Simpson Bay Resort Marina and Spa: Not really a resort

It's more of a Time Share complex. Be prepared to get bombarded by time share sales people. I thought everybody had clued up to time shares by now, but not here. Nice enough, small beach filled with geriatric time share owners. Restaurants are three star at best. Go off complex if you want anything decent. The front desk was great but not so for the rest of the support staff. Maid does the absolute minimum. Internet drops off constantly. You need a car for sure. Great location though as it's clo [... read more]se to Maho, Sunset beach bar and lots of restaurants. Forget about the French cuisine that used to be there. It's been replaced by McDonalds, Burger King and surf& turf. The island is definitely starting to show tourism stress.

Sonesta Maho Beach: Beautiful, sunny weather...

Good food, ocean view was great...don't stay in garden view room...noisy...you can take the bus to surrounding areas... nice to visit the other Sonesta...good entertainment...staff tried to accommodate requests..pool was nice...drinks of course were good...27 every day...

Sonesta Great Bay Beach & Casino: very freindly and heilpfull

just loved everything about it .will go back,service excellent.people freindly. management always present and smiling and always hello or just stop to talk.p00ls very very clean .always great choice of food and atmosphere fantasic by water every morning. views the best ever

Palace St. Martin: beautiful island, awesome resort!

Hotel is great, staff are very friendly and cheerful, grounds well maintained, room was very clean and beds super comfortable, beach is splendid and food was extra-extraordinaire taste-wise, variety is good but limited.

Sonesta Great Bay Beach & Casino: Great place to spend a week off

Ever since the renovation a couple of years back the hotel has increased it's "desire to return" value considerably for us. The adults only feature is exactly what we were looking for as well. We will return to this hotel for sure.

Sonesta Maho Beach: Resort was fab!

The weather, food, staff and everything else was great. I would definitely return!! The daily buffets were really good with a variety of items to choose from. Except for the treatment plant outside the balcony...it stunk! So we were unable to use the balcony.

Sonesta Great Bay Beach & Casino: Relaxing resort

Loved being able to walk into phillipsburg every day and watching the ships come in the morning and leave at night. Quite a sight. Definitely worth the upgrade to an ocean view room. Very safe city, took bus everywhere. As for the resort, the food could use a little variety especially at the waterside restaurant. More staff needed at the pool bar as well. Great vacation though

Palace St. Martin: Riu St Martin

Was at the Riu St Martin Nov 26 to Dec 3rd.We booked this resort as we were looking forward to a relaxing week. It was not too busy which was nice, so no waiting for tables for breakfast lunch or dinner and always found loungers at the pool and the beach.The rooms were nice, clean, and the bar was always stocked. The grounds were also nicely maintained. As for the food we found we liked the French restaurant, the Fusion and the Steak one were average. The buffet was good, they changed the select [... read more]ions for lunch and dinner but breakfast was always the same. I have to say the freshly made croissants were pretty awesome. With the exception of a few the staff was very friendly. We were told the snorkeling would be awesome but that was not the case. Perhaps we will have to go back in the spring to see the fish. I would recommend this hotel and hope to go back soon.

Sonesta Maho Beach: Had a great time

I have been to Maho several times over the past 10 years. I had not been for 5 years. I had a great time, met lots of good people and loved the pool bar again. Great place to meet people and the bar tender is great. The changes to the resort with the hi end building on the point has introduced some great modifications. The area outside the buffet up to the point restaurant is a great place to sit as there is a bar outside of the point restaurant and great new stone walkways and sitting areas. Th [... read more]e dine off resort at the restaurants just outside was a great option previously and they have reduced it done to the ASCOT PUB. We ate there twice and found the best food there. The BBQ/Jerk night was great for all that like Caribbean food. I heard some complain as they didn't like that type. They should have gone to the PUB not complain. Overall the food was good, the wood oven pizza was a standout and all commented. You could get a whole one at lunch to take back your beach/pool chairs NICE. We rent a car for the week and explore several beaches but the beach here was fine for swimmers.

