We stayed at the Alamanda about 6-7 years ago and appreciated then our stay. We came back for the first week of January 2012. In general, we have been slightly disappointed about the condition of the hotel now . The room have been repainted but that's about it. We had a few issues with the door lock, the water pressure, etc. In general, the room was fine but getting old and would need more than painting.

The receptionist on duty during the daytime of the week days was particularly not helpful and welcoming. We asked for a wake up call and never received any call. At check out, we found many major mistakes on our bill ( a few hundred dollars). Please check carefully the charges before paying. Fortunately, the person in charge on the week-end was helpful and cooperative in resolving these issues.

As many mentioned the hotel is greatly located and the beach is perfect. The staff at the beach (Kakao) is efficient and friendly.

This was our first trip to St. Martin, & staying at the Alamanda was a great decision.
The property is lovely, surrounded by lush greenery – the building is colonial-tropical style, painted in bright pastels. Charming interior décor with earthy tones, terra-cotta tiles, rattan furniture, & beautiful floral arrangements at reception give a welcoming feel. Check-in/out was fast & easy.

Our ground-level room was clean & spacious with a large veranda & teak cushioned chairs overlooking the garden (from here, exterior paths lead to the pool or beach). It included a sitting area with a nice king-size bed, flat-panel cable/satellite TV, free Wi-Fi (iffy connection), kitchenette, & washroom with vanity, separate tub & shower, plus plenty of towels. Upgrades needed for closet, shower stall, fans & A/C. Our door was defective at first but it was quickly fixed by maintenance. Also note, wake-up calls not always reliable.

During our stay, there was no restaurant or lounge on site as advertised – the poolside Café Alamanda serves only a so-so continental breakfast in the morning (extra fee for room service) – though a rooftop sundeck was being built. Behind the hotel is Orient Village Square, with some small shops & exceptional restaurants that open for dinner. In addition, the hotel has an arrangement with the adjacent Kakao beachfront club, whereby you can charge lunch to your room & which offers guests of Alamanda complimentary use of (certain) lounge chairs & umbrellas. Nice spot when quiet, good food & service. On days when the cruisers were bussed in, the scene gets crowded & there are way too many Jet-Skis, so off to explore other parts…

I would love to return eventually & would recommend this place to those who are looking for a taste of Europe rather than the typical, all-inclusive experience of large resorts. Thanks to Vincent & his team for being so very friendly & helpful – merci beaucoup.

After numerous trips to St Martin, including stays at various other Orient Beach hotels, this was our first stay at Alamanda. This is one of the more expensive hotels on Orient, but in my opinion far from the best. Location and staff was superb, but the rooms can use updating and there was one thing that will prevent us from booking Alamanda again.

Yes, you get free use of their beach chairs an umbrellas at the nearby Kakao Beach beach bar, but for some dumb reason, hotel guests get treated like 2nd class guests at Kakao. Even though the entire front row of chairs was vacant, we were told that Alamanda guests are not allowed to use them, that they are reserved fro paying patrons (chairs are $20 for the day for non guests). How does Alamanda put up with this? We should have received preferred status here... (L'Hoste and Cap Caraibes closeby, have partnerships with Coco Beach and Waikiki Beach, where we were always welcomed and they even held some of the best spots for us.)

Seems like a minor thing, but for this reason alone, we will not be staying at Alamanda again.

We stayed at Alamanda December 18 to 25, 2011. We picked the hotel based on the reviews here and we were not disappointed.

The hotel is a bit difficult to find at first, and as has been noted by others, even our driver from the airport wasn't sure how to get there. So if you are driving yourself -- especially if it will be dark on arrival -- make sure you map it out before hand so you have an idea of where to go. Once you have found it once, it will be easy after that.

We asked for and received a second floor room. It was very spacious and comfortable. The housekeeping staff did a great job of keeping the room neat and tidy.

The location of the hotel is perfect. The beach is right across the street. Kokao is right there as is Bikini Beach. Right behind the hotel is the "village" with a nice selection of restaurants. There is also a convenience store close by and a laundry service.

The staff is very firendly.

The room had a kitchenette. We used SXM Shop N Drop. We were able to order groceries, snack food and liquor and have it all delivered to the room. In fact it was all there when we arrived. This worked well for us as we did not bother with a rental car.

There were only a few very small issues (nothing is perfect). We had to have the coffee maker switched out as the original in our room did not work -- it was quick and easy, but would have been nice to have been able to have coffee the first morning. The bedding didn't seem to fit the bed properly. The mattress pad was a bit small so it kept slipping off the mattress. And for 4 of the days we were there the toilet was not particularly efficient. It took many flushes to get a clean bowl.

These were minor issues and did not ruin our trip. We were very happy with our choice.