This is just a quick review of the Liberty Inn, where my wife and I stayed on night only during a layover in St Martin.

We booked the hotel based on its proximity to the airport, and based on its rating here on Tripadvisor. Once again this site has proved its worth.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Susan, one of the owners, who made us feel very welcome. She showed us to our room, chatted us up a bit, and made sure the weary travellers had a couple of adult beverages to enjoy. What a welcome.

Our room was large and kind of eclectic, with a King bed, a sitting area and a kitchenette. Very roomy and comfortable. And of course, you'll want to know that it was very clean.

If you are the kind of person that never ventures from the cookie-cutter Holiday Inn, this might not be the place for you. However, if you like a little variety in life, try the Liberty Inn.

So here's the deal. Liberty Inn is not fancy. But it's fairly inexpensive so I wouldn't expect it to be fancy. It's more "homey" than anything. The furniture is like something you would find in the house of a relative -- mismatched but comfy.

We were on our way to Anguilla, and just needed a place to hole up for a couple nights to recover from our loooong trip from the U.S. So we were only there for two nights, and had to switch rooms halfway through due to a challenge with the water pressure or something. We noticed they had a small problem with a sewer line backup which was kind of gross, but it was outside and didn't affect us inside at all, visually or olfactoraly (is that a word?). But please know, we are the type of people that NOT MUCH bothers us on vacation because -- well, what can you do? ;)

Anyway, through it all there was ONE constant and that is the owners, in particular Diane, who offered us over-the-top customer service. Basically, things can go wrong when living on an island, but it's how you deal with it all that makes the difference. These ladies kept their cool, offering friendship and humor the whole way through.

In fact, we were running a little late on the morning we checked out and were having a hard time finding a cab to take us to a ferry. Diane gave us the keys to her car so my hubby could drop me and the luggage off at the ferry before returning her car and running back to catch the ferry with me. What owner of a hotel actually LOANS you their car, I ask you? That was the coolest, and an amaaazing way to end our time in St. Maarten and begin our vacay in Anguilla.

By the way, Liberty Inn is walking distance to SO much..

To one side and over a bridge is some good shopping.

Across the street from Liberty Inn is a cute little store which sells a few health foods, organic items, and water. Across the street behind this store is a beach/restaurant/bar/hotel where you can catch some rays and grab a bite to eat and a beer.

Kitty corner across the street is an adorable little shack-type restaurant/bar that has karaoke.

Down the street on the second floor of a building is a place called Sky Lounge (or something like that) that is GORGEOUS inside. It is located over St. Maarten's newest grocery store which has lots of beautiful produce, organic items (better than Trader Joe's due to their organic stuff and they had such an amazing selection of food that you can buy if you want to utilize the huge kitchens in your Libery Inn room), water, beer, wine, things like that.

Further down the street are some more fun restaurants and bars like 3 Palms which is owned by a guy from Boston -- he and his girlfriend are the coolest and super hospitable. And even further down the street is a perfectly perfect little place to get smoothies, juices, organic salads, falafel and hummus, things like that.

And there's even a dueling piano bar in town called The Red Piano that I hear gets quite wild and is a blast (sadly, we couldn't swing a visit in our short time in St. Maarten).

One thing, if it's the rainy season you MUST bring mosquito repellant. OMG. They're everywhere!!!

Hope this helps. Thanks for the nice accommodations, Ladies. :)

I had the pleasure of staying at the Liberty Inn on an extended business trip of two months, and I cannot say enough good things about this experience.

The owners live on site, and Susan and Diane are caring, conscientious hosts. They also have a collective 15 years of experience on the island, and are excellent resources for information and suggestions regarding both the Simpson Bay area and the entire island in general. The rooms are comfortable, clean, and secure. The air conditioning works great and the hot water is HOT—no wimpy showers here!

The inn is situated directly on Simpson Bay Lagoon. The property itself features a gourmet French bakery/coffee shop at the front, and a boat rental/water shuttle service at the rear. The boat rental is a fun diversion for a day or an afternoon; the boats are high-quality Boston Whalers of varying sizes, and this makes for a great sightseeing and pleasure trip option.

The water shuttle is a free service to Port de Plaisance across the lagoon, which is home to the Princess Casino, a spa/country club, and a number of really good restaurants, each of which would be worth the trip by itself. This three-minute boat ride—have I mentioned that it’s free?—is an unbeatable alternative to a lengthy car trip, which can be anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour each way, depending on traffic and the state of the road construction at any given time.

The location of the inn is also a huge plus. It’s less than 10 minutes from the airport, and there must be 20 worthwhile restaurants within a five-minute walk from the doorstep of the Liberty Inn. There is also a huge, American-style grocery store almost directly across the street—perfect for stocking the full-size fridge and kitchenette in the room.

All in all, the room, hosts, location, and amenities simply cannot be beat. I will definitely return to the Liberty Inn.

Had a wonderful time cant say enough good things about those two lovely ladies.