a bit, but want to get out and explore most of the time and will enjoy beach hopping. We are renting a car and will travel to all the various beaches/towns during the day, but somewhere that will be fun at night as a home base (so there's no drinking and driving!).

I'm interested in Grand Case as it seems to have fabulous restaurants (we love good food on vacations) with gorgeous views, but is there enough to keep us busy until 2am at night? I'd probably like to avoid being where all the cruise ship passengers are unless that's where it's the most fun at night, also. We're not looking for anything secluded, nor really expensive, cheaper the better since we'll rarely be in the room. We'll probably spend a couple hours in a casino total (I hate gambling but my husband likes it), mainly just wanting fun bars with groups in their 20's/30's and live music, maybe some beach bars.

Any recommendations for towns/beaches and specific hotels/condos would be great! Thanks!

doug_stallings

I don't really think such a place exists in St. Maarten. There are restaurants in Grand Case but not really any nightlife. The only thing I can suggest is that you stay at the big Sonesta Maho Beach Resort. It wouldn't be my choice, but there's more nightlife there than any other place I can think of. There are some other resorts that have casinos, but I just don't think there's any way to avoid some driving in St. Maarten. Luckily, cars there are cheap.

doug_stallings

The kind of experience you are looking for is really more like what you find in The Gap in Barbados. I think you've made a bad choice in St. Maarten.

wildcat22

Interesting, why is it a bad choice? There aren't any bars with live music in St. Martin?

wildcat22

If St. Martin isn't the right place for us, let me start over.

We're in our 30's, going on an anniverary trip w/o our 2 year old and looking for:
- gorgeous beaches
- good snorkeling off the beach
- good food/restaurants
- water sports (parasailing, jet ski, etc)
- beach bars
- decent nightlife - not clubs, just bars with possibly live music and others to talk to
- the less cruise ship traffic the better - or at least somewhere on the island we can escape it
- other activities to do during the day are a bonus (hiking, driving to other beaches, day trips to other islands, etc), would prefer to rent a car so we can explore - so it needs to be relatively safe
- we don't want to stay on the same beach everyday, we want to explore other beaches/towns/etc.
- We'd like to spend $2,000 max on air/hotel and hopefully car rental for a 6 day/5 night stay.

Where should we go?

doug_stallings

I"m not sure you have a realistic budget for the Caribbean. But it depends on where you're coming from. There are some places in St. Maarten that would suit you in terms of cost. The one thing that St. Maarten offers in abundance are excellent little beaches that you can drive to very easily -- and where you will see no crowds, even on days when several huge ships are in town in Phillipsburg. There are some bars in Marigot where you can find nightlife, and I expect some of the places in Baie Orientale are also open at night.

It was the no-driving thing I was thinking of.

As I said, the place that has everything you are describing is The Gap in Barbados. You might also find what you want in St. Lucia. There are some relatively cheap places to stay in the Rodney Bay area of St. Lucia. There are a lot of bars and restaurants there outside of the hotels. But even Bay Gardens Beach Resort (the cheapest place I can think of) is still beyond your budget.

You could also look at Vieques. Or the north coast of the D.R. Most backpackers go to Cabarete. There are some great cheap inns in St. Croix, though none is on the beach; Carringtons is the best of these.

Sorry I can't help more. Hopefully some more people will chime in, but I don't think your budget is adequate. Airfare is going to be almost $1000 for 2 unless you can get a really good sale fare. Definitely look for packages.

auntypicky

Actually I think St Martin is the perfect place. With 35+ beaches with beach bars and restaurants on almost every beach, it should keep you busy. There are 4 of us women who travel somewhere every year. We were there in April and we are going back in Oct(we didn't see everything the first time). We would go to a different beach everyday, go home and get ready to go out at night or shop. We stayed near Cupecoy beach and Mullet beach. It's in between Phillipsburg and Marigot. I agree that there few hotel areas that you can walk to and not drive after drinking. We were told "it's O.K. but don't make accident!" The locals are great, so friendly and helpful. Our airfare for Oct was around $400 from Chicago and we are staying in a timeshare, but the car is only $150 for the week. We were told about a place near the Loterie Farm near Pic Paradis to zip-glide over treetops and there are hiking trails. We are doing that this time. We are also doing a day trip to Anguilla. I hope this helped you. You should have a great time, but bring more $ for SHOPPING and eating!

wildcat22

Thank you so much!! We just booked airfare at $496 from KC and one ticket was bought with our credit card points. We are staying in the Cupecoy area (near the nightlife of Maho) at a privately owned studio on the 8th floor overlooking the sunsets with our own private jacuzzi on the balcony. So, our grand total is $1225 for airfare and hotel! I can't wait!

auntypicky

Great! Have a great time. I knew it could be done! Be sure to eat at the Paris Bistro across from the casino in the Maho area, we met the owner and he sent us over dessert. Try the Mojitos there!! The nightlife down the street near the Sunset Beach bar is fun and close. We leave in a couple weeks and can't wait! Have a great time.

Scarlett

wildcat, I did not respond because our stay in St Martin was too long ago..we went every Jan for a few years..but we stayed at Cupecoy a few times and just loved it!
We also stayed right in town in a hotel on the beach, walk out the door, cross the sand, dip in the pool, walk to breakfast outside by the pool, dip in the ocean
We rented cars everytime..It is SO easy to get around the island..and you will want to go sightseeing and visit the other side for shopping ..
Have fun..I have a cold, St Martin sounds like the perfect antidote to a long winter for us

joanw

Hi Wildcat22, Can you please tell me how to get in touch with the owner of the studio you are renting? We stayed at that resort previously and would like to do so again. The jacuzzi on the balcony is just great.Thanks.

vedette

I hope I am not too late posting this. On the French side, there are a surprising number of places that will take US dollars one-for-one for Euros if you pay in currency. Take lots of US currency with you.

jbarbarino

Hi Wildcat,

I would like more information on where you're staying - it sounds great!

britomart

I'm doing initial research on the Caribbean, and would also like to know where the original poster stayed? I'm wondering if this was it:

http://www.sbcwi.com/

I found it by googling "studio" "jacuzzi" and "cupecoy."

Kristinelaine

Wildcat22 -- If you see this, could you please share where you stayed in St. Martin and how you got in touch with them? I'm very interested. Also did it work out well for you?

kaugan

We stayed at that place February 2007. We had a great apartment on the top floor with a great ocean view.

We booked through St Martin Blue at http://www.stmartinblue.com/wyndhams...otelrates.html

Good luck!

Kristinelaine

Kaugan -- I wonder if this is the place wildcat22 mentioned, since his rental cost so much less than this one. I don't mean to be difficult, but it doesn't seem like the same place.

Kristinelaine

Although possibly it was because it was low season and only 6 days, not a week.