My wife and I are planning a trip to SMX the 1st week in Dec. We have never been to SMX before and are wondering if anyone has had any experience in staying at either Le Petit Hotel at Grand Case Bay or Alamanda Resort at Orient Bay.

Any suggestions would be greatfull or if you have any other suggestions for beach front resorts/hotels that would be appreciated.

John

SMX ???????.............try SXM.......the 3 letter airport identifier for Prncess Juliana airpatch. HIGHLY recommend you click the "Search" button to get comments on Le Petit and Alamanda. Cheers, spike

Have heard that both are very nice and well kept. Petit is more of a boutique hotel located on a beach and is pretty secluded but is right near the Grand Case restaurants. If you're looking to meet many people staying at the same place, Petit is not the place. The hotel does not hold many guests. It's a good midpoint between the Dutch side and the French side. Alamanda is nice for meeting people and being close to Orient Beach and is supposedly well kept as well. If you are not squeemish about nudity, then being at Alamanda offers you Orient Beach which is beautiful. If you would prefer to stay in a more conservative place, Petit would be your choice of those are the only 2 choices you would have.

If you are not adverse to staying on the Dutch side, there are new condos recently open for renting at The Cliff and at Rainbow Beach Club in Coupecoy. They are luxury resorts but absolutely gorgeous. There are also many timeshare facilities that are rentable on the Dutch side.

Another suggestion would be Oyster Bay Beach Club. This is also a very well-kept resort.

Hello: I stayed at Alamanda at Orient and was very well treated. The room was clean and well decorated. The service was friendly and I was very happy with the internet connection. I was also delighted to practice the French language each day with the hotel's staff that were very friendly and helpful in my quest for the perfect pronunciation! It is in a great location with lots of pubs, and french food around. The beach is one of my favorite in SXM. Good luck and have fun!

Hi,
Just returned from SXM on the 4th. We wrestled between booking the Alamanda and the Esmeralda Resorts. Both are sister hotels on Orient Beach. We are 40 somethings and desire quieter hotel over lots of action @ night. We ended up @ Esmeralda simply because it is basically @ the end of Orient Beach and is a Villa type resort. We loved the resort but I must say we were fortunate enough to be put into a room very close to the beach front access. We walked down to Alamanda during our stay to see if we would have liked it more. It looked fine but did appear to be more going on in the area, especially @ night. We were happy we booked Esmeralda for us but based on your preferences I don't think you could go wrong @ Alamanda if that sounds like your style. We only drove by LePetit. It looked quaint and well kept but it didn't even look as if it had beach access but as I said, we only drove by, so don't discount it on my word. I don't mean to sway you to Esmeralda but for anyone who is booking into it I would recommend you request a room in bldg 46 or 47 as these are closest to the beach access @ Coco Beach Rest. I can easily see where anyone who is booked into a room in a bldg @ the back of this resort could be very dissatisfied with beach access and thus become dissatisfied with the resort. P.S. I must add that both the Alamanda and Esmeralda, and almost all other SXM resorts are typical Carribbean Island resorts. What I mean by this is that they aren't all brand new buildings and exquisite "DisneyWorld" landscaping. Most island resorts anywhere will have the required 15-20 coats of paint on everything and as far as landscaping, well, sometimes it can be more "natures" landscaping than manmade. Building maintenance is resonably good anywhere you stay but keep in mind the elements to be battled by owners such as wind, sand, constant moisture, and the occasional hurricane. If you think about what they are up against and what they have to work with, you will be amazed at just how much you are getting. Anyhow, go with positive attitude, treat the local people with friendliness and you will most definitely receive it back.

Eddie, what a wonderful post. You get the real Carib.

Augie;

I am an agnostic dyslexic who questions if there really is a dog.

I too had a wonderful stay at Esmeralda, the resort was clean and well kept, there were people tending the rooms,grounds and pools daily. We were on the end furthest from the beach,even that walk did not prevent us from having a fanatastic time. We are booking again for March. Coco is a great beach bar... I highly recommend a massage from Kristine on the beach.

We honeymooned at the Alamanda last July. Loved it! It's right on Orient beach, of course, and just around the corner is Orient Village -- you can walk to 4 or 5 very nice restaurants there. Also, a little convenience store where you can get fresh baguettes in the AM.