After thoroughly going through all the reviews on here I decided Captain Olivers was the place to stay. I was pleasantly surprised upon our arrival. We were in a bungalow type room overlooking the ocean, the view was breathtaking, the water is beautiful and you could see St. Barths in the distance. The rooms are very big and clean, never once did I see any bugs in the room or outside for that fact. The breakfast buffet was plentiful and dinner at the resort was good. Since they also have a marina there is a bar/restaurant the Dinghy Dock which has great ribs and a good happy hour. Also a short drive is a market where you can rent DVD's for $3 at Tabby Khady, also stock up on anything you want to put in your mini fridge. We bought a couple bottles of cocktails from the duty free shop in PR so it worked out well. Up the hill from there is Mama Pizza, cute little place. There are food options BUT not in close proximity. What made this place even more enjoyable was meeting Maggi the good Captain Oliver's wife. She is from the US and is just a wonderful person!

You definitely should rent a car no matter where you are staying. By the time you pay for airport transport and taxis you will end up spending less on a car, trust me. A short drive to Orient Beach to experience para sailing or other excursions (some boating excursions can be booked at the marina on the hotel property). Be careful at Orient Beach if you don't want to end up on the nude side, not a pretty site:) the clothing side is where all the beach bars/restaurants are, they don't have signs and by the time you paid the guy $15 for your beach chairs and umbrella you notice the old men flying in the wind. You can literally drive the whole island stopping in Grande Case, Marigot, Simpson Bay in a few hours. We went to investigate Marigot in greater length before we left and that is nice. After touring the entire island we found the Sheraton next to the airport which cannot be too quiet but we felt we were in a perfect spot.

Beware of the time share sharks who try to get you to go on a presentation by giving you scratch cards offering $500 worth of casino chips, it is a lie to go see Oyster Bay Resort and they don't have it. You will end up with the 2 or 3 night vacation which you end up paying a booking fee and $40 a night, it is a scam and a waste of 90 minutes. Also, within driving distance, not walking is the Westin where you can visit the casino, it is nice and $40 worth of $5 black jack chips lasted us 3 hours, we lost but had a lot of fun doing it.

All in all there was a small sense of sadness upon our departure but we know we will be back again!

our five night stay was enjoyable for the most part. we stayed in a marina view room. the view consisted of the parking lot below, lots of foliage straight ahead, and a minimal view of the marina in the distance. the balcony area, however, was always quiet and mostly private.

the room was very simple and consisted of the basics: tv (french channels only, except for cnn,) a very hard bed and 2 worn out pillows, a safe the size of a shoe box, a few drawers and a closet, and an outdated bathroom (which included a blow dryer.) the room was kept clean and maid service was of quality and provided on a daily basis.

my recommendation would be to pay for ocean view accomodations. from what i could see passing by the rooms on the way to the pool and restaurant was that the beds looked a lot more comfortable and plush. and, the views of the ocean were very nice.

the breakfast that is normally included was nothing special. it wasn't bad, but not worth $20/day. it included lot's of cold cuts, fruit cocktail, pancakes and eggs that were just ok. there isn't very much in terms of restaurants near by so i suppose it was the most convenient way to have breakfast.

the only other disappointment about the hotel was the fact that there isnt very much to see or do close to the property. if i ever returned to st. martin in the future i would stay in either simpson bay, maho, or grand case where there was much more going on in terms of entertainment, shopping, dining, and beach going. oh- and a warning to all those who decide to rent a car and park at coco beach on orient bay: park your car where you can keep an eye on it. our car was broken into in broad day light on a saturday afternoon. both front locks were picked and items were stolen from our car. when we arrived at the nearest police station to file a report, the officer told us there were 3 other incidents that occured that same day on that particular beach. DO NOT LEAVE ANY VALUABLES IN YOUR RENTAL CAR, ESPECIALLY ON THE FRENCH SIDE!!

We have just returned from Captain Olivers having stayed there some seven times and as always we love the location.
BUT I really think that a few points should e looked at my management.

After seven visits I would expect the owner who we saw almost daily, would give some sort of recognition to repeat guests.

The normally available paid internet service has been removed with no onsite alternative.

Bearing in mind St.Maarten/St. Martin's largest market comes from English speaking countries, inroom TV's only receive two channels. One an American business channel and one NASA station.
If you dont want guests to watch TV in their language, then its better to take them out.

The breakfast buffet must be checked more frequently.
OK! We sadly have to accept partially canned fruit salad, but it should be changed daily. For four mornings it was visibly bubbling.

Captain Oliver's is not a five star hotel so do not expect five star service.What you can expect are very big rooms which are cleaned everyday,a comfortable bed,fresh towels,a working mini refrigerator , a nice balcony with a very good view of the ocean..do book the ocean view ...it is quite relaxing. Check in was simple but a little late,maybe I was just too tired from the flight delay with LIAT. The pool was clean and not overcrowded. The glass-walled end of the pool made for great photos and plenty of amusement. Beach towels were provided for at the desk.The buffet breakfast was not the best but it did the job.The restaurant is on the marina which provides a great view of the yachts coming and going at any given moment. We took the B & B package because there are so many nice restaurants on the island. Note,in '06,the chefs of St Maarten grabbed second place {T'dad was first!!} in the Culinary Chefs of the Caribbean,so you know your taste buds will tingle wherever you choose to dine around the island. We did not dine at Captain Oliver's Restaurant but we did dine at Le Planteau , located at the top of the very steep hill at the entrance of the hotel...quite good food. The hotel REALLY is off the beaten track,so do rent a car,there are lots of parking space on the hotel grounds...so don't worry. Please rent from a reputable agency i.e. Avis etc. DO NOT make the misake of renting from SAFARI RENTALS like we did....worse service possible....from the start,our shuttle driver was discurteous, then our vehicle looked like a wreck,then when we brought back the vehicle,they insisted that we brought it back at less than full {while looking at the gauge standing from outside the car}, then charged us for one-eight tank of gas!...so BE WARNED!!!!!
Do remember that the hotel is not located on a beachfront so you have to take a water-taxi to Dawn Beach...a lovely beach for swimming and snorkelling.Such a pity that the new Westin decided to build their hotel across the entire beachfront cutting off access except through their grounds...HMMMMM???
You can take the boat from right here at Capt O"s to St. Barts,a must do.
SOme things that you should do on the island...have lunch at Friar's Bay,visit the open-air mkt at Marigot,have a crab cake at one of the lolos at Grand Case, parasail on the Orient ,have drinks at the Sunset Beach Bar at Maho Bay while looking at the planes land and DO take a Rhino ride with Rhino Safari.{not to be confused with Safari Rentals!! .}located in the Simpson Bay area...just behind PINEAPPLE PETE"S rest....oh what a great place..MMMMMM...those guavaberry coladas...the best on the island!!! Do try the crab-stuffed shrimp....yummy...just tell them that the trinis sent ya and man,they will fix ya right!!!
WARNING ..please do after rhino riding NOT before and you would have one of your best vacations ever...till d nex island..land_dolphin gone.LATERS.......