Have you been to St Martin? RPBR?

[Amanda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Amanda]

Hi everyone! I was trying to plan a Carribbean vacation for my husband and I during April/May/June and I was offered a week at the Royal Palm Beach Resort - Cole Bay in St. Maarten. I have a few questions:

- How is the resort, have you been there? How are the rooms? (I saw good reviews from the other websites..)

- We've never been to the Carribbean together before - is St Martin a good place to start?

- Whats the difference between St. Martin and St. Maarten? Is it just spelled different depending on if you are on the French or Dutch side?

Thanks to everyone !!!!!!!!!!

[KathyA Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close KathyA]

Royal Palm Beach Club is on Simpson Bay, not Cole Bay. Actually, it is directly on Kim Sha Beach, which is part of Simpson Bay.

It is a very nice resort.

St. Martin is the French side. Sint Maarten is the Dutch side.

RPBC is on the Dutch side.

St. Martin/Sint Maarten is a wonderful island, but it is very developed and with that come the associated traffic problems.

Enjoy your vacation.
KathyA

[Amanda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Amanda]

Thanks Kathy! The resort actually has Cole Bay listed on its address on its website, but I did see somewhere else that it was actually on Simpson Bay.

Royal Palm Beach Resort - Cole Bay, St. Maarten Netherlands Antilles | Timeshare | Vacation Ownership


Any other thoughts / experiences / impressions of the resort would be greatly appreciated.

[jjengs Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jjengs]

I went to St. Maarten last June. The weather was great and the happy hours are unbelievably cheap. It was cheaper to drink alcohol than Water. I stayed at the Pelican Resort. Nice place. Go to the Bazaar (flea market). Really cute stuff there and haggle with the vendors. Dont go out at night past the restaurants and the resorts. The resorts will tell you where not to go at night. St. Maarten is nice and the beaches are pretty. Have fun.

[chs225 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chs225]

I am an every year visitor to SXM. I have never stayed at the Royal Palm but it regularly receives excellent reviews.

SXM is different than other resort islands. While you can, if you choose, not leave the area of your TS and not use a car, I do not recommend it. (there are more than enough restaurants within walking distance and there are beaches as well. However SXM is a full service island. There are over 30 beaches, all different and all worth exploring. It is the gourmet capital of the Carribean and you should try eating on the French and the Dutch side. French side is more expensive and does business in euros but some of the restaurants are extraordinary.

Traffic is ugly, but you will be going off season so not as bad. By the way, no checkpoints or anything at the Dutch/French borders, just a little sign "now entering ....."

I would recommend you visit www.traveltalkonline.com it will give you all the info you need

[Amanda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Amanda]

Wow the island sounds great - It sounds so interesting to have two different cultures on 1 small island - is there any kind of cross border procedure or can one drive around freely?

Thank you all for your insights!

[chs225 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chs225]

Cross border freely

By the way, in Phillipsburg, good prices on jewelry and booze