One More Restaurant Test
Running this little blog is great: It gives me justification to check out all the new restaurants opening for this season.

Last night, we tried the new Aqua, next to Lal's Indian Cuisine and only a few steps away from the airport. Aqua has been constructed right on the dock over the water and offers an interesting concept: It is part Sushi bar, part French restaurant.

The European menu offered is reasonably priced and offers solid home cooking. The Sushi selection is adequate and presented well. Due to limited demand, Sushi and Sashimi can't be cheap on our island, but Aqua does offer the best deal on St. Maarten.

The idea of two menus of non-competing food styles appeals to me, because it is sometimes difficult for two couples to decide on Japanese food; there is always somebody who hates the stuff and blocks the rest of the group. Now with Aqua, there is no excuse anymore.

The restaurant has comfortable indoor and outdoor seating. It would have been cozy if the lights would be a little bit dimmer.

For parking, turn into the driveway at Lal's and drive down to the water's edge.
- posted by Jan @ 9:22 AM 1 comments links to this post   

 
Charming Small Hotel
Opened last year, The Royal Turtle Inn has fast found a loyal following. The small hotel - 9 rooms - is operated by Al and Rose Wathey, who also run the famous Turtle Pier Bar and Restaurant.

The hotel is within walking distance of the airport and offers beautifully appointed rooms, many with a view on Simpson Bay Lagoon. There is a good sized pool for guests.

Rates are very reasonable and include breakfast. The Royal Turtle Inn is a great place to spend an entire St. Maarten vacation or the ideal overnight stop close to the airport.

Visit their website at www.theroyalturtle.com
- posted by Jan @ 5:25 PM 0 comments links to this post   

 
Sunset Beach Bar:
Michelle and I finally managed to go to Sunset Beach Bar. Jane was doing her body painting, some live Reggae was offered on stage, the bar was not too crowded. We arrived around 6.30 PM.

After chatting with some other friends we met, we needed a drink and attempted to order at the bar. Two bar tenders appeared to be rather hectic and stressed out and overlooked me for about 10 minutes. I finally lost patience and gave up, Michelle was hanging on for another 5 minutes. A friendly girl next to her tried to get the bar tenders attention and pointed to Michelle, indicating that she had been overlooked for quite a while.

The girl behind the bar exploded right away and screamed: "You don't f.....ing tell me whom I have to serve!!!!" And that was that. No more Sunset Beach Bar for us... :-(
- posted by Jan @ 7:58 PM 4 comments links to this post   

 
Le Chalet Cheese House
For years I wanted to try Le Chalet Cheese House, located in Sandy Ground - a neighborhood not usually associate with dining.

What a pleasant surprise it was: We ordered the cheese raclet (spelling???) and were confronted with a 5 pound cheese wedge ( you don't have to finish it - it's an all-you-can-eat concept), suspended on a heating contraption. We also got some giant baked potatoes and assorted meats. The heat lamp melted the surface of the cheese and it dripped on the plate. Delicious!

We had a fun evening and will be back - as soon as our digestive system can handle obscene amounts of diary products again.
- posted by Jan @ 8:21 PM 0 comments links to this post   

 
Nightspot for Monday Nights
The newest hot spot for Monday nights is the Star Bar in Baie Nettle - formerly known as Cohibar. Marcus, who previously managed the Sunset Beach Bar, opened Star Bar and has the in-crowed partying on Mondays (and other nights as well).
- posted by Jan @ 11:02 PM 0 comments links to this post   

 
Real Estate Boom
Another major investment group presented their final plans to the public: The Orient Express Group, well established as operators of first class hotels such as St. Martin's La Samana, is developing a luxury condominium complex in the Cupecoy region on the Simpson Bay Lagoon. The project is called Cupecoy Yacht Club and will also offer dockage to yachts of any size. The first units are supposed to be finished by 2006, prices start at $400,000.
- posted by Jan @ 11:07 PM 0 comments links to this post   

 
Restaurant The Wharf
Today we finally managed to check out The Wharf, a new restaurant in Simpson Bay next to the bridge leading to the Isle de Sol Marina. Michelle has been hesitant to give it a shot, because the colorfully lit plastic palm trees in front turned her off a little. She thought it looked to much like a 'tourist trap'. On the other hand, the tacky trees make it easy to describe the place as a meeting point. Nobody is going to miss it.

