We had an evening between staying at the Horny Toad on the Dutch side and Sol e Luna on the French side and needed somewhere to stay.

We checked in at Orient Bay Hotel and went to go get some dinner. We left around 5pm and returned around 8pm to find the door handle to our slider sitting on the terrace and our slider partially open. We were ransacked in the middle of the early evening. We called the front desk and the lady was completely NOT surprised. She said it happens all the time and asked if anything was taken.

Thank goodness I had read other TripAdvisor reviews about peoples' stuff getting stolen here and we had stashed our stuff before going out to dinner. Paranoia saved the day.

March 22, 2008

This was our fourth trip to St. Martin. The Orient Bay Hotel is lovely - quiet, away from traffic and noisy tourists. You must rent a car though - the hotel isn't on a beach, and is not walking distance from anything (unless you enjoy walking far distances in blistering heat!). We used Best Deal, located at the airport - and they really do give you the best deal compared to the other car rental places.

Orient Bay is not all inclusive, so you are on your own for meals. Which suited us just fine - we had done all-inclusives before and were disappointed. Hairdryers and shampoo are also not included.

The rooms (or villas, to be more accurate) come with a kitchenette stocked with dishes, pots and pans, coffee maker and toaster, utensils, etc. There is a French bakery at the end of the street - fresh croissants for breakfast! There are plenty of grocery stores in the nearby towns to stock up on staples. I recommend eating out for dinner though - tons of fabulous restaurants all over the island. Sure bets are Au Grain De Sel in Cul-de-Sac (5 minute drive from the hotel) and anything in Grand Case.

The hotel doesn't have a restaurant. You can have a Continental breakfast by the pool though for 10 Euros - must be booked the day before, and is only available from 7 - 9:30 am.

Rooms are clean, but there is no housecleaning service. Towels are changed on Wednesdays and that's it. Housecleaning services are 12 - 24 Euros per hour, depending on the size of room you have.

Beds are firm and comfy. And the place is quiet - perfect if you want to get away from noise and pollution and parties. I always get the best sleep when I'm in St. Martin!

There are two pools at the hotel, but were rarely used while we were there - why would they be, when there are over 30 different beaches to explore! Our favourite is Bay Rouge - clean, soft sand, not crowded or touristy. Orient Bay is the most popular - which means crowds, noise, music, and unfortunately, lots of garbage on the beach (cigarette butts, plastic cups and straws, and beer bottles everywhere. Yuck.)

Speaking of beaches, I am annoyed that I had to pay 30 Euros to rent our beach towels (which you could exchange daily for clean ones) - I've never had to pay for towel rentals before, so this was an expensive addition. So bring your own beach towels if you don't want the added expense (buying beach towels in St. Martin is not any cheaper - we checked!)

You can also rent beach towels and chairs/umbrellas on a daily basis from most beaches. But 15 - 25 Euros a day gets expensive. This time around, we rented chairs, an umbrella and a cooler from Pack Light Vacation Rentals (not allowed to put a link here, so Google the name) for $25 US for the week. Much cheaper and way more convenient. Craig meets you at your desired location with the equipment to make the whole process easy.

To sum up, we enjoyed our stay at the Orient Bay. It was affordable (slightly cheaper than all-inclusives at an average 3 star resort). I've posted photos so you can see what the place is like. I'm a little ticked off about the towel rental and no housecleaning, but other than that, it's great. Definitely not a party hotel - go to Cuba if that's what you're looking for.

We stayed at the Orient Bay Hotel for March Break 2008. This was our first time back in 13 years. We had our honeymoon on the island, and now with our 6 year old, we returned. We chose the Orient Bay Hotel because we know that Orient Bay is the best known beach on the island. It still is a great place to hang out, but we discovered that there are many more beaches that are excellent for kids - not so much surf rolling in, and had good snorkelling too. I recommend Galleon Bay, Pinel Island, and Friar's Bay for beautiful calm water, families will enjoy. We rented a car to get around. Traffic in some areas was terrible, and parking in either Marigot or Phillipsburg is difficult. Definately go to Grand Case for dinner, I recommend on Tuesday nights. There is a little outdoor carnival going on at that time.
As for the hotel, don't expect much. Towels are changed only on Wednesdays. No hair dryers, no shampoo. Beds are firm but comfortable enough. The place is clean, but you would have to sweep the floor, wash your dishes and make your own beds for the week. You could pay extra to have housekeeping come in! (That was a first for me to see that) We prepared some of our own meals which worked out well for our 6 year old.
Finally, one foolish mistake by us, our sliding door to our unit must be manually locked each night for security. On the Thursday night of our stay (6th night ), we forgot to lock the door. We discovered the next morning our camera stolen (6 beautiful days of pics gone) and $200 US stolen. We slept upstairs and the thief came in to the lower portion of the unit. We reported the theft but there was not much you could do. The hotel does have security - a night watchman but obviously they were not aware of anything. I leave the island feeling sad that this has happened, and I have learned a tough lesson. Thank God all that was taken was just those things and not our ID. We also are lucky we did not get hurt when the theft occured.
We were able to purchase a replacement camera on the Friday of our trip, and took some quick pictures. Please see the enclosed pics for your review.

The hotel is just north of Orient Beach, a brisk 6-minute downhill walk (I timed it), or can drive & park.

We stayed in a 2-bedroom villa which sleeps 4 only. Combined kitchen & living area, front patio with table & 4 chairs, back patio with no furniture. Phone & satellite TV. Note: No hair dryer, & U.S. models don't work here.

One bedroom up several steps & the other on the 2nd floor, each with a double (queen?) bed & bathroom with sink & shower. One shared toilet in a closet-sized room between the bedrooms. Rooms plain but clean.

This property is on a steep hillside, so lots of steps. Grounds are attractively landscaped, free parking close to unit, two small pools, one with tables for optional breakfast. Manager is very friendly and he & many guests are French. French bakery a few minutes walk away.

Orient Beach is the island's best -- sand (not too hot), shallow, 1.5 miles long, lots of beach bars & cafes. Can rent loungers and water sports equipment. Southern one-third is nude (nudist resort there), rest is topfree but with occasional nude walkers. Round trip walk takes one hour.

Best restaurants are at Grand Case, a few minutes drive away on western side. Le Cottage Restaurant highly recommended.

Very good value and location for Orient Beach. Quiet and pleasant atmosphere with French ambiance.