TRAVELS: SINT MAARTEN

Sint Maarten or Saint Martin, depending on which side of the island you’re on (there’s a French side and a Dutch side due to colonisation) was once described to me as the “New York” of the Caribbean by one of it’s residents, I met while on holiday in the sleepy Caribbean island of Nevis. Naturally, I was was curious to know what St. Marteen would actually be like, so after two weeks of staying in the nearby island of Anguilla, we made a stop there.

The journey from Anguilla to St. Martin took about 20 minutes. The seats on the small ferry were full, so the captain suggested I sat up front with him, which meant I had a great view of St. Martin as we approached.

We arrived on the French side of the island (St. Martin) which is a peaceful ferry port with a tourist information office and a souvenir market in walking distance.

We travelled by taxi to the Dutch side of the island (St. Maarten) to our seafront hotel, Holland House Beach Hotel in the heart of downtown Philipsburg, the historic capital of St. Maarten. The hotel was one of the first hotels built in St. Maarten. It is renowned as one of the best on Island and still today hosts Dutch celebrities and Ministers.

The front of the hotel is situated on the main road in the duty free district. The back of the hotel is on a promenade opposite Great Bay Beach along the Caribbean Sea and over looking white sandy beaches.

It was so nice to wake up to a sea front view and watch the huge cruise ships come in. The TV in the room also had a live view showing the beach front and people passing by.

I loved how open the dining area was at the hotel, we had a lovely breakfast looking out at the sea and surrounded by beautiful bougainvillea trees.

The breakfast at the hotel wasn’t what I expected. I expected that it would be a buffet style breakfast, but instead you had to choose 7 items from the breakfast menu. Each additional item outside of the 7 which were allocated was $3.50. Fresh orange juice was also an additional extra which cost $7.00 per glass which I thought was very expensive.

On the main road outside the hotel, there was a plethora of shops selling jewellery, I came across some clothes shops, including the high street chain, Mango. We explore a little bit more down some of the side streets and stumbled across a market selling souvenirs and restaurants selling local food.

Old Street is an iconic passage in the middle of Philipsburg and is also walking distance from our hotel. It is known for its colourful twist on Colonial architecture. It is located right between Front Street and Back Street and definitely the place to head for photos, as well as having a wander around the boutiques and enjoying the sun at one of the bistros. If you go, keep an eye for the yellow car!

At the end of our stay, we headed back to the Princess Juliana International Airport. We arrived nice and early so I decided to ask our taxi driver to wait for me while I checked in my luggage so that he could drive me to the famous Maho Beach - The beach is opposite the airport’s runway so you have a perfect view of the low flying planes that arrive and depart.

The taxi ride to the beach is only about 5 minutes away, in theory you could walk it, but as I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going and conscious of time, I paid for the taxi driver to take me, wait with me for half an hour or so and then take me back - I believe he charged me $30 US dollars. Right next to the beach is a lively sports bar called, The Sunset Bar and Grill (formerly known as the Sunset Beach Bar) which has TV screens up showing you the planes departures and arrival times and so making it a popular hangout for plane spotters.

There is a lot to explore in St. Maarten, unfortunately, we were only the for a day and night, so we didn’t get to explore much, but from what I did see, I would definitely go back. In terms for it being like New York, I wouldn’t say so, but in comparison to other islands I’ve been too in the Caribbean which are a lot less built up and quieter, I can see why someone would say that.