Joelle

I think the resort just opened for Christmas 2008.

Has anyone stayed there?

dparkinson

Any updates on this property? Upgrades, facilities, etc

TallestHotelInJapan

It's open again.

The transport from the airport to the hotel costs a heft 45 € for the taxi or 60 $ for the water shuttle.

Sweet Willie

arriving by water is a fantastic experience, Venice, Hayman Island are just two of the very worthwhile water arrivals I've experienced. Usually worth the price of admission in my book but to each their own.

I'd personally rent a car as I despise dining at a resort for each meal, especially on an island like St Marten/Sint Maarten.

With latest buy 1 get 1 promo, I'm interested in any reveiws.

We honeymooned on St Martin/Sint Maarten a LONG time ago, stayed at the Dawn Beach Hotel which is now a Westin IIRC.

The Radisson property is at the very far north end of the island (french side), which isn't a bad thing but I could see going to dinner in Philipsburg being a long drive. (got to go to Wajang Doll for dinner when on the island!!^)

PS: Can Blu please be added to the thread title as the property is a Radisson Blu
www.radissonblu.com/resort-stmartin
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jkoenig51

Just got back from St Maarten, it was awesome. Check in took 2 mins,free welcome drink,free wifi, and free buffet bfst. Beach at the Blu was really great, and the meals were all very good . Two restaurants on property and three across the street.Staff was friendly and helpful.I can't wait to go back. This was my 7th visit to St Maarten and I will be going back to the Radisson from now on.Please PM any other questions.

Sweet Willie

glad you had a good time, a few follow up questions to your stay
how so? (for swimming, snorkeling, beauty, &/or not crowded, walking, etc, etc)
what type(s) of cuisine were the restaurants across the street?

The resort is in a remote part of the island, did you rent a car?
If not, do you feel one is needed? If you did rent, how much was parking?
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jkoenig51

Yes, I rented a car and and you will need one. One was Italian,seafood,and pizza. Only ten min drive to Grand Case for some great dining.
NO RESORT FEES.NO PARKING FEES and Free Bfst buffet with cooked to order eggs.The bfst is worth 50.00 per person per day. Free WiFi
I alway rent my car at Budget in St Maarten 5 days 120.00
The beach- great sand,nice for swimming,free lounge chairs, clear water and a Tiki Bar

dsquared37

Mmmmmm Tiki bar.

Why does that word always make me thing of the Brady Bunch.

DCAGUY

Is the breakfast buffet free when one is using an award stay?

jkoenig51

Yes, I was there on an award stay.

LM225

I booked an award stay there, and in my reservation, I see this:

Hotel Alerts

I'm a little concerned; first of all, there's a resort fee (above it says there is none, so perhaps they've instituted one), and what's the 40eur/pp about? I imagine that that's an "extra guest fee", but if that's the case, this is poorly worded

PWMFlyer19

As with some vacation places, rates can be based on double occupancy. So they are basically trying to say anyone over 12 is an adult for calculation of an additional person in the room. And that supplement includes the rate for breakfast.

Additional person rate is 40 EUROS per day and applies to anyone 13 years of age and older.

And yes, the website says a 15 Euro resort fee and shows up in fees when doing a sample booking. Does not seem too bad considering some others I have seen.

I've been looking at this place too for 2014 vacation. I just wish flights weren't so expensive when I needed them (school holiday weeks of course).

Question for the person who stayed there:

1) I read somewhere (TA?) that you could rent a refrigerator for 20 Euro for the week ?

2) Is the concierge any good with booking snorkelling trips, dinner reservations, etc ?

Thanks.

LM225

Agree, definitely reasonable, just curious to hear that the previous poster wasn't charged a resort fee.

Having been to St. Martin nearly a dozen times now, I can recommend, without reservation, Captain Alan's snorkeling tours: www.captainalan.com/

I've gone with them four or five times now, and they're fantastic, far better than any of the others I've tried on the island. You can book on their website in advance, and they can arrange transport from the hotel.

johnep1

We stayed here earlier this month and had a great time. It was our first time trying the Radisson (we usually stay at the Westin), which we only did because of the newly available credit card. We booked 2 award nights (2nd night free), then a paid night, then two nights elsewhere, and then 2 more award nights (2nd night free).

Overall - this is a fantastic hotel/resort with a location that we found very convenient. I will not look at the Westin anymore when returning to SXM.

As mentioned, we obtained the Club Carlson credit card, and the accompanying gold status. This got us upgraded to a Marina Suite for both stays. the Marina Suites are a bit of a walk from the beach and the restaurant. The resort is large, but somehow manages to feel small since they didn't pour concrete over every square foot of the property.

The beach is large and the pool/beach staff were all very nice and helpful. The beach area never felt crowded, and we never had any issue finding lounge chairs. If you want a lounge chair on the beach, the staff will set one up for you. I want to reiterate how nice this is, especially since the Westin does a very poor job with lounge chair inventory management. When I'm at a resort, I do not want to have any problem getting a lounge chair.

Breakfast is included for all guests here, and included a nice spread. Though it was nothing too exciting it was certainly a great benefit.

The resort fee was waived on our second stay for some reason. But the normal amount is reasonable (we can leave the "should resort fees be legal" debate for other threads).

Most of the staff was wonderful - the front desk staff, the housekeepers, and the bellboys were top notch. The only exception was the staff in the restaurants - they just didn't seem very happy or welcoming. But everyone else on the property was great.

We found the location very convenient. One needs a car here (don't use National), but you're only a 10 minute drive from Grand Case, which has some of the best food in the Caribbean (bring dollars).

All in all - this was a wonderful stay and I hope that this resort remains this good for a long time.

Sweet Willie

besides Grand Case, any other destinations convenient to the resort?

Also, why (don't use National)?