Overnight in St. Martin

[StarHustler]

Looks like we may have an overnight or two in St. Martin next week. I have flown in and out many times but they never overnight us. Where do most of you that stay there suggest?

Thanks!

 

[crjdude]

Maho. Close to the airport. Be sure and have a burger and cold beverage at the beachside grill. Enjoy.

crjdude

 

[landlover]

stay on the french side if you can. grand case area would be my first choice.

 

[Problow]

I would recommend the French side as well. I have only stayed next to the airport in the all inclusive "resort". Seems most crews including airlines stay there. Free drinks but food is not anything to rave about, and when I was there about 5 years ago I had to wash the ants down the shower drain every morning. If you want more of a tourist area with more food/bar options stay down near where the cruise ships dock.

 

[TMMT]

+2 on the French side!

 

[BrokeAssPilot]

I live part of the year on the dutch side. Id stay at Atrium, which is fairly cheap and close to all the nightlife. if you stay right by airport you hear nothingbut planes takeing off all night.

 

[CapnVegetto]

French side is much more laid back, lots of froo-froo fine dining options, stuff like that. Downside is that none of your plugs work in outlets. Can't charge your phone or laptop unless you plug it into the hair dryer thingee in the bathroom.

Dutch side is much more Americanized. There's fast food, movie theaters, casinos, nightclubs, and lots of stuff that twenty-somethings like to do on spring break.

Take your pick with what you'd rather have. Both have good options. St. Maartin is a cool place.

 

[landlover]

Downside is that none of your plugs work in outlets. Can't charge your phone or laptop unless you plug it into the hair dryer thingee in the bathroom.

or you can buy an adapter for 5 bucks.

 

[bailout]

maho is fine

 

[con-pilot]

I used to go to St Maarten a lot. I have stayed on both sides and through the years started staying on the Dutch side exclusively, for a lot of reasons, too numerous to mention here.

In the Maho Beach hotel area there are a lot of very, very good restaurants, including French. But, if we wanted French cuisine, we'd drive up to the French side of the island for lunch or a early dinner. Sadly the crime rate on the French side has increased, especially at night, so if you travel or stay on the French side, stay in well lit, public areas with plenty of people around.

My wife and I love St. Maarten and plan someday to buy a vacation home there, on the Dutch side of course.

Now for the two main towns. Philipsburg is the largest city on the island and is the capital of the Dutch side. The harbor of Philipsburg is a stopping point for cruise ships and if you go downtown while the cruise ships are there it is pretty crowded. Other than that no real problems. As far as I am aware of there are no hotels in Philipsburg itself, however, there are plenty of hotels near the city.

Marigot is largest city/town on the French side and the capital of the French side. Marigot is more laid back than Philipsburg, mostly due to no cruise ships stopping. Of course there are a lot of good restaurants in and around Marigot. To be honest, the more modern hotels are on the Dutch side, but there are some nice hotels on the French side as well.

Now we always stay at the Sonesta Maho Beach Hotel. We tried a lot of other hotels and finally settled on this one. As I previously posted, there are a lot of very good restaurants well within walking distance of the hotel plus the golf course is nearby. As for aircraft noise, Christ, we're pilots, no big deal and there is very, very little late night traffic.

A must for any pilot is the Sunset Beach Bar on Maho Beach. This is site where all the photos of the low flying/landing aircraft over a beach are taken. It is an out door bar than cooks a pretty good hamburger for lunch. It is very enjoyable watching the idiot tourists being blown off the beach into the bay by departing heavy jet aircraft. Maho Beach, as with all the beaches on the island is topless. The official nude beach is on the French side, called Orient Beach, on the northeast side of the island.

Now for some boring pilot stuff. If you can, refuel on arrival or the day before departure. Airlines come first and if your ETD is at the wrong time of day, you can wait a couple of hours for fuel. If you need a GPU, same problem. As for catering, I've had the best luck bringing it either from the hotel or a restaurant, airport catering is so-so at best. I've never seen or had a reason to hire private security to guard the aircraft while on St. Maarten, so no worries there.

Anyway, a great place and have a beer for me at the Sunset Beach Bar.