Sonesta Great Bay Beach & Casino: Somewhat Disappointed

This was our first trip to St. Maarten and if we had not rented a car, it would have been our last trip. Getting to the hotel is nice and quick. Here's a quick update which we hope you find useful. The Beach: We're all about the beach. On Day 1, the beach seemed fine. On Day 2, we were asked to stay out of the water due to a health advisory. Apparently, the water basin that's located right beside the resort overflowed into the water due to rain. Not sure what the function was for this water bas [... read more]in, but it smelled like a sewer...at best. On the night before coming back home, we were surprised to see that they opened up the water basin right into the ocean! It would have helped if Management explained what had happened on Day 2 but there were no announcements and no proper explanations when we asked. Guests were able to swim on Days 3-7. The water was somewhat murky, with quite a bit of seaweed. On a positive note, there were plenty of chairs, umbrellas and tables. Rooms: We were first placed in a room on the lower level, facing a broken door (albeit ocean iew). We were supposed to have a King bed since my husband is tall, but were given 2 double beds. We were moved into another room late the next day. That room was lovely -- top floor, with balcony -- great view. Restaurants: There are 3 restaurants -- the grill by the ocean. The main woman who serves the guests is very pleasant. They serve pizzas, burgers, hot dogs, etc. The food is good. The buffet is also very nice, with some great seafood. Of the staff that work there, the young woman (can't recall her name) always greets you with a fabulous smile and brings you to the table of your choice. Jonathan treats you fabulously. The 3rd restaurant switches from Italian to Seafood, depending on the night. Surprisingly, the seafood was mediocre. Management: Management are not very engaged with their guests. We don't watch TV when we're on holidays and apparently there was news about a blockade on the French side a day before it occurred. Guests at the sister hotel were well informed, but we were not. We did go to the French side on this particular day, but when we were returning to our hotel, all roads from the French side were blocked. We had to abandon our rental car and walk through the blockade in order to grab a cab. If anything, the taxi services were great. Since they all knew about the blockade, there were ample taxis to bring tourists back to their hotels. The rental agency was able to retrieve the car at 11 pm when they remove the blockade. Sonesta Maho (sister hotel): This is a really nice hotel with a great beach. If there had been a shuttle service to this hotel, our hotel would have been empty. Staff at the Maho are super friendly, the food and beach are great. This hotel is located near the airport so you could experience having a plane fly right above your head. Island: There are several nice beaches around the island. All of them are very clean and clear. Chairs & umbrella rentals can cost $15-$20/day. It takes about 2 hours to drive around the island, depending on traffic. Shopping: If you are into jewelry, this is the place to be. There are 100s of jewelry shops. Clothing shops are just OK...very expensive...for items you could get at home much cheaper.

Sonesta Great Bay Beach & Casino: Beautiful location, great Staff!

I traveled with my Mom and two sisters...this resort is staffed with warm, friendly people, like Alexander who greeted us every day and was always asking what he could do to help. The buffet restaurant was open for all meals, and the quality and variety of the food was great. The staff were always accommodating (special shout-out to Janean and Kadisha-thanks!). Our on-site Sunwing rep helped with a snorkeling excursion which I would highly recommend (we went to Creole Rock, Tintamarre Island and [... read more] Mayo Verde to snorkel, and then back to Pinelle Island to relax. (Tour by Coconut Reef, great, professional staff, fed us lunch and snacks, and refreshments, all included!) We also took a history tour of the island which covered both the Dutch and French sides and was informative and enjoyable. Since it was just the four of my family, we were able to customize it a bit to our needs and our mothers' limited mobility issues. Thank you David for all your help!

Sonesta Great Bay Beach & Casino: Great resort !!!!

Love it because it is a smaller resort, fabulous views of Great Bay, all adult, staff were amazing and very helpful. Great location to Philipsburg you can walk there in under 10 minutes.Would definitely stay there again.

Palace St. Martin: Very nice resort!

The grounds were lovely and the staff were amazing! Rolinda and Charmaine are gems! The front desk staff are not particularly attuned to guests needs and almost appear to be inconvenienced when asked a question. It was very upsetting to discover that we could not extend our check out on our last day, as our flight was leaving at 9pm. Every other hotel that I have ever stayed at was able to accommodate a later check out. This situation must occur every week and they should consider rearranging th [... read more]eir housekeeping schedule in order to provide a better customer experience.

