17 Best Hotels in St. Martin and St. Maarten

Bordered by a pristine, white-sand beach, the island's top luxury resort offers professional but warm service, chic accommodations, beachfront cabanas, and an infinity pool. Rooms and smaller suites are smartly designed with modern upgrades and private balconies or terraces. Some of the larger specialty suites have plunge pools, rooftop solariums, and kitchenettes. Expansive three- or four-bedroom villas offer enough privacy and luxury to please even the pickiest moguls. The serene spa surrounded by a lush garden with a waterfall, has treatment rooms featuring a private outdoor area with a shower. Activities include tennis, water sports, yoga in the workout facility, and dining in two restaurants (one on the beach, one in the main house). Promotions may include meals, rental cars, and airport transfers.

The two- to four-bedroom villas in this condo-style complex are luxuriously decorated, private, tranquil, and overlook the ocean or Oyster Pond. Daily housekeeping and beach set-up on request are among the available services. Some of the villas have their own pool, and there's also a small communal pool. The on-site Big Fish restaurant is popular, and guests can also use the pool, spa, putting green, restaurants, and other amenities at the nearby Oyster Bay Resort.

Bordering gorgeous Little Bay, this property is awash with water-sports options and restaurants and has an awesome multilevel pool with breathtaking views of neighboring islands. Rooms, suites, and studios, including the more luxurious units in the Oceans section, have contemporary style with pops of Caribbean color. Full-size apartments in the time-share section have granite kitchen countertops and modern bathrooms. The resort provides concierge service for a spectrum of great island activities. It's also a quick trip to the heart of Philipsburg. If you think you would enjoy watching the cruise ships arrive, ask for a bay-front unit. Families like the casitas. Expect some construction nearby, but it should not impact your stay at all. 

You can't miss this property's white, multistory villas, where rooms are spacious and contemporary, with lots of light woods and pops of color. The hotel's La Playa Beach Club is relaxed and inviting, and the boutiques, spa, and nonstop party on the beachfront are big draws. There's also a cute little pool in the garden. All rooms except junior suites have small kitchens, but the hotel may offer meal plans.

Most of the modern rooms at this boutique resort a five-minute walk from Maho Beach have balconies overlooking the infinity pool, which has a grotto, a large hot tub, a small water slide, a swim-up bar, and private cabanas. Some rooms overlook the runway at the adjacent airport, but you can also catch the aviation action from the hotel's top-floor observation deck, the beach, or the pier that juts into the ocean from the hotel grounds. Salt, the pool-side restaurant, serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as tasty cocktails, but there are also plenty of other dining options nearby.

Despite its name, this time-share resort property is, indeed, tucked away on Pelican Key, bordering both the bay and the ocean, giving you a front-row seat for island sunsets from your terrace. The attractive studios and one- and two-bedroom suites have flat-screen TVs and fully equipped kitchens with granite countertops; many also have sleeper sofas. Kids can enjoy multiple pools or a playground while grown-ups head to the on-site spa. La Patrona, an award-winning authentic Mexican Restaurant, serves traditional American breakfasts daily, full lunches, and excellent dinners—plus brunch on Sunday. The Replay sports bar has many screens and a menu of sandwiches, pizza, and well-crafted sushi.

Top-tier suites at this sophisticated, luxurious, adults-only enclave include butler service, but all are among the island's very best accommodations. Restaurants, bars, and other amenities are exclusively for guests, who also have access to offerings at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort. One swimming pool snakes around the front of the property giving first-floor guests swim-out access from their suites, a second features an infinity edge and an artificial beach, a third has bar service, and a fourth has a swim-up bar. This property is a terrific (albeit somewhat noisy) vantage point for watching the planes at the nearby airport.

Lush foliage in the glassed-in lobby—hence the name—makes a great first impression at this resort, a good base for island explorations and within walking distance of many bars and restaurants. All the spacious suites and studios are open to the lobby and have lagoon or ocean views, though first-floor rooms can be noisy. Kitchenettes are equipped with microwaves, refrigerators, and ice makers. There are plenty of activities for kids.

