My hubby and I stayed here for 3 nights on our honeymoon, and were very pleasantly surprised!! We had spent some time in Phillipsburg, which was full of cruise shippers, and partytime vibes, so we were very impressed with the relaxed, laidback atmosphere offered by this resort. All the rooms are in little bungalow style structures, and the ocean view rooms are almost built into a hill, so each one is on ground level. The balconies on the ocean view rooms are spacious, as are the rooms themselves, with air conditioning and ceiling fans that work wonders. There was a little kitchenette in our room, with a stocked bar and a little counter with barstools. (the housekeeper did not restock the few things we consumed from the bar, so if you plan to use a lot of the stuff in the fridge make sure to tell the concierge that you need more stuff!)

We ate at the restaurant a couple of nights, but you do quickly extinguish the interesting items, i found. We went for one dinner up the (very steep hill) to Le Planteur. It was a nice change, and the proprieter took great pride in his place! We skipped the All You Can Eat Buffet, and stopped by later to check out the selection. The buffet takes place on Saturday i think, and Friday was the Seafood platter special. Go for the platter special, and skip the buffet. it's a hellovalot cheaper! The best thing about what i saw at the buffet was the assortment of deserts!! The breakfast in the morning was very pleasant and nice. I loved the pancakes. Fresh fruit, bagels, toast, cheese, dry cereals....it was very nice, and included with certain rooms.

The beach (Dawn Beach) is either a 20 minute walk or a 2 minute water taxi ride away. At the beach is Mr. Busby's which has some fun food items, mostly american stuff. But that is fine after a long swim! They make a lovely Fruit Punch (Rum punch without the Rum!) This walk is not for the faint of heart, as there are a LOT of hills, and it is friggin HOT, and you are afraid of getting hit by cars the whole time, but we walked ourselves to the beach twice because the HarbourMaster was nowhere to be found. The concierge told us that this person would be available to take us whenever we wanted, however there was a schedule posted on the door which indicated otherwise.

Which brings me to the matter of the concierge...the people were VERY lovely and friendly, but we consistently received inaccurate info from them!! When we took the ferry to St. Barth's we were quoted a price that was $15 less than the actual cost. The concierge sells tickets for the ferry, but be wise and buy them at the Activity Desk. Then you will hear about the packages you can get, as well as find out the EXACT time of departure!! They told us the boat was leaving at 915am, when it was due to leave at 9am. And, when we booked our ferry to St. Barth's on a Sunday, I think it might have been helpful for them to mention to us that NOTHING is open on Sundays in St. Barth's!!! Granted, we could have done a bit more research on our own, I will admit!! But it would have been helpful to hear this before we booked a full day on the island!! We did have fun at Shell Beach, and found 2 restaurants to have lunch at twice, and we talked a LOT!

The pool and the surrounding lounge areas were very wonderful! The pool has depth to it, and provides you will a nice place to do some laps. No one every used to the pool, so that was very nice.

There is the internet in the lobby so you can stay connected if you so desire! get a password from the concierge, and keep it for your entire stay. It turns out you can reuse it for 3 months.

Also, remember you are on the French side, so Euros are useful!! Many places accept dollars, but it doesn't hurt to have some Euros on hand.

This place was a wonderfully secluded place for a nice quiet time. It is not super exciting, so don't come here looking for that. We did not rent a car, but I can see where that would be handy if you want to get away from the resort. If not, you have everything you need either right outside your door, or a 20 minute walk away!!

I stayed at Captain Oliver´s in Dec 2007 and loved the hotel and the restaurant. The front office staff were very professional, helpful, friendly and charming. Location is beautiful and the rooms are (I had ocean view) are spacious, quite new, clean and very tastefully decorated. I had some problems with the booking since Expedia did not differentiate garden and marina views. The lovely Mrs.Captain Oliver and the reception solved the problem in a heartbeat. and I was happy.

I warmly recommend this hotel to anyone that wants to get away from the traffic jams, cruise tourists and other crowds to enjoy an laid back and elegant caribbean-french-marina atmosphere. The clientele was a fun mix of international bohemian and wealthier "sailors" and other tourists. You will need a rental car or a taxi to get to places from this location. If they still have a Saturday Bouffet for 39USD I warmly recommend it.