I was happy to see that the restaurant is run by George of Brasserie del la Gare fame (Marigot). The somewhat loud entertainment was definitely geared towards a crowd who likes to be transported into a party mood. The Wharf competes to a certain extend with Cherrie's Cafe in Maho Village. The menu though is much more refined; we didn't order any grand dishes, but my pizza was wonderful and Michelle enjoyed her rack of lamb. The view of the dining deck is spectacular, with a fleet of 300' mega yachts berthed in the background.

Bottomline: a decent place to have a meal, if you are in the mood to be entertained while eating. The prices where middle of the road, but not cheap.

- posted by Jan @ 10:27 PM 2 comments links to this post   

 
Island Driving #2
For our American visitors, a few traffic rules should be explained. St. Maarten/St. Martin follows European rules and signs. Most importantly: traffic coming from the right has the right-of-way! Because this is the 'default' rule, there are usually no street signs on intersections. Only if the default rule is not valid, the right-of-way is regulated with signs. Drivers on the French side stick to this system much more strictly and assume you know.

Also: Watch out for no-parking zones in Philipsburg and at the Airport. The local towing companies behave like sharks (which, I assume, all members of this industry are) and are just waiting to take your rental car. As a matter of fact, they seem to target rental cars. The fees for picking up the vehicle at the towing companies lot is between $50 to $60.

- posted by Jan @ 1:43 AM 0 comments links to this post   

 
Island Driving #1
In yesterday's newspaper, a visitor to the island praised the way locals drive with courtesy and patience. It is true: whenever a car has to pull out of a tight spot into traffic, someone will let them in. Whenever there is a traffic jam at an intersection, traffic will flow somehow, because drivers cooperate. The island's administration has experimented with traffic lights - and two are still up and running in Philipsburg - but overall, lights were a mistake here: friendly driving is more efficient than overregulation. Since the light at the intersection on Colebay disappeared years ago, the traffic situation has improved.


- posted by Jan @ 11:32 AM 0 comments links to this post   

 
Lagoon Pub Crawl
My friend Neil operates with his 40' sailing catamaran Celine one of the best excursion: he invented the now famous Pub Crawl. Starting at Turtle Pier around 7PM, Celine cruises the lagoon and docks at 3 different bar/restaurants. At each stop, passengers are treated to drinks and food, during the cruise Celine's bar is open as well. After the first stop and a few rum punches, the party mood sets in and very often the Pub Crawl group continues to dance on at Turtle Pier late into the night. The price of $60 includes everything and I know that Neil is offering a great bargain for this truly entertaining evening.
- posted by Jan @ 9:58 AM 0 comments links to this post   

 
Mullet Bay Jogging
There is one advantage to the continued closure of the Mullet Bay Resort: The area offers the best opportunity on the island for jogging/running. There are several trails allowing runs of a few miles through great scenery. Occasionally, one has to dodge a golf ball, but the absence of any traffic is wonderful.

Every late afternoon, a group of regulars is meeting up; some running with the speed of well trained competitors, some just jogging along, and many more just taking a stroll with their kids and dogs.

If you like a little (or lot of) exercise, go to the Mullet Bay golf course around 5PM, park your car close to the pro-shop (still open) and check it out.
- posted by Jan @ 10:41 AM 1 comments links to this post   

 
Mullet Bay
Arriving at St. Maarten - during the last seconds of the airplane's approach, the visitor is exposed to a shocking sight: roofless ruins of two-level building littering a large golf course between one of the island's most beautiful beaches and an especially charming branch of Simpson Bay Lagoon.

The once spectacular Mullet Bay Resort has been closed '95 after Hurricane Luis and never reopened. The 18-hole golf course is open to the public, but not maintained to great standards.
St. Maarten offers now the unusual pleasure of golfing amongst- what appears to be - bombed out ruins.

The Mullet Bay Resort had been the island's flagship institution, even though is was not a financial success. Hotel specialists tell me that de-centralized resorts are difficult to operate on a profitable level.

There is an ongoing legal battle between the individual owners of the condominium units and the former managing company. Insurance money had been released after the 95 disaster, but the managing company blocked reconstruction of the unprofitable concept, while the individual unit owners wish to have the former layout restored.

The result of this battle is the fact that a large part of Dutch St. Maarten looks like a war zone - an area the equivalent of the size of Texas relative to the US. How the local government has been manipulated to turn a blind eye to this huge problem is a matter of speculation and rumor.

One has to admire the many new investors who started the present building boom, even though every visitor looking out of the approaching air plane sees these terrible ruins as a first impression. Would the legal battle of Mullet Bay have been resolved in due time, the island would have pulled out of its decade long recession 5 year earlier.

- posted by Jan @ 9:04 AM 1 comments links to this post