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SXM Blog
St Martin is Back and How! Get Set for a Holiday in the Island4/12/2018 - By St Martin Reservation Center 
St Martin is Back and How! Get Set for a Holiday in the Island St Martin has been known as a favorite “tourist destination” in the Caribbean for a number of years. But the direct hit by Hurricane Irma left the island in the disastrous state and affected the lives of the local population in the worst possible way. However the island is coming back to normalcy more quickly than many expected. Some hotels and many vacation rentals in St Martin are back in the business and making every possible effort to come back stronger than ever. People who often spend their holidays on the beautiful St Martin Island and those who want to experience the beauty of this heavenly destination are forever curious to find out the details on St Martin Hurricane recovery updates. So, here’s the good news for all those who have St Martin as a must-visit destination in their bucket list; #SXMISBACK The devastation caused by Hurricane Irma was extremely unfortunate but the Caribbean island is making a comeback with the reopening of restaurants, supermarkets, hotels and accommodations like vacation rentals. Most important, the island is green again the beaches are beautiful and the sea water is deep blue. This just goes to show that very soon the destination will regain its former glory. Here’s a lowdown on factors that would help you with an insight on St Martin’s current scenario: What is the current situation at SXM? The current situation depicts a very positive atmosphere. Roads are clear, debris removed, children are back to school and the locals are back to their routine life. So, yes, while St Martin is in transition, now is a great time to visit your #happyplace. The St Martin Hurricane recovery progress to date, suggests the island will be back in full swing within six to eight months and that is truly commendable. Considering the 250 mph winds of Hurricane Irma, it was tough to bring the island back this early. The damage was more severe on the French side and the Dutch side has recovered more quickly. Many of the smaller boutique hotels on the Dutch side are currently accepting reservations. The Mercure Hotel is accepting reservations. The Westin is expected to reopen by the end of 2018 or early 2019. The Maho hotel was completely torn down and is being rebuilt to be better than ever. La Plantation Hotel in Orient Beach has a soft opening scheduled for mid April, while Esmeralda, Alamanda,& Palm Court hotels are planning to reopen for high season in November, depending on the pace of repairs. The Orient Beach area was hit very hard, but there are a number of vacation rental condos, townhouses and villas currently available. The beach is open and there is a Lolo BBQ with beach chairs at the south end of the beach. Many vacation rental villas and condos are available island wide right now with more accepting reservations beginning in April and another large group in June, after repairs are complete. There are more than 160 restaurants and many excursions open for business. All of the beautiful St Martin beaches are open and cleared of debris, including Simpson Bay Beach, Mullet Bay Beach, Cupecoy Beach, Friars Bay Beach, Orient Beach. Building permits have been issued to rebuild Kontiki and Bikini Restaurants on Orient Beach. The Stars Casino Complex was heavily damaged and both Rare & Temptation restaurants are closed, but Dino the owner/chef has opened a new restaurant call Emily’s that is already receiving rave reviews. So, if you are ready to experience your next St Martin holiday, you can begin planning your itinerary now. Those who have experienced the island this year, say the island is like is was 30 years ago, without the crowds, so “Come On Down”. Airports in St Martin! PRINCESS JULIANA (SXM) & GRAND CASE (SFG) are both operational since October 2017.
Arriving and departing from SFG is the same experience as before, the airport is fully functional. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for SXM. The airport building is closed and a temporary air-conditioned tented pavilion has been provided for the departures from SXM. The same will soon be true for arrivals to SXM. As of last week, the update is that the SXM airport will be fully operational come March 2019. It seems the temporary tents are scheduled to be used for the remainder of 2018. Flights to SXM are more limited at this time. Some airlines have decreased their direct flights and temporarily the best fares are those with connections in San Juan or other Caribbean islands. This limited capacity has caused a temporary increase in flight rates, however, prices have already come down and are approaching normal rates. Flights are added to SXM based on the number of available hotel rooms. While hotels are getting ready, most will not be ready before Oct/Nov 2018, thereby slowing down the chance of having more flights return to SXM before the next high season. That said, SXMstrong.com is getting regular updates of the flights being added to SXM. In the meantime, we’ve outlined the flights we know will be operational come April 1st.
As of today:
From NEW YORK (JFK) : Jet Blue with daily service. From MIAMI (MIA) : American Airlines with daily service.
From ATLANTA (ATL) : Delta with service Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
From PARIS - ORLY (ORL) : Air Caraibes with service Saturday.
From AMSTERDAM (AMS) : KLM (return through Curacao) with service periodically in March, April, May & June. Check KLM website.
Added as of April 1st:
From TORONTO (YYZ) : WestJet with service Sunday (starting April 29th).
From NEWARK (EWR) : United Airlines with service April 14-15, April 21-22 and every Saturday starting April 28th until June 30th.
From PARIS (CDG) : Air France with service periodically in April, May & June. Check Air France website.
Added as of June 2018:
From WASHINGTON, DC (IDA) : United Airlines with service Saturday (starting June 9th).
Added as of August, 2018:
From PHILADELPHIA (PHL) : American Airlines with service Saturday and Sunday (starting August 25th).