This was a good experience and the price was over 50% lower compared to the other hotels in the cities..

We stayed at Captain Olivers for a week in January 2008. The hotel is VERY nice. The rooms are large and we got the ocean view superior room to guarantee a king size bed. The bed is a real king (single mattress). The view is wonderful and we go the Continental Plan to get breakfast included, which was very good (scrambled eggs, bacon/sausage, pastries, fruit, juice, pancakes).

The single major problem was the VERY loud music coming from the restaurant late every night. Closing windows and doors in the room did not help. Saturday night was extremely bad, with a mediocre band performing at a VERY loud level until well after midnight. It was so loud that it drowned out the TV in our room. I asked at the front desk when the music would go off, and the staff only replied "in a while", and then they asked the restaurant to turn down the bass. Shortly after that, the band TURNED UP the volume even higher. So I wore -28decibel earplugs every night (these are made for working around jet engines) and that reduced the sound a little.

Parking is cramped but the hotel staff would come out and help people move cars around to try and get into a space. We never found the lot full, although there are only about 20 spaces.

The sliding glass doors are very wide and offer a great view of the ocean. It would be better if the door had screens to keep the mosquitoes out, so that we would not have to run the air conditioner all the time.

With the loud music problem, I can't recommend staying here.

Captain Oliver's delivers what it promises: a nice getaway with a laid back atmosphere.

If you are expecting a vibrant nightlife and multiple options dining out, you might want to consider a more lively area. Frankly I'm surprised that some reviewers would rate the food at CO's the best on the island. In our opinion, the fare on offer during lunch/dinner was average at best. There's a huge discrepancy between price and quality. For example, the mahi-mahi / swordfish dinner options were way overcooked and bland. The breakfeast buffet, on the other hand, was great, as many others here have already noted. Pancakes, sausages, fruits, etc. What a way to start your day, with the resident toucan "singing" in the background!

There's a handful of other restaurants nearby, e.g. Le Planteur on top of the hill (which is also a bit pricey regarding overall quality). On the other side of the bay close to Dawn Beach there are cheaper beach hut options, which were ok. All in all the food in the area was probably the single semi-disappointment of our stay.

And now on to the better stuff. The view from our ocean view room was excellent. We really enjoyed watching the pelicans do their daily fishing routines right under our eyes. But be aware: this is not your traditional beach view with white sands; it's a dock area with sailing boats and other marine vehicles. Along with the ocean view you also get a view of the hotel extension being built on the opposite side of the bay.

The room itself was very clean and the cleaning up was done on a daily basis (fresh towels, linens, etc.). Somehow they were unable to fill up our minibar, though, and I don't mean beers and wines, but just plain bottled water. The orange juice in the minibar seemed to have been in there for years, and we were afraid to open it due to the greenish-brown residue packed at the bottom.

The room was quite spacious as well with a lovely terrace to sit and relax. Hot water was a bit iffy; it ran out quite unexpectedly at times.

The pool area is brilliant, with great views over the bay and the ocean. The glass wall on one side of the pool is an amusing extra touch. Also, the ubiquitous breeze makes it a good place for sunbathing. We also enjoyed the mini-zoo with the lizards and birds, although there is always something heartbreaking about caged up birds. Keep them company, as they are there anyway.

Getting around requires you to either rent a car or a taxi. We did trips to Philipsburg, Marigot and Orient Beach by taxi, which was effortless and fairly priced. Highly recommended is a day trip by ferry to St. Barth, which leaves straight from CO's own dock area. St Barth is an odd mixture of beautiful nature and luxurious yachts and boutiques.

The friendliness and efficiency of the staff seemed to depend on the person. Some were extremely helpful, others a bit more aloof. All in all we had no problems whatsoever getting the service we needed. But don't come expecting high class services; this place is run a bit more with a family establishment mentality than a hotel chain mentality.

All in all our stay at CO's exceeded our expectations, and we can recommend it highly to anyone who is not looking for five-star pampering, but a unique, relaxed atmosphere.