We spent 1 week at this hotel at the beginning of January. We absolutely loved the island, and recommend it without hesitation to anybody. The best way to visit the island is to rent a car (much cheaper in the long run than a cab), traffic is not so bad, and it is very easy to drive around this small and friendly island. We liked the French side a lot more as it did not seem as commercial or crowded as the Dutch side, we also felt very safe everywhere we went, and people are very friendly. We took side day trips to St Barth and Anguilla. Tip: don't forget your passports and if you plan on buying your tickets at the ferry (rather than in advance at the hotel) make sure to bring cash as they don't accept credit cards at the ferry.
Hotel
Pros: beautiful beach, large room (2-bedroom suite with fully equipped kitchen, living room, dining room, 2 baths, 3 TVs, air conditioning, small balcony (just enough for 2), very good free Wi-fi in lobby, laundry room in hotel.
Cons: very dated hotel, not very clean (our maid did a great job but the rooms get cleaned only once a week as per hotel standards),one pool, one restaurant (independent of hotel so you can't charge anything to your room), very average food. Close to airport (but luckily that did not prove to be a huge problem). Staff is adequate but lacks a certain professionalism (they do their jobs without any enthusiasm, a regular guest mentioned to us that they are very badly paid...)
Beware: make sure that when you return your pool towels at the end of your stay you get back your pool towel cards as the hotel will charge you if they are not returned at check out (they will charge as well for any lost room key or the one gym card they gave you at check-in). We don't have a huge problem with that rule but they should let the guests know at check-in (and not at check-out like they do).
Note that check-out time is 10 a.m. on weekends and at our request to stay later, they allowed us an 11.00 a.m. check-out. However at 10:30 we received an irate call from housekeeping (?) stating that we would be charged $100 for staying past our check-out time (we straightened it out with the front desk but it was not the first time that there was a communication failure between hotel departments during our stay).

We stayed in this hotel in June 2010. It needed major updates, from paint jobs, to faucets, to light replacements. However, the beach of the resort is beautiful, non crowded, very inviting with gorgeous waters. It was lacking more chairs to sunbathe, though.
They do not offer much of a menu to it at the resort. However, it's very well located, right across the street there are lots of little and lively restaurants where you can taste most of the typical fish and seafood than the area has to offer. Look at prices and go to the crowded ones, though. The empty ones might be cheaper, but for a good reason.

The rooms are beautiful, it's true. We booked on booking.com at a price of 459 dollars plus taxes for an ocean view suite for 4. Room was comfortable and we were pleased until we got the bill where one hundred dollars was added on for service tax (15%) and government tax! The restaurant is not part of the hotel and refused to serve us (very impolitely) and 9pm as they 'were too busy'! The restaurant was actually empty apart from one large table of about 20 peoploe! We went to complain which is when we found out that the restaurant does not belong to the hotel! Breakfast is not included, but after the previous night's experience, we didn't have it there anyway! Very few facilities for the price, one restaurant and pool bar, one b ar. But a lovely beach and small pool. Lot of plane noise however. The showers in both bathrooms were awful, a trickle of water, and they forgot the twin beds ordered for my sons, so we managed. Quite isolated from the town, taxi cost 20 dollars. Very good eating places on the road opposite the hotel however. Hugely overpriced for a short stay when you are not using all the kitchen facilities (which are excellent and pristine clean). They should have rooms for short stays without all the facilities and at a lower price. Staff on the whole, welcoming but a bit lax about helping us with transport. View from the 4th floor was stunning!