From CHARLOTTE (CLT) : American Airlines with service Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (starting August 23rd).
NOTE: All schedules subject to change and cancellation. FERRIES Ferries are operational to St-Barts & Anguilla from St. Martin. St-Barts : Voyager Ferry from Marigot Their service is sporadic so we encourage you to visit their website for further information.
Great Bay Express from Philipsburg There service is offered Monday through Friday with the following schedule: St. Maarten/St.Barts: 7:30am - 5:30pm St. Barts/St. Maarten: 8:30am - 6:30pm For weekend the weekend schedule, please see their website. Anguilla : Public Ferry from Marigot
St. Martin/Anguilla : From 8.30 am to 5.30 pm (every hour) Anguilla/St. Martin : From 7.30 am to 4.45 pm (every hour) Link & Funtime Charter Ferries from Simpson Bridge
Link Ferry: St. Maarten/Anguilla : 8.45 am – 11.10 am – 1.45 pm – 3.30 pm – 5.15 pm Anguilla/St. Maarten : 8.00 am – 10.30 am – 12.15 pm – 2.30 pm – 4.30 pm St. Maarten/Anguilla : 9.00 am – 12.30 pm – 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm – 5.30 pm Anguilla/St. Maarten : 11.15 am – 1.30 pm – 3.30 pm – 4.30 pm
NOTE: All schedules subject to change and cancellation.
St Martin is back in action for 2018! UTILITIES Electricity Electricity has been restored to nearly all properties. The electrical work done in the Terres Basses to quickly restore power was done as a temporary measure. Home owners are still waiting for the power company to return to finalize their work. Water Water supply is good and the island has had plenty of rain so the cisterns are full. As always, guests are reminded that they are not encouraged to drink the tap water, just as a precaution. Satellite & Internet Satellite will be restored in the vacation rental properties as they are launched. Same can be said for Internet; however the service may not be as reliable as pre-Irma. They are digging fiber lines in the Terres Basses area, so over the next 8 months this area will be making the move to fiber optics which means the internet service will be very reliable and fast. Until then, guests will have to rely on the service currently provided which runs via a Satellite system. Landline Telephones Landlines are down in Terres Basses unless the villa is connected already to fiber and has been able to install a Voice Over IP (VOIP) phone. VOIP means that the phone is connected to the IP address of the internet router, thereby service is via internet. Until this feature is offered, guests will be provided mobile phones where they can make local calls within St-Martin. For long distance calls, guests will be required to use the internet connection to make calls with their personal mobile devices using services like Facetime, WhatsApp or Viber. GENERAL ISLAND SAFETY Roads & Street Lights All roads have been cleared and there are street lights on 80% of the island. Areas where street lights have not be restored are Nettle Baie, Grand Case, Orient Bay, Anse Marcel and French Cul de Sac. Police Presence & Terres Basses Security There are more Gendarmes (French Police) on the roads since Irma therefore we find there is next to no crime on the island.
The main gate for the Terres Basses has been operational since 2-days after Irma and it is guarded 24-hours a day. Same for the private villas in the Baie Rouge community. The gate at La Samanna to enter Baie Longue is now permanently closed to road traffic. The gate for Anse aux Acajoux is also operational which means you can only access these properties with a private code. Same for the gates at Mont Rouge and the Baie Rouge Public Beach; however, this is only relevant at night time, like before. Beaches All beaches are open to the public and they are all 99% clean. We still encourage clients to watch where they walk on the beach in case there may be garbage but the same could be said from before Irma too. Beach bars & restaurants are limited.
We strongly encourage you to use the SXMstrong website for updates. It offers a wealth of information and has regular updates about progress being made on both the French & Dutch sides.
Though Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc on the beautiful Island of St Martin, it has not dampened the spirit of the people, which is evident in the recovery to date. Tourism is St Martin’s only industry and all residents depend either directly or indirectly on your returning for a vacation . Guests started returning to the island in December 2017, reserving vacation rental homes with vacationers arriving from around the world. It’s not a cakewalk to host tourists in such a short span but the vacation rentals and hotels are doing a great job of recovering. Reservations are available and people who are wondering when to return can confidently book their vacation homes and condos and spend a relaxing holiday in this wonderful island. #stmartinisback In fact, the tourism industry is convinced that St Martin will come back in a better way. Looking at the progress to date, we can state that St Martin is has made great recovery progress to date and a full recovery is expected. Pack your bags for St Martin: You don’t have to wait for anything. Going by thecurrent situation in St Martin, you surely can plan a holiday and book our vacation rentals to make your stay a luxurious and comfortable affair. Needless to add we won’t let you down. This Island remains one of the best vacation destinations in the world and our vacation rental service can indeed be relied upon to offer the adequate lavishness.
One important tip is to be sure you speak to an island expert that is knowledgeable about what is happening on island. Use an agent who knows the properties and the island to be sure you book a property in the best location. So, now that you know St Martin is back so, hurry up book now for our vacation rentals.
Contact the Island Experts
http://www.stmartinluxuryvacationhomes.com/vacation-rentals/show-all-vacation-rentals_keyword-irma |
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