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Reviews
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Well equipped condo - excellent location!
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This was my 4th visit to St Martin and first stay on the French side. Orient Village/Beach was the perfect mix of convenient and quiet. Caribbean Riviera 3 was exactly as pictured with an excellent location, 3 minutes to the beach and 3 minutes to the village with restaurants, grocery store and specialty shops (coffee, gelato, bakery). The unit is two story: downstairs with open living/dining/kitchen, complete wall of sliding glass to patio, laundry room with safe, half bath (toilet and sink), large patio with table and hard plastic chairs, and nice grassy area with access to the pool, which has a gate to the beach. The upstairs has three bedrooms: a master with a king, closet with shelves, bathroom with shower and sink only (no toilet), complete wall of sliding glass on to large balcony with hard plastic chairs and a lovely water view. The second bedroom facing the water has a smallish double bed tucked in a frame and access to the master balcony. The third bedroom has a queen bed with ample closet space and a window facing the parking area. The hall bath has shower and sink (no toilet), and hairdryer. The only upstairs toilet is in a small water closet. We were two couples so able to navigate the upstairs WC with the downstairs half bath. Kitchen was fully equipped although we didn't cook. We brought an electrical converter and found one in a drawer. The wifi was good enough. We had excellent service booking with Ted and Robbin at St Martin Reservartions, Owner Direct Rental Club, and were met by a local rep at Simbarth Rental (in village) when we arrived. We took advantage of chair/umbrella rental at Kakao with restaurant/bar, beach service and our host Carl - worth every penny at $10US day. We quickly gained a morning ritual of a fresh baguette $1US at the pastry shop. Le Piment was our favorite restaurant in the village; Little Italie was disappointing on many levels. We ventured over to Ocean 82 in Grand Case for a sunset dinner, fabulous food and service, free public parking lot if you arrive super early (5), and enjoyed wandering the shops in Grand Case after dinner. We took the Farewell Tour (3rd time) with Eagle Tours on Quality Time Catamaran (Dutch side harbor 20 minute drive, $1 hour parking or free shuttle). It was our first time to rent a car (Budget, so so - insurance $20 day - check your personal coverage) and although it's impossible to get lost, we went in a few circles learning to navigate with very little, if any signage. We will get a car again and likely repeat our stay at CR3. The only thing lacking are comfortable lounge chairs on the patio or balcony to relax and read, which thankfully Kakao Beach made up for.
Terry C
- Gramercy, Louisiana
Dates of Stay: Dec 2016
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Great Orient Village location
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CR3 was a fabulous villa for us, a family with 2 adult couples plus a solo, 5 in all. The villa has three lovely bedrooms, one with an en suite sink and shower. The other two bedrooms shared a separate sink and shower, and all three bedrooms shared the single upstairs toilet, in its own little stall. I haven't figured out why the Europeans don't like to put sinks in their upstairs powder rooms. Downstairs was a powder room with toilet and sink, plus a full laundry room, with nice equipped kitchen, living room, and lovely covered patio where we had breakfast. Looking out over the balcony we could see the ocean, and the entrance to Kakao Beach Bar.
The village with its several restaurants and shops was an easy walk, in the morning for croissants, and in the evening for awesome French dining. One thing we missed was the free beach chairs. In the past the rentals came with free chairs at one of the beach bars, but this year they offered free chairs at Bikini if you buy lunch there.
Anne
- St Martin
Dates of Stay: February 2016
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Fantastic
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Just a fantastic place we will return every year. Loved the location to the beach and dining. The place was very clean and the beds were very comfortable. place was very clean and the staff was very good.
Keith from Indiana
Dates of Stay: March 25, 2014
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Enjoyed our stay!
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Robbin
Your advice was fair and accurate. Thanks very much. We enjoyed our stay and hope to stay in the same unit in the future.
Bob
Bob
Dates of Stay: Jan 6 - Feb 2, 2014
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Paradise in Orient Bay on the French Side
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We travelled the first week of June, off-season, to the famous Orient Bay on the French side and discovered a lovely and charming little beachfront community.
About our Stay:
-Arrival/Checkin: prompt introduction and walkthrough of the apartment (late on a Sunday afternoon) by the very nice Magoli
-Apartment: beautiful as advertised, no surpirses. Only item was that the hair dryer didn't work but we (I especially as a male) didn't care and didn't address it with Mgmt. They did pro-actively dropped off an adaptor for North american power.
Decor and Kitchen was perfect, everything was new, modern, and clean. Washer/Dryer was handy as well.
Beach towels, which were provided were clean and of good quality. We sat out on the ground floor terrace and enjoyed meals with the view and sounds of the ocean.
-Sleeping: the beds were clean, comfortable, and good for slepping.
-Ocean: the apartment was approx 30 feet from the ocean, amazing for early morning walks, quick dips, quick bathroom breaks (good for small children), cat naps...everything.
The ocean was incredible for swimming (day and night), fighting waves, etc.. The turquiose colour was breathtaking and made us glow.
- Beach: its beautiful.
The apt. has an agreement with one of the beach bars for free use of the beach chairs but they expect you to buy drinks. Shop around and choose the chairs you like, the prices vary marginally so choose what makes you happy.
Make sure you explore the beach because there are numerous beach restaurants. Recommendations: most of them are very good; Baywatch with license plates was fun. The nude beach is also fun, very liberating to skinny dip in the ocean.
-Restaurants: all very good on the french side, be adventurous, but here are 3 experiences which we enjoyed (coming from an almost vegan:
1) Tai Chi in Orient Bay - excellant quality and very tasty sushi and thai. Pad Thai
2) A 'LoLO' in Grand Case - fun outdoor local cuisine
3) Sheika's Bistro in Phlipsburg - great find and good vegetarian
-Car Rental: I was resistant to rent a car and finally was convinced by many people to do so and were we ever glad we did. A car gives you so much freedom to explore the numerous beaches, villages, restaurants. The island is tiny so you will never spend much time travelling.
-Shopping: Marigot especially and Grand Case were our preferred stops. Philipsburg is overpriced and mainly about jewllery, watches, and tourist knick nacks. I even bought a couple of nice shirts.
-Running: I ran through the Orient Bay community, on the beach, and out of the neighborhood. Its great for runners early in the am or late PM but you need to be very careful on the roads out of the compound. I went to the sister neighborhood across the main road and ran up the hills, the view was breathtaking and so were the hills.
We loved every minute of our trip to St. Martin, its such a beautiful and romantic island and its safe (street smarts need always be applied), authentic, and was a lot of fun.
Thomas K from Toronto, Canada
- St Martin
Dates of Stay: June 1, 2013
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