We have stayed at The Royal Palm Beach 4 times and for the most part enjoyed our experiences there. We usually get a 2 bedroom unit. They are quite spacious with 3 flat panel TVs, beautiful open concept kitchen, living, dining area and a large deck where we enjoy and incredible view with snacks and drinks. Both bedrooms have lots of room and the master has the ocean view which is stunning to say the least. There are 2 washrooms which are each different and one is the ensuite with the master. The kitchens have recently been redone with beautiful granite counters and are very well equipped with everything you could possibly need which is great for us as we do like to make our own brekky and buy fresh seafood for our own dinners as well. We have enjoyed the manager’s night with free drinks and nibbles and won several good prizes during bingo night. The activities might be more enjoyable for adults if some people had better control of their children as sometimes they get quite out of hand and we have had to leave. They have a kareoke night which would also be fun if it didn’t turn into a kids night repeating the same ABBA song time after time, it gets to be a bit much and we have had to complain about it. However, you are in Sint Maarten so get out there and enjoy all the other stuff to do and explore the island folks. The restaurant strip directly behind the Royal Palm is incredible and you can walk to so many fantastic places its hard to choose. We would recommend The Pizza Galley, Lee’s and Pineapple Pete’s for starters. If you are looking for a peaceful setting with class and top notch service without the high price tag, then make sure to walk down a bit further to the Cafe on the Bay for one of the most romantic evenings you could have. We highly recommend this place. On your walk back make sure to stop at the Italian Ice Cream Carousel, it will blow you away!! All of the bars/restaurants have live entertainment and the quality of music is very high. There is a bridge right beside The Royal Palm which you will get use to. It creates traffic madness. It has designated times in the morning and evening when it is suppose to open but when one of the millionaires just has to get his yacht out to show off he pays $1200 for a “special opening” which drives the cabbies crazy. Just across the bridge is a fresh fish market where you can buy from the locals at reasonable prices. Just across the bay where the Flamiingo Beach resort is located (sister property) there is an interesting bar called The Red Piano which features some very talented pianists from all over. You sit around this grand red piano and throw cash in the jar and sing along and dance the night away. Incredible selection of distinguished drinks from one of the finest bars on the island. On Sunday nights you can walk along Kimshaw Beach, just beside the hotel, and enjoy a great live band playing old rock and roll all night and dance on the sand and bring your own drinks or enjoy really inexpensive ones from the bar there. And keep walking down to the Buccanneer Beach Bar and enjoy the beach “Fireball” where someone has made a gigantic steel globe with stars and faces in it and the fire is mezmerizing. Try and check at the front desk or with the shops to find out when and how many cruise ships are in port and that will determine your best days to head into Phillipsburg for a shopping spree you will never forget. Jewellry, electronics, cameras and fashions will blow your mind. And the vendors love to bargain with you so make sure you shop around a little before trying to bargain with them. And do mention that you are NOT on the cruise ship as they will treat you differently and you will be less pressured. Guys, if your wife is doing the shopping you may get offered a nice FREE Heinekin or two which comes in handy. I enjoyed 9 of them during one shopping spree with my “shopping queen”!!! Now to the beaches. Obviously you must go to Orient Bay at least once. it is truly and incredible experience. Take your bathing suit .... or not!! But DO NOT even think about trying to take your camera down to the Nude beach where you can walk up and down while trying not to stare too much. There are very large French Gendarm Guards on patrol so it is very safe. At the regular beach the water sports are plentiful, the water is incredible. Clear and great for snorkelling and the sand is wonderful. You can walk for quite a long distance ro pick one of the bars to enjoy anything you can imagine. We would recommend finding Chez Leandra’s Wraps (tell her Toronto Johnny sent you), she takes a bit longer but makes everything by hand and it is worth the wait especially since it is so inexpensive. Get a drink and enjoy the sights while you wait. While you are on the French side (where Orient Bay is) get over to the capital of Marigot. The market is out of this world with more hand made clothing and quality jewellry, great food and people watching. The village is loaded with very high quality art galleries and shops. You can take a day trip from here over to the island of Anguilla which was very enjoyable for us. It is a very beautiful island and is getting discovered by the rich and famous with lots of big names buying retreat properties there. I think we enjoyed this more than our day trip over to St. Barths. One word of warning if you are going over on the St Barths trip, DO NOT take a boat that looks like a twin hulled catamaran with a motor on it! The locals call it the vomit comit for a reason which we found out about too late!! Do go to the Grande Marche Market on your way into Phillipsburg for your groceries and cheap booze, you will be astonished at the wine selection and the prices are fair. ONE VERY IMPORTANT POINT ... DO NOT BUY YOUR DUTY FREE BOOZE ANYWHERE BUT THE AIRPORT WHEN YOU ARE LEAVING!!!. We have had the experience and it is not fun. They will confiscate it unless you can run back downstairs and have your bag pulled out and then repack your bottle in your suitcase and get back into line again. They have really done a great job at the new airport and have one of the most beautiful shopping malls once you have been checked through security. And the good thing is there are 3 duty free drinks stores with the same products and the same prices as they have in town. We were very peasantly surprised and do this all the time now. Before you go to Sint Maarten/St Martin, (SXM) listen online to one of their radio stations Island92. You will get some great information and while you are there if you tune in every morning just before 9.00 am you will get the daily marine and tropical weather report. Above all, be friendly to everyone, tip often when you get good service and relax and enjoy yourself. And you will see why this is one of our favorite islands.