Hotel Bambou.
We stayed at the hotel Bambou in L’anse Mitan for 2 weeks in July.

The Hotel:

The Hotel is about 25 min from Le Lamantin airport and a taxi ride will cost you about 55 Euros. The hotel is a 2 star as stated by the front entrance and is of mostly wooden construction. My opinion is that it is the best hotel in the area for your money.
The rooms are mostly little duplex bungalows (there is a 3 story apartment style building as well) laid out in a tropical garden filled with banana trees. There is a restaurant at the sea side besides the small beach. We where allowed a breakfast and a dinner since our stay was purchased as a “Demi- Pension” (more on food later). Not all bungalows are equal, sure they all have air conditioning, small fridge, hair dryer and safe, but some are quite old and in need of repair, at least from the outside.
When choosing a room, I would recommend one between # 8 to #16 and/or #21 to 24 and/or 101 to 104, in my opinion. The duplex bungalows do have a door inside that allow you to join both rooms if you are traveling with a larger family etc.
The walls are thin and do not have insulation so if your neighbor snores, talks, laughs, moans etc, you will hear them. Night time brings a symphony of noise in the form of little frogs. These frogs start “singing” at about 6:00 pm and stop around 6:00 am. It can be quite unsettling if you are not accustomed. I recommend ear plugs (good ones as not all earplugs are created equal). If you can’t wear earplugs than you should try until you get used to it. Perhaps try them at home for a few nights before traveling. It has been a lifesaver for me in many situations.
Guests range from older retired couples to groups of teenagers on summer break. We did see a few small dogs. Why do people need to bring their dogs to hotels, beaches etc. Do your fellow humans a favor and leave the dog at home.
Our room had 3 outlets for those who need to recharge their electronics. You will need an adaptor as Martinique has the French outlets.
The front desk will greet you with a “Ti Ponch” or a “Planters” Rum Punch on arrival. The front desk speaks some English. Just remember to speak slowly (not loudly!) and avoid using colloquial English slang. We found all the staff friendly and helpful throughout the stay. Most people in Martinique will great you with a “Bonjour” or “Bonsoir”, even strangers.

The lobby is NOT air conditioned and if you are seated in there you can expect a few insect bites (mosquitos and sand flies).
The WIFI is supposed to work all over the hotel grounds but I found I could only use it in the lobby.
We did have quite a few power outages throughout our stay. If the power is out, be sure to tell the lobby as (of course) you’re A/C and fridge will not work.
Our phone never did work although they tried to fix it.

They will offer you a TV remote (for a deposit) but I found I did not need it, (turn TV on by hand) after all there are about 8 French channels that you probably won’t want to watch.

The Beach / Pool

There is a pool and they do supply beach towels. The beach is small and there are about 4 Palapas for shade. There are many beach chairs available.
There is a “water sports” shack under a large mango tree and guests are entitled to use pedal-boats, kayaks etc. The only problem with the beach (apart from the scarcity of shade) is that the kid that operates the “water sports” has all his buddy’s there sometimes and they play with a soccer ball. The beach is small and you do risk getting hit by the ball. Management take note! Tell them not to play ball on the beach. They also monopolize one of the rare beach palapas and generally disturb the peace with horse-play. If you drag your beach chair down a bit, you can avoid the disturbance.

Note: Beach, pool and restaurant are accessed through gates. These gates require you to enter a pin number.

The Food.

The food is fresh and cooked in “Creole” style. I found it tasty and satisfying. Beverages will cost you. We drank water at dinner and the water is excellent. By the way, the water in Martinique is potable from any tap. Breakfast is simple, breads, fruits, juices, some cereal, coffee, jam, butter. We bought a sirop from the “8 a 8” (Huit a huit) down the street (point du bout) that you mix with water and that way we always had cold drinks available to us to take to the beach etc.

The Location

The hotel is located in L’anse Mitan across from Fort de France. We found the location excellent as you can simply take the ferry right on the beach next to the hotel (ask lobby for ferry schedule) to get to Fort de France. Ferry costs 6.50 euros for round trip (remember to keep the tickets for the return!). You can probably last about a week without a car, after that you will need to rent a car to get to other parts of the island. If you don’t rent a car then really you should choose some other destination as your holiday. The island has great roads, perhaps the best in the Caribbean. You can walk to Point du Bout where there is a little area of shops, restaurants and a small marina. There is also an Avis rent a car office and 2 other agencies. Shop around for rental car, prices vary. There is parking in front of the hotel as well as around back near the restaurant. Do rent a car! You need to see the rum distilleries, the Rocher du Diamant etc. You will not appreciate Martinique without a rental car.

Conclusion

Martinique is a beautiful island. The flora and fauna are amazing! I was disappointed in the fact that the tourism industry is not very developed. 98 % of the tourists come from France. Where is everyone else? Yes it is expensive and there is much better value available elsewhere in the Caribbean. Martinique need to promote more (not just to the French) and develop more hotels (not just French owned ones!). Attract more international tourists and franchises this will bring down the prices and break the French monopoly. Remind me again why they have the Euro in Martinique????

Would we go again? Yes, if the price is right.