Sonesta Maho Beach: Bad customer service

The water was shut off at night and no notice was posted. The Golf course charges $100 US to play and the people we met that had rooms viewing over it did not know it was a course, They thought it was bad lands. The shower flooded daily because the shower head was too large for the the drain to put the water down and there was a half inch lip between the floor tile and the shower area. We purchased items and the hotel staff removed them from our fridge. As advertised there was No Sapporo , p [... read more]resident e or corona beer. My husband only drinks beer and the supply was very limited. You were only allowed 2 beers per room per day and when my husband asked for 2 he was yelled at by the female bartender and she said are you trying to get me fired you are only allowed 2 beers per day in your room (I thought it was an all inclusive) We attended the point restaurant 2 nights in a row and I ordered the same meal both nights. I asked for NO sauce as there is black pepper and I am allergic. The first night my meal was perfect - no problem at all. The second night I ordered the exact same meal with no sauce and after 20 minutes past we had eaten our appetizer and the waitress came out an said your husbands meal is ready but you can not have yours as it has black pepper. They brought his meal and I was not given the option to order anything else. I said why was I not told this earlier and why can you just not put the sauce on like the night before? I sat and watched him eat. The movie did not work on the flight home. The first day I asked what the drink if the day was and it was guava berry pina colada. I said I will have one of those. The bartender replied we do not have Guava berry rum. I asked for 6 straight days and there never was any Guava berry rum. We also participated in a purchase a Crab for $5.00 and picked a crab. Which we have done at several different resorts in the past and are paid a portion of the funds if they win. OURS WON and when we went to claim our prize it was a bottle of rum from the room. my husband said what happened to the money to which the person running it replied "it pays for the crabs.". There were at least 25 people who purchased a crab and it seemed very shadey to us. We went to the front desk to get to the bottom of it and the entertainment director and 9PM at night was in a meeting. We left our room number and asked for them to contact us>>>WE ARE STILL WAITING!! We also booked a trip through our SUNWING REP at the hotel via Jet boat to Anguilla on Thursday October 29th and tried to go on the 30th but were told it was full so we booked for October 31st. We paid cash and were told pick up was 8:30am in the lobby. We waited in the lobby until 9am and no one came to get us. I walked to the desk and the sunwing rep said oh that was cancelled due to weather. I said Okay I would like our $262.00 US back please to which she said come back around 230 to see if anyone has paid cash yet for there trip. I said why did no one come into the lobby to tell us the trip was cancelled as now it is too late to book a different one. Then I heard her on the phone telling her supervisor it was cancelled on the 30th due to not enough people signed up. I then walked up and said why were we not called yesterday or at least left a message or put a note under our door to advised us. We would have just changed to the other excursion instead of the jet boat. It took us until 11:30 to get our money back after arguing with the sunwing girl for a long period of time. While we were waiting for our pick up on Friday a large cockroach walked right in front of me and under the coach were I was sitting. The one positive I will say is the maid service did a great job of cleaning the rooms every day and took the towels in the morning and washed them and returned them. The buffet also ran out of fruit, pancakes, french toast, glasses, juice and bacon by 815am. The staff could not keep up with the demand and the wait to get in to the only restaurant to service breakfast was over 20 minutes long.

Sonesta Maho Beach: good resort

This resort is very nice. The staff are all so friendly .Even the maintence workers. We were very dissapointed in the shape of the pool.If a young child was at the bottom of the pool, you would not be able to see them. The water was very cloudy.Food was very good & the grounds were very well kept.Over all we had a very good time.

Sonesta Maho Beach: Good

Good little hotel. We are not an " all-inclusive" type of travelers, so we didn't spend much time in the hotel. But if we would of been that type - it wouldn't be enough for us. It has only 1 fine dining restaurant and 1 cafe. Bars doesn't have a big variety. Couldn't get Mojito anywhere in the resort :) Otherwise nice little hotel with a clean little beach and amazing view. Located very conveniently. We will be back.

Sonesta Maho Beach: Nice getaway

Small resort, staff are great (most are) and helpful, food is very good, not a big selection. Pool is large, with nice swim up bar (Eddie is a fantastic bartender tip him well he deserves it as you will see), above average liquor & canned beer. Beach is OK more for watching the planes land and takeoff, beautiful Mullet beach is a short 10 min walk and well worth the walk!!! one of the worlds best and its a hidden gem and you can see the planes come in (not land). if you get a room overlooking th [... read more]e golf course don't be so disappointed of the ground view of the hotels liquid and garbage waste area on the ground, the ocean/golf course views are so spectacular just look straight ahead!!! plus only in your room to sleep:) Rent a vehicle (70$ US a day) from the hotel lobby and explore what both sides of the island have to offer it is a fantastic island with rich Europe flavour and the driving is easy lots of speed bumps and roundabouts... Entertainment is ok and ends early at the resort, just outside the resort you will find the night life..

Sonesta Great Bay Beach & Casino: sonesta great bay

nice hotel--fantastic views. Above average food. Only downside was the constant sea weed at the sea shore ; which was never removed. Thus it stopped alot of people from entering the water. BUT this was my ONLY issue ----so a wonderful time was had !!

Sonesta Great Bay Beach & Casino: amazing service

the resort offered excellent food, service, entertainment, and the beach was amazing. I met many guests whom have gone back to that resort for 12 times due to the above experience. It was our anniversary and made our milestone a memorable one. I would go back again the Great Bay Sonesta Sint Maartan

Sonesta Great Bay Beach & Casino: Hotel still tired looking...

Returned to Great Bay 6 years later, disappointed that Hotel was just as tired looking. Couples only resort now, expected better ambience. Unfortunate as the location of this property is outstanding. Right on the beach with an amazing infinity pool, so much potential.