Esmeralda has traditional, Caribbean-style, kitchen-equipped villas, each with its own pool and all just steps from the beach. The activities desk can arrange everything from snorkeling and tennis to car rentals and babysitting, and signing privileges are offered at some restaurants and outfitters on the Baie Orientale beach. The resort restaurant, L'Astrolabe, which offers breakfast plus fine dining for dinner, is a long-time island favorite.

Not only does this resort have a stellar location—on a small peninsula, with access to Grand Case Beach on one side and Petite Plage on the other and views of Anguilla and Creole Rock in the distance—it also has many amenities, including free Wi-Fi, a fitness facility, a pool, and a small spa. Each of the spacious, well-appointed studio and one- or two-bedroom units has a balcony. Room service is available from the on-site Sunset Café.

Hibiscus and bougainvillea line the brick walkways connecting the bungalows and beachfront suites of this intimate, friendly, family-owned time-share resort perched at the foot of Pelican Key. Accommodations have small bathrooms, but the balconies have awesome views; definitely go for a deluxe room on an upper floor. The beach is rocky but good for snorkeling—and fantastic for sunsets. There's a great little on-site restaurant, the Hideaway, plus several other restaurants close by. The street leads to a residential neighborhood so the area is generally quiet at night. Get the best weather and best rates here in July.

This classic property on 148 acres of lush gardens borders the exceptionally beautiful and secluded beach in Anse Marcel. The modern rooms have lots of efficient and thoughtful touches like glass shelves with plugs for electronics, ample his-and-hers closets and dressing areas, high-tech kitchenettes, flat-screen TVs, and in-room safes that can accommodate laptops. Most have round whirlpool tubs for two. If you like the French Riviera or St. Barth, you will love the pool area, which seems lifted directly from a hotel in Nice. Perched above the sweeping arc of sand are chic lounge-beds around the convivial bar, where you can lunch or even have a massage in a tented cabana. Three restaurants, one of them a beach bar, serve beachy classics with a French flair.

Accommodations that range from studios to large two-bedroom units at this condo/time-share resort have Caribbean-style decor, dishwasher-equipped kitchens, baths with granite vanities, and balconies with fine views of St. Barth or the marina in Oyster Pond. Some units also have their own whirlpool tubs. Guests like to congregate in the open-air lobby or by the infinity pool, and there's a long list of activities.

It might be slightly smaller than the Royal Islander Club La Plage, its sister property across the street, but this time-share resort shares its sibling's beach and other amenities and is a good, quiet choice for families. Suites have fine vistas of the garden, the pool, or the ocean. There are one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. For couples who need a smaller space, a studio (with a kitchenette only) can be created from the two-bedroom units. Furnished with rattan furniture and tile floors, each unit has a fully equipped kitchen and marble-topped bathroom. There's weekly maid service, but for an extra fee the maid will come daily.

Situated right on Great Bay beach and boardwalk and painted an eye-popping shade of coral, this hotel and time-share with studio and one- or two-bedroom units is hard to miss. Balconied rooms boast views of the cruise ships sailing into Great Bay. Each unit has a fully-equipped kitchenette. Restaurants are a brief walk away, as are many souvenir shops and the popular Walter Plantz Square.

Secluded and intimate, this adults-only all-inclusive has accommodations that range from partial-ocean-view rooms to swim-out suites. There are lots of activities, and dining options include Asian, Italian, and French restaurants; a café; and a poolside grill. The resort also offers day passes with unlimited food and drinks.

The island's largest resort—a no-limit all-inclusive overlooking the bay and close to the airport—is an attractive, reasonably priced, family-friendly property with lots to do. In addition to a big pool area, on-site amenities include a gym, spa, casino, theater, clubs, shops, and restaurants. The beach and additional restaurants are just steps away away. Be sure to check the website for special offers.