The Caribbean - Anybody been to St. Maarten?

Can anyone tell me if the best hotel to stay in if you want to see the planes land right over the beach from your balcony is the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino? I remember reading something a long time ago on this forum about St.Maarten in general and good places to stay near the airport (SXM) were mentioned. My husband is mad about planes and I am arranging something starting in Barbados and ending up in St.Maarten where we will spend 7 nights with a little visit to St. Barts slotted in somewhere. It's half booked up but I need to know about a good hotel (for plane spotting that is) in St.Martin. I would appreciate anyones help on this. An email to that aforementioned hotel remains unanswered which isn't a good sign I guess!!

Can anyone tell me if the best hotel to stay in if you want to see the planes land right over the beach from your balcony is the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino? I remember reading something a long time ago on this forum about St.Maarten in general and good places to stay near the airport (SXM) were mentioned. My husband is mad about planes and I am arranging something starting in Barbados and ending up in St.Maarten where we will spend 7 nights with a little visit to St. Barts slotted in somewhere. It's half booked up but I need to know about a good hotel (for plane spotting that is) in St.Martin. I would appreciate anyones help on this. An email to that aforementioned hotel remains unanswered which isn't a good sign I guess!!

That is the largest resort hotel on the island. Some rooms face the approach path and some don't, so be careful when selecting. The best place for plane spotting is at the Sunset Beach bar, which is right down the road and across the beach. They have plenty of seats and have live feed from ATC playing through the speakers in the seating area.

Another option, although not quite so close is the Wyndham Sapphire Beach Resort. If you get an oceanview jacuzzi room, you can sit in the jacuzzi on your balcony and watch the ocean. You can also see the airplanes from here, but usually the smaller island hoppers lining up for their approach, and not the actual close up landings.

If your heart is set on seeing planes, then the advice you already received is good. I like seeing planes too--but not for a whole week! Might I suggest you look into a hotel on or near Orient Beach? The statuesque Mrs. RNE and I enjoy that world renowned beach quite a lot. ^

Mary's Boon Beach Plantation is a great place to stay. I just got back last month. It is located about 3/5 down on the runway. The have a small observation deck to watch the planes. You can sit on the beach and watch them take off. Great value and service. Plus it is on a nice quite beach.

check out this sight for some great photos of that area.
this would be my ideal vacation spot, beach and planes!

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?sort_order=views+desc&aircraftsearch=&airlinesearch=&placesearch=Philipsburg%20/%20St.%20Maarten%20-%20Princess%20Juliana%20%28SXM%20/%20TNCM%29&photographersearch=

check out this sight for some great photos of that area.
this would be my ideal vacation spot, beach and planes!

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?sort_order=views+desc&aircraftsearch=&airlinesearch=&placesearch=Philipsburg%20/%20St.%20Maarten%20-%20Princess%20Juliana%20%28SXM%20/%20TNCM%29&photographersearch=


The first photo in that link of the AF 747 landing appears to have been taken from the Sunset Beach Bar referenced in one of the above posts. I've been there and that is probably the best place to watch the planes land. They post a board with the expected arrivals for the day (big planes) and they have the transmissions from the Tower broadcast over the speakers. Great place for plane watching. Just be careful if you go out on the beach as the jetblast can be pretty severe. Last time I was there I saw a surfboard fly out of a car on the road between the beach and the airport and it hit someone on the beach in the face. There was blood everywhere. I suggest sticking to the Beach Bar.

The wife and I have been to SXM many times. We hate the fact that the island is getting a little to build up but still go twice a year. We still love the place and love Orient Beach. This might help...http://orientbeach.com/... :)

While the plane-watching is great from Maho beach, it's not exactly the best location from which to explore the rest of the island. What I normally do when I take a long-weekend to SXM is spend one night (either first or last night - when I'm near the airport anyway) in Maho to get my plane watching out of the way. Of course, I visit the Sunset Beach Bar that night (don't have to worry about driving) usually followed by a burger at Cheri's Cafe. Then I spend the remainder of my time in either Grand Case (probably my favorite location on the island) or Orient Beach. I would not, however, recommend spending your entire time in Maho, because you'll waste too much time driving elsewhere.

-FlyerBeek

For additional discussion, let me move this to our Caribbean Travel Forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz

For additional discussion, let me move this to our Caribbean Travel Forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz

Many thanks to all who took the time to reply which has been very useful and will help a lot. Marys Boon Plantation hotel looks great and we may well split our time whilst on the island. My husband definetely will not get tired of watching planes though so we will stick near to the airport. I'll be asking about hotels in St.Barts soon!
:D

Have fun in St. Maarten!

I just returned from a week in St Martin. I concur with the other posters who recommended the Sunset Beach Bar for plane watching. The arrivals and departures of the big jets pretty much all occur from midday-late afternoon, so I wouldn't necessarily base my hotel choice strictly on the planes, because you'll want to head to the SSBB anyway for a few hours and you don't have to worry about ealy morning or eveninig. That said, Orient Beach and Grade Case are a pretty good haul from Maho if you think you'll be spening more than one or two afternoons plane watching.

We stayed at La Samanna and loved every minute of it. It was close enough to take a taxi to Maho if we wanted to do some of the nightlife or see the planes. We also did a daytrip to St Barts.