If you read the previous reviews and want to stay at the Chez Martine because of the top tier management, do not come here. In the last month there was a staff change and it was apparently a change for the worse. The owner, manager, and cook are unfriendly and frankly, creepy. Also, breakfast was not as described and only included coffee, warm juice, and bread.

The actual hotel was as decribed, basic and nice. The location is prime and the view is great. If we were to go back, we would stay on the same street, but in a different hotel. There are many newer, beautiful hotels with private balconies to choose from. Enjoy!

We stayed on the 2nd floor where we found the accomodations nice and the veiw of the bay breath taking. The restaurant was excellent as all are on Grand Case. The manager ( Mr. Richardson) was very helpful and acted upon our requests in good response time. The only negative was that the beach was very narrow and one of the scary locals had set up a squalid shanty under the restaurant terrace which kept the hotel quests away from the beach because he and his buddies were all ways in command of the hotel lounge chairs.

When you book a room at this hotel, make absolutely sure that you get a room upstairs and preferably beach-side. Our room, no.1, sat on the corridor along which clients approached the hotel's restaurant. So, we didn't gey any peace until about 2 a.m. Then, being next to the main road, we had to put up with the sound of clubbers returning home with their stereo's blaring loud, as they drove along the main street, on which the hotel is situated.

Furthermore, do not choose this place if you are looking for convenient access to shops or the airport. Grand Case is really in the middle of nowhere, with very few places open during the day.

The only selling point for this place is that it sits right on the beach, and I mean RIGHT ON THE BEACH! the room's decor and bathroom were tawdry and with a distinct feeling of being not quite clean.

An eyesore during the day, Grand Case at night transforms into a myriad of beautifully lit late-opening, boutiques and restaurants. However, the prices to eat at these venues is formidable and anyhow, why on earth would you come to the carribean to eat french Cuisine?!! Luckily, there a couple of cafes on the main strip where you can get local cuisine at an inexpensive price.

All in all, if you were going to stay on St. Martin's, itself a wretched dump of a destination, you would want to stay in Grand Case. Only because it is the only place that was not overly developed in a tasteless manner for mass tourism. There again, that isn't saying much! Save your money and go to Benidorm or some other Eurotrash destination, as you'll find the same stuff there as at St. Martin's, an absolutely awful destination!

If you are simply looking for a "base of operations", this is the hotel for you. This is not a resort, it's a small but excellent french restaurant with a 7-room hotel attached.

We stayed in the "suite" for five nights and then moved into one of the other upstairs rooms for our last night. Our first night we were frustrated by the lack of screening on the sliding glass door to the private deck (mosquitoes bit us all night, every night). We also found problems with the bathroom cabinet door (handle fell off in my hand), the closet door (wouldn't open) and the shower head (detached from wall).

However, our first morning we loved waking up to the sound of waves washing up on the beach outside our room. We ran right downstairs and straight onto the sand. The location is excellent.

Grand Case looks like a typical caribbean village (poor) until you get to the beach road (blvd du grand case). All the shopping and restaurants are here. Almost all of the restaurants are expensive, french and very good. For a more reasonably priced alternative, the lolos (especially Talk of the Town) also offer great BBQ.

The week we were here, the town was fairly uncrowded. Most of the time there were only a couple other people on the beach. The beach itself is quite long and varies in width from about five feet to 20-30', depending on the tide. The sand is nice and soft, and I collected quite a lot of beach glass. (be careful of the glass that is still a bit sharp!)

Here are some other details. Only the suite (room 7) faces the beach directly. Rooms 4,5,6 share a patio space that overlooks a sort of garden area. You can see the beach, but only if you are at the rail. Room 3 faces a dark upstairs corridor. Rooms 1 and 2 are on the first floor.

Each room has a mini-fridge, but all rooms share the same "kitchette". (see photo) The beds were rather hard, and the pillows ran the gamut from compressed down-filled to lumpy polyester. The bathrooms all had double sinks and plenty of counter space. Room 5 did not have a bathtub but the shower worked. Room 7 only had a hand held shower nozzle. The limit of the hot water is about five minutes.

Breakfast is included. You eat in the small dining room, overlooking the beach. Every morning is the same croissants (plain and chocolate), baguette, ham & cheese, orange juice, preserves and coffee. The Miami Herald is also available Mon-Saturday.

Rudy, the manager, is very amiable, however we didn't really meet him until the third day. The owner doesn't speak a word of English, but is also very friendly and helpful.

We had some trouble with our car. The battery was stolen right out of it, as it was parked in front of the hotel! The owner, despite significant language barriers, was tremendously helpful. He made dozens of phone calls for us and even drove my husband to the airport trying to find someone from the rental agency.

All in all, we did have a wonderful week. We were looking for something quiet and convenient to the beach. We didn't want lots of other people around, or noisy pool areas. We visited the Grand Case Beach Club one day and Orient Beach another day, and both areas had lots of activities but were too crowded for us.

If you are looking for a modest hotel, without frills or amenities, this is definitely your place. You won't overspend and you'll be right on